To contact us Click HERE
(Center for a New AmericanSecurity)AsDelivered by Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, Washington, D.C., Tuesday,November 20, 2012
Thankyou very much, Michelle, for that kind introduction.
I'malways reminded of my father who, as I say to many people, was an immigrantfrom Italy with my mother, and came over, and then eventually, you know ran arestaurant in Monterey during the war years. And my earliest recollections were washing glasses in the back of thatrestaurant. My parents believed thatchild labor was a requirement.
Andthen he bought this farm in Carmel Valley, after the war, and planted walnuttrees. And then I remember working inthe walnut orchard. And my father wouldgo around -- when the walnut trees got older, we'd go around with a pole andhook, and basically shake each of the branches. And my brother and I would be collecting the walnuts underneath thetrees. When I got elected to Congress,my father said, "You know you've been well trained to go toWashington. Because you've been dodgingnuts all your life."
AndI have successfully been dodging nuts all of my life. But I listen to the list of positions, andI'll tell you a story. When eventsoccurred at the CIA last week, my wife immediately gave me a call.
Shesaid I hope that there is no way that the president is going to ask you to takethat job again. And I said, no. I said, been there, done that.
Ladiesand gentleman, it's an honor to have the chance to share some thoughts with youon some of the issues that we confront at the Defense Department.
AndI also, if I might, just take this opportunity, since we're close toThanksgiving, to
wishall of you and your families, a happy Thanksgiving.
Michelleis a dear friend, and a great strategic thinker, and a great publicservant. And I'm obviously sorry to seeher leave the Department of Defense, but having been in those kinds of jobsmost of my life, I understood the reasons why she felt that, you know she reallywanted to spend some time with her family, and she deserves that.
ButI should tell you that I continue to feel her positive impact throughout thenational security community. She alwaysthere. And it's not only because of hertime as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, which is an extremely importantposition at the Department of Defense, but also because she is a co-founder ofthe Center for a New American Security.
Andyou can't walk for long in the E-Ring there at the Pentagon, and not bump intosomebody from that organization. In particularI'd like to single out somebody else who came from there, Jim Miller who is nowthe successor for Michelle in the position of the Policy Undersecretary. And he too is somebody that I depend on everyday to try to deal with everything from tremendous number of crises that weconfront, to the long-term strategic challenges that we also have todiscuss. And so I'm particularly pleasedwith his leadership, which really follows in the footsteps of Michelle, and hisacumen, and his wisdom, and all of the qualities that I deeply appreciate.
Ispent a lot of time in Washington. Andyou meet a lot of people, but it's the people who have a conscience, and workhard at their jobs that are, for me, the most respected people that you canwork with. As we enter a second term forPresident Obama, Jim and so many other CNAS alumni will continue, I think, toplay a very critical role in helping guide the administration's defense andforeign policy.
Withthe election behind us, Washington is turning its attention to the unfinishedbusiness, particularly the unfinished business of the current Congress,including how to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff, how to preventsequestration from happening, and the impact that that would have, not just onthe Defense, but on the domestic discretionary budget as well. And for our purposes, hopefully they willalso take the time to pass a defense authorization bill, in order to be able toset some important policy guidance that we need, as we go into this next year.
Thehope is that, obviously these issues can be resolved before the Congressadjourns. And obviously we are allhopeful that the leadership will be able to come together, to find a way toresolve these issues. These are toughdecisions. I've been there, I know howtough they are. But they can do it. They can do it. It will take some risk, but that's part ofthe game, is that you have to take risks in order to do the right thing. And I hope they do that.
Theworst thing that can happen, frankly from my perspective, is if they just kickthe can down the road. All that wouldwind up doing is continuing to present a shadow over the Defense Department,and for that matter, the rest of government as to what ultimately will happen,and that's the last damned thing I need.
Thefact is, that when it comes to national security, the challenges andopportunities that we face in the future go beyond the political gridlock ofthe moment. They are significant, as welook to not just today, but tomorrow.
Inmany ways -- I've said this, I say it to the troops when I meet with them, Isay it to the groups that I speak to, but I believe it – this is an era ofhistoric change. We are at a turningpoint after 10 years of war -- over 10 years of war. We've ended the war in Iraq. NATO conducted a successful campaign to bringdown Qadhafi in Libya. We are nowembarked on, what I think is a good campaign plan to allow us to draw down inAfghanistan, and we have the continuing effort against al-Qaeda.
