Posted on 12/09/2018 8:18:42 AM PST by Texas Fossil
NEWS DESK
The Washington Post conducted a lengthy interview with General and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford on several issues including US military excellence and fierce competition with Russia, along with the recent maritime incident between Russia and Ukraine in addition to the US military presence in Afghanistan and its alliance with SDF to fight Daesh in Syria.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, discussed the major threats facing America now and in the future and how the US military is preparing for these threats.
Speaking about the challenges coming from Russia, especially after the Russian seizure of Ukrainian boats off the Crimea, Dunford said that what happened in the Azov Sea is very similar to what Moscow did in Georgia, Crimea and Donbas in Ukraine.
Asked how long the US forces would stay in Afghanistan, Dunford said the United States should stay in Afghanistan and noted that the years-long war in Afghanistan had created chaos in the region. "I recommend that we do not leave Afghanistan because it might create a situation of instability in south Asia and will give terrorist gangs the space to plan their operations against the American people. "
The Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, spoke of what will be coming in Syria and discussed the US presence there, citing his main objectives of defeating IS gangs, and the assistance of the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict and stabilize the war-torn country.
In response to the timeframe for US troops to stay in Syria, Dunford said "We have not thought about that. Our allies in SDF have done a great deal in Syria against Daesh, that is great. But with regard to stability, we still have a long way to go and I will give you an idea of the scale of work to be done."
"We estimate that 35 to 40 thousand local troops should be better trained to provide stability, and so far 20 percent of these troops have been trained," said Dunford. "We train the troops and enhance their combat capabilities to be better despite the high skills in the battles.
It is clear that there are combat forces led by SDF and composed of all components of the Syrian people who are the only ones that have been able to defeat the largest terrorist organization in the Middle East and represented by Daesh."
Regarding stability in Syria, General Dunford said "we still have a long way to go it" and that he will support Pompeo in his diplomatic efforts for years to resolve the "Syrian civil war." That is why it is difficult for me to predict how long our forces would stay in Syria."
General Joseph Dunford also spoke of arms control agreements with Russia and said there was no doubt that arms control agreements with Russia in the past have provided a degree of strategic stability."
The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, questioned the possibility of extending the "New Start" with Russia, in the event of the fall of the medium and short-term missile treaty with them.
"Russia is seriously violating the medium and short-range missile treaty signed in 1987, and the United States will withdraw from the treaty if Russia does not comply with it," he said.
Dunford said it would have been better if Russia had complied with the medium and short-range missile treaty, allowing conditions to discuss issues relating to arms control treaties more widely.
It is good the General Dunford recognizes the contribution of the SDF in Syria.
I'm concerned that our State Department employees often don't see this.
Wishful thinking and high level discussion with foreign nations often obscure reality.
I fear that we are ignoring the reality of Turkey's ambitions and actions. That problem will not be settled by appeasement.
An ignorant man. That was a tour de force in asshattery. SDF is the rebranding of Al Qeida in Syria combined with other Sunni head choppers.
It’s astonishing to see this level of ignorance in such an important position.
And his “plan” is that Afghanistan sand Syria go on forever
You need to investigate this further as your comment is displaying your ignorance on this matter.
Well, I doubt that is reality.
The “way” we exited Iraq was a problem.
Afghanistan? Possibly lost cause.
Syria? hurdle is getting neighbors to accept the stability that is already happening after ISIS’s defeat. They still have die hards holding out in far Eastern Syria. We are making progress in eliminating them.
But the pocket that Erdogan the Islamist dictoator of Turkey seeded into a once peaceful Efrin, does not speak well for what they now want to do. A big financial hick-up is coming for Turkey, will that dampen the Neo Ottoman dream?
Without Russia and the USA, Syria would be shredded and most likely flying the ISIS flag. Under a Clinton regime, this would be reality. This opinion that we are “there” for the long term is troubling as is this lost cause in Afghanistan.
With all due respect. Absolutely wrong. Never has been that. YPG/YPJ had nothing to do with any of McCains unicorn Arab jihadi armies. Local Arabs just prior to the Siege of Raqqa were added to pacify Erdogan, because he accused the Kurds of ethnic cleansing. Which they never did.
The way we exited Iraq was not the problem. The problem with Iraq was that the mission was ill concieved, and unobtainable by the means we were willing to employ.
Since we were unwilling to succeed, we should never have been there.
I agree with you in all you said.
And while the SDF and its allies in the specific Kurdish organizations have been the greatest hinderance to ISIS in Syria, Erodogan and his hinderance of the Kurds has consequentially been ISIS greatest ally.
Erdogan’s attacks in Syria have zero to do with terrorism in the region and 100% to do with his fundamentalist Islamic goals and his desire to prevent the uniting of all the Kurds in any way whatsoever.
The Kurds who deserved political autonomy the most were the least considered by the powers that divided up the former Ottoman Empire, and they were feared the most by Turkish nationalism that didn’t seek to merely protect the Turks of the Ottoman Empire but continued Turkish domination of as much of the old Empire as they could, in spite of and regardless of the sizeable groups of non-Turks in the area that the Turks sought their dominance in. The losers were the Greeks, Armenians, Kurds and others in and ajoining Anatolia.
The Kurdish model for the future should be for a Kurdish declaration of a constitution much like Israel - a Kurdistan that is the declared homeland of the Kurish people, while simulatenously a secular democratic state with equal rights, including religious and political rights, for all citizens within it.
There were unspoken events that took place back then, which have never been presented to the public.
Syria Yesterday- 12/8/2018
SDF has NEVER been that. It originated from the Kurdish YPG/YPJ, which had NOTHING to do with any of McCains unicorn Arab jihadi armies. Local Arabs just before the Siege of Raqqa were incorporated to try to mollify Erdogan, because he accused the Kurds of ethnic cleansing-which they DIDN’T do. DR must be confusing the SDF with the so-called “Free Brian Army”.
SDF did NOT originate with the “Sunni head choppers”. They originated with the YPG/YPJ , who were LEFT-WING and affiliated with the PKK. You’re confusing them with the “Free Syrian Army”. If you know anything at all about the SDF, you’d know that they are secular and, yes, a bit on the Left side of the political spectrum. Are you one of the people blindly supporting Assad?
BTW, if SDF did originate from the “Sunni head choppers”, Erdogan would probably be involved in supporting them, but he’s not. In fact, he hates them.
You don’t think we should make sure that we destroy ISIS?
*** You dont think we should make sure that we destroy ISIS? ***
Syria and her allies do not need the US’s help to rid the country of ISIS.
From Iraqi Christians, re: Syria:
Iraqi Christian HRC
@iraqschristians
We are getting a lot of threats and harassment from Kurdish-YPG terrorists in Syria & their supporters for exposing what Kurdish-YPG are doing to Syrian Christians in Northeast Syria. The Kurdish-YPG have attempted to assassinate, beat-up Christian leaders in Syria who speak out.
1:40 PM · Dec 9, 2018 · Twitter for iPhone
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