Andas we achieve those important goals, the United States is moving towards, as Isaid, the end of the longest period of sustained armed conflict in the nation'shistory.
AndI also would like to take a moment to express my pride in the men and women inuniform who have fought throughout that period, putting their lives on the linein order to protect this country. Wereit not for their sacrifices, were it not for their willingness to do that, wewould not be able to accomplish what we have, and thank God that they are there,as I often say.
Onething I found out when I came from the CIA to the Defense Department is, I havea hell of a lot of great toys at the Defense Department. I've got great weapons. I've got great ships. I've got great planes. I've got great technologies. But none of that would be worth anythingwithout the good men and women in uniform that serve this country, and dedicatetheir lives to protecting this country. That is the real strength of the United States of America.
Aswe transition into this new era, we will have to look at some very importantpriorities that will take on a greater urgency. Particularly as we look at the second term of this administration, andlook at, what are the challenges that we are going to be confronting?
Thisis not like periods in the past where we come out of a period of war, and thethreats kind of diminish. And theneverybody winds up cutting the hell out of the defense budget. This is this is a period where even as wecome out of these 10 years of war, we are confronting some major issues, andmajor threats in the world.
Westill are involved in a war on terrorism. We are still at war in Afghanistan, even as we try to draw down in thatwar. We are in the process of trying toimplement the Department's defense strategy, at the same time that we aretrying to meet our fiscal responsibilities.
Weare in a period where obviously, the budget situation in this country, the hugedeficits that we're facing, the huge debt that's confronting this country, arelimiting resources, and will continue to limit resources.
Ido not believe -- having worked on budgets and worked at the Defense Department-- I do not believe that we have to choose between our national security andour fiscal security.
Weare, at the Pentagon, implementing a strategy that we put together in order todeal with the fiscal challenge that we are presented. And the Congress handed us the figure of $487billion to reduce the defense budget over 10 years, almost a half-a-trilliondollars to reduce the defense budget.
Nowmy approach was to say, wait a minute. We are not just going to cut across the board. We are not just going to hollow out theforce, as we've done in the past. Everytime we've come out of a war, whether it was World War II, whether it wasKorea, whether it was Vietnam, whether it's the Cold War, every time we cameout, we just cut the hell out of the budget across the board. And we hollowed out the force. We are not going to repeat that mistake.
Andso for that reason, you know I said to my service chiefs, the chairman of theJoint Chiefs, we've got to sit down and try to develop a strategy for thefuture that will provide the defense force for the 21 century. Not just now, but in the future.
Andthen with that strategy, we'll then build our budget around that strategy. And so, you know the strategy as you all knowvery quickly: one, we know that we'regoing to be smaller, we're going to be leaner. It's the reality of coming out of these wars.
Butwe have to be agile, we have to be deployable, we have to be flexible, and wehave to be on the cutting edge of technology.
Secondly,we're going to have to have force projection in the areas where we confront thebiggest problems, in the Pacific and in the Middle East.
Thirdly,we have to have a presence elsewhere in the world.
Andto the credit of our military, they've designed a kind of rotational presence,which will allow us the ability to go into countries, to be there, to helptrain, to have a presence, to work with those countries to develop theircapabilities. And it's something thatI've discussed when going to Latin America. It's something I've discussed, you know in going to the Asia-Pacificregion. And the fact is, we are doingthat. We are doing it in a way thatcountries respond. They like the ideathat we're there helping them develop their capabilities to provide for theirown security.
Inaddition to that, we've made clear that we always have to be capable ofdefeating more than one enemy at a time, and have the capability to do that.
Andlastly, this can't just be about cutting; it's got to be about investing. Investing in space and cyber. Investing in unmanned systems. Investing in the kind of capability tomobilize quickly if we have to. Thoseare all important investments as well for the future. And most importantly, maintaining our defenseindustrial base in this country. So thatwe don't -- we are not in a position where I'm forced to contract out the mostimportant defense capabilities that I need. I can't do that. I can't justcontract those out to another country, I've got to have that capability here inthe United States.
So,those are elements of the strategy. Webuilt a budget on that. We built abudget that looked at every area of the defense budget to analyze, what do wedo on force structure? What do we dowith regards to weapons and procurement? What do we do with regards to compensation, which is a huge area in thedefense budget?
Whatdo we do in trying to develop the kind of efficiencies that we need to developat the Defense Department? All of thatwas part of our budget. All of that wepresented to the Congress. But we'regoing to have to continue to work at that.
Wehave the continuing problem of counter-proliferation. We're dealing with the nuclear threat inNorth Korea. We're dealing with thenuclear threat in Iran. Those remainunstable, and uncertain regimes that we have to deal with. We're dealing with the whole issue ofcybersecurity. And I pointed it out,this is an area that now represents the battlefield of the future. And we're going to have to be ready to dealwith that. We're going to have to workwith the private sector, and with other government agencies to make sure thatwe're prepared to deal with that.
We'vegot the whole challenge of energy security, and that's particularly true forthe Defense Department. With the fuelcosts that I have to deal with, with trying to improve our efficiency in movingfrom one area to another, I've got to be able to be energy efficient. Not to mention the impact of energy securitywith regards to our larger security issues.
We'vegot to implement this rebalance now to the Pacific. Something I talked about on the trip that Ijust took to the Pacific. And, you knowthis is my fourth trip to the Pacific to make very clear that we are going tocontinue to have a strong force projection in the Pacific. It's important to our economic security, it'simportant to our national security to be able to do that for the future.
Inaddition, I now have at the same time, in trying to rebalance the Pacific, I'vegot a significant force presence in the Middle East to deal with the threats inthe Middle East. We've got a very, verysignificant force presence throughout that area to deal with any potentialthreat that we have to deal with in that region as well.
Andat the same time with all of those challenges, we have to be able to take careof our service members, and our veterans, and our military families. The sacrifices they've made, they deservethat we stand by the commitments we've made to them. And particularly in light of the forcestructure reductions, which are going to take place. We've got to make sure that we provide themthe support system so that they can return to their communities, and to theirfamilies, and be able to reestablish their lives. All of that is out there.
Allof that are issues that we have to think about, and we have to be prepared, inorder to protect the national security of this country, we have to be preparedto deal with.
Buttonight I wanted to focus on the goal that still remains at the top of thepriority list, as it must. The goal thatthe president made very clear, that we have a responsibility to disrupt,degrade, dismantle and ultimately defeat those who attacked America on 9/11,al-Qaeda.
SinceSeptember 11, 2001, our country has worked relentlessly to bring thoseresponsible for the worst terrorist attacks in our history, to justice. We have made very clear, that we are at warwith al-Qaeda. We've also made clear ingoing after Osama bin Laden, and dozens of others, that nobody attacks theUnited States, and gets away with it. And we have made clear that we will do everything possible to ensurethat such an attack never happens again. That means counterterrorism will continue as a key mission to ourmilitary, and intelligence professionals as long as violent extremists pose adirect threat to the United States, our allies, and our global interest, wehave a responsibility to counter that threat.
Duringmy tenure as Director of the CIA, and now as Secretary of Defense, I have trulybeen privileged to meet, and work with thousands of professionals who have madethis fight their fight, who have put their lives on the line for their country,and who have built the most effective global counterterrorism network the worldhas ever seen. Their work, I believe hasmade the American people safer, the United States more secure, and has putal-Qaeda on the defensive.
Letme describe some of the progress that has been achieved in this fight againstal-Qaeda.
Firstof all with respect to core al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and Pakistan. And that'swhere the leadership of al-Qaeda, after 9/11 found refuge. Our military forces, our intelligenceprofessionals, our diplomats, our development experts have taken the fight toal-Qaeda's leadership – first, throughdramatically expanded counterterrorism operations on the Afghanistan/Pakistanborder, and second, through a renewed, revitalized, and properly resourcedeffort to help build an Afghanistan that can secure and govern itself. And that's the fundamental mission in Afghanistan,is to ensure that that country can govern and secure itself, so it will neveragain become a safe haven for al-Qaeda.
Overthe last few years, al-Qaeda's leadership, their ranks have beendecimated. That includes the loss offour of al-Qaeda's five top leaders in the last two and a half yearsalone. Osama bin Laden, Shaikh Saeedal-Masri, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, and Abu Yahya al-Libi.
Throughwhat has probably been the most precise campaign in the history of warfare andby partnering with local allies, numerous other experienced operationalterrorists and commanders in this region have been killed, or captured. This pressure has significantly demoralizedand weakened al-Qaeda in terms of their core capabilities. And it seriously disrupted their activeplotting against our homeland.
Thebroader military campaign in Afghanistan has also been central to our effortsto disrupt, and dismantle, and defeat al-Qaeda. And that is why roughly 68,000American troops remain in Afghanistan today, supporting the ISAF mission, andour Afghan partners.
Togetherthey are battling a violent insurgency that seeks to topple the Afghan government. They have not given up on that effort. And they seek to be able to return toAfghanistan in order to provide sanctuary for extremists. If we are to defeat al-Qaeda, that cannothappen. And make no mistake, we remaindetermined to prevent al-Qaeda from ever again launching a terrorist attack onAmerica from safe havens inside of Afghanistan.
Overthe past two years, since the 33,000 surge troops were ordered by PresidentObama, and arrived in Afghanistan, we have continued to put pressure on theTaliban-led insurgency, and dealt them a heavy blow, and made real progress inbuilding an Afghanistan that can in fact secure and defend itself against thatthreat.
Earlierthis month, ISAF conducted an in depth assessment of the insurgency, followingthe end of the fighting season, and the conclusion of the surge. By nearly every indication, the insurgencyhas been significantly weakened.
Violencelevels, which had increased for five years, decreased in 2011, and 2012.
Theinsurgency has been pushed out of population centers, and strategic areas. Security dramatically improved this year inmost of Afghanistan's largest municipalities, with attacks dropping 22 percentin Kabul, and 62 percent in Kandahar.
ISAFcoalition casualties have also been reduced, declining by 30 percent this year.
Thesesigns of progress are real, and so are the challenges that remain. This is an insurgency that is resilient, andthey will do everything they can to project an appearance of strength toAfghans and to the international community. The Taliban claims responsibility for the troubling rise in insiderattacks. They have launched high-profileattacks, and assassinations, and they will continue to do that. But in the face of these tactics, we havebeen able to maintain strong international unity, and a strong commitment tofinish the job.
Asthe insurgency has been rolled back, we have vastly improved the capabilitiesof the Afghan National Security Forces to maintain these gains after most ofthe international forces will have departed. Every day, every week, every month, Afghan forces are shouldering moreand more of the burden. 2011 -- Imention this time and time again -- I believe marked an important turning pointin the war effort. Because we were ableto see Afghan forces become operational, and take charge of security. In 2012, that process of transition took firmhold across the country. The transitionis now well underway. We havetransitioned an area that involves 75 percent of the Afghan population. And that population is increasingly secure.
Asa result, we are on track for two key milestones. One is that the Afghans will be in the leadthroughout the country for security in mid 2013. And Afghans will ultimately fullresponsibility for security by the end of 2014. After 2014, the United States has made clear through a strategicpartnership agreement, that we will maintain an enduring presence, and a longterm commitment to Afghan security. AndNATO made a similar commitment to a post 2014 Afghanistan at the Chicago summitlast May.
Allof this sends a very simple, and a very powerful message to al-Qaeda, to theTaliban, and to the violent extremist groups who want to regain a safe haven inAfghanistan: we are not going anywhere. Our commitment to Afghanistan is long term, and you cannot wait usout. This is important, becauseal-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other associated forces under pressure in Pakistan,continue to view the rugged terrain of northeastern Afghanistan, especiallyKunar and Nuristan provinces, as a viable safe haven. A relentless, and effective counterterrorismeffort, conducted by our Special Operations Forces this year, made clear thatwe will not allow them to regain that sanctuary.
Asa result of prolonged military and intelligence operations, al-Qaeda has beensignificantly weakened in Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Its most effective leaders are gone. Its command, and control have been degraded,and its safe haven is shrinking. Al-Qaeda's ability to carry out a large scale attack on the UnitedStates, has been seriously impacted. And as a result, America is safer from a9/11 type attack.
Thesegains are real, but it is important to point out that even with these gains,the threat from al-Qaeda has not been eliminated.
Wehave slowed a primary cancer, but we know that the cancer has also metastasizedto other parts of the global body.
Twoexamples of that spreading al-Qaeda presence, are Yemen and Somalia.
Foryears our eyes have been wide open to the growing capabilities of Yemen-basedal-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has also targeted our homeland forattack, and sowed violence and chaos in Yemen itself. We have struck back in an effort to disruptand dismantle this group through a very close partnership with the governmentof Yemen.
Bytraining local security forces, we are building and training a counterterrorismforce poised to be the most effective over the long term. And that force is the Yemenisthemselves. And by participating injoint efforts against key leaders, and key operatives, we have putunprecedented pressure on AQAP, and given the Yemeni people an opportunity tofree themselves from the grip of these terrorists. AQAP leaders who have targeted the UnitedStates have met their demise. Plots havebeen disrupted, and innocent lives have been saved.
Butthis fight has not been easy. As Yemen'sgovernment became destabilized last year, AQAP attempted to seize theinitiative, taking control of several key cities in the south of Yemen. In the months since, AQAP's advances havebeen largely reversed through a renewed, and even more effective partnershipwith Yemen’s new government led by President Hadi.
Ourwork in Yemen is far from done. Dismantling AQAP, eliminating it as a threat to the United States willultimately require sustained pressure, more U.S. training and assistance, closepartnership with the Yemeni government, and the Yemeni people, and steadfastsupport for political transition.
Anothercountry we have made good process in recently is Somalia. For years, when I became Director of the CIA,it was obvious that Somalia was a failed state. A failed state where the militant group al-Shaabab controlled largepieces of territory, declared fealty to al-Qaeda, brought about a humanitariancrisis, and planned attacks in the region. But there too, we have seen significant progress, in large part becauseof an effective partnership between the United States, and the African UnionMission in Somalia.
Theresult of these efforts is an al-Shaabab that has lost more than 50 percent ofthe territory it had held in early 2010. And since losing control of Mogadishu in August of 2011, hundreds ofal-Shaabab fighters have surrendered to AMISOM forces. These forces recently took the stronghold ofKismayo, and a number of other strategic towns. And as a result today, al-Shaabab is diminished as a threat, and we continueto work every day to consolidate these gains against these terrorists.
Butstill our challenge is far from over. Yes, we have decimated coreal-Qaeda. And yes, we have made notableprogress against its associated forces in Yemen and Somalia. And yes, we have reduced the chance of alarge scale terrorist attack against the United States.
Buttheal-Qaeda cancer, has also adapted to this pressure by becoming even more widelydistributed, loosely knit, and geographically dispersed.
Thefight against al-Qaeda has taken a new direction. One that demands that we be especiallyadaptable and resilient as we continue the fight. President Obama has made clear, we will fightnot just through military means, but by harnessing every element of American power: military, intelligence, diplomatic, lawenforcement, financial, economic, and above all, the power of our values asAmericans.
Al-Qaedahas long sought to operate in areas beyond the reach of effective security andgovernance. After being left on thesidelines of the momentous changes that swept through the Arab world last year,they are now seeking to take advantage of the transition period, to gain newsanctuary, to incite violence, and to sow instability.
Weknow that al-Qaeda, its affiliates and adherents are looking to establish afoothold in other countries in the Middle East, and north and west Africa,including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and the Boko Haram group in Nigeria.
Theinternational community, and our regional partners share our concern aboutMali, where al-Qaeda affiliated groups are now taking control of territories inthe north, and pose an emerging threat.
Weare also concerned about Libya, where violent extremists and affiliates ofal-Qaeda attacked and killed innocent Americans in Benghazi. With respect to that attack, let me be clear,we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice those who perpetratedthose attacks.
Toprotect Americans at home and overseas, we need to continue to pursue al-Qaedawherever they go, whatever form they take, wherever they seek to hide. We must be constantly vigilant. We must be constantly determined to pursuethis enemy.
Butwhat will it take to achieve the end of al-Qaeda, or at least the beginning ofthe end?
First,it will be essential to finish the job that we started, and that we mustcomplete in Afghanistan, and we are on track to do that. As we and our NATO partners agreed at Lisbon,Afghans need to responsible for their own security by the end of 2014. This transition is our goal, and it's theAfghan's goal as well. But it willrequire continued commitment by the international community, and the UnitedStates in order to help the Afghan forces achieve that goal. We have come too far, we have invested toomuch blood, and treasure not to finish the job. There are no shortcuts, nor can we afford to turn away from this effortwhen we are so close to achieving success in preventing al-Qaeda from everreturning to this historic epicenter for violent extremism.
Second,we will need to maintain pressure on al-Qaeda in Pakistan, on AQAP in Yemen,and on al-Qaeda-associated forces in Somalia. That means degrading senior leadership, dismantling their organizationalcapabilities, remaining vigilant, to ensure the threat does not reconstitute,and working to build the capacity of our partners, including Pakistan, toconfront these shared threats. Despite challengesin the bilateral relationship between the United States and Pakistan, one areain which our national interests continue to align, is defeating the terroriston Pakistan soil that threaten both of us. We remain committed to pursuing defense cooperation based on theseshared interests.
Thirdly,we must prevent the emergence of new safe havens for al-Qaeda elsewhere in theworld that could be used to attack the United States, or our interests. The last decade of war has shown thatcoordinated efforts to share intelligence, to conduct operations with partners,are critical to making sure that al-Qaeda has no place to hide. We will expand these efforts, includingthrough support and partnership with governments in transition in the MiddleEast and North Africa.
Thiscampaign against al-Qaeda will largely take place outside declared combatzones, using a small footprint approach, that includes precision operations,partnered activities with foreign Special Forces operations, and capacitybuilding so that partner countries can be more effective in combating terrorismon their own.
Wherever possible, we will work through, andwith local partners, supporting them with the intelligence and resources theyneed in order to deter these common threats. For example in Mali, we are working with our partners in Western Africawho are committed to countering the emerging threat to regional stability posedby AQIM.
Fourth,in support of these kinds of efforts, we have to invest in the future, in newmilitary and intelligence capabilities, and security partnerships. Our new defense strategy makes clear that themilitary must retain, and even build new counterterrorism capabilities for thefuture. As we reduce the size of themilitary, we are going to continue to ramp up special operations forces, whichhave doubled in size from 37,000 on 9/11, to 64,000 today. Special operations forces will grow to 72,000by 2017. We are expanding our fleet ofPredator and Reaper UAVs, over what we have today. These enhanced capabilities will enable us tobe more flexible, and agile against a threat that has grown more diffuse.
Weare also continuing to invest in building partner capacity, including throughSection 1206 authority to train and equip foreign military forces. Our new Global Security Contingency Fund hasbeen very helpful in placing new emphasis on cultivating regional expertise inthe ranks.
Whichbrings me to the final point, that too often takes a backseat to our operationsagainst al-Qaeda. What do we do toprevent extremist ideologies from attracting new recruits in the future?
Overthe past decade, we have successfully directed our military, and intelligencecapabilities at fighting terrorism. Andyet, we are still struggling to develop an effective approach to address thefactors that attract young men and women to extreme ideologies, and to ensurethat governments and societies have the capacity, and the will to counter, andreject violent extremism.
Totruly end the threat from al-Qaeda, military force aimed at killing our enemyalone will never be enough. The UnitedStates must stay involved and invested through diplomacy, through development,through education, through trade in those regions of the world where violentextremism has flourished.
Thatmeans continued engagement in Pakistan, and following through on thecommitments we have made in Afghanistan to their long term stability. Secretary Clinton has also outlined acomprehensive strategy for North and West Africa, combining security assistance,economic development, strengthening democratic institutions, advancingpolitical reforms.
Theseregions are undergoing an historic transition that offers many in the regionhope for a better future. But thesechanges, unless influenced by the international community, could result ingreater turmoil. The American peoplewere outraged by the loss of Ambassador Chris Stevens, and three others inBenghazi. They were emissaries of peace,and friends of Libya. And the Libyanpeople have turned against the violent extremists who killed them.
Ofcourse we will be vigilant, and we will posture our military, and intelligenceforces to prevent, and if necessary, respond to threats of violence against ourinterests throughout the Middle East and North Africa, including threatsagainst our embassies, and consulates, and our diplomats themselves.
Butto truly protect America, we must sustain, and in some areas deepen ourengagement in the world. Our military,intelligence, diplomatic, and development efforts are key to doing that. After all, we are confronting a number ofchallenges in the Middle East and North Africa. At some point, we must find ways to peacefully resolve the war in Syria,the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and the destabilizing threatfrom Iran. And every -- every time andover time we also must address the religious, economic, and culturaldifferences that create tension, and that are exploited by extremists.
Stillas our country emerges from a decade of large-scale conflict, and confronts newfiscal constraints here at home, I frankly worry that our political system willprevent us from making the investments in diplomacy, and development that weneed to ensure we protect America's interests in these volatile regions of theworld.
Theseinvestments, unfortunately, lack a constituency in the Congress at a time of greatfiscal pressure. Indeed we face theprospect of budget sequestration that would be devastating to nationalsecurity, not just because of what it does to our national defense, but alsofor what it does to these programs that support diplomacy, and enhance ourquality of life.
Ourmen and women in uniform know too well what sacrifice is all about for the sakeof our nation. For more than a decadeafter we were attacked on September 11, they have fought, they have bled, ondistant battlefields, and they have made our country safer. If we turn away from these critical regionsof the world, we risk undoing the significant gains they have fought for. That would make all of us less safe in thelong term.
Thisis not a time for retrenchment. This isnot a time for isolation. It is a timefor renewed engagement, and partnership in the world.
AfterIraq and Afghanistan we are entering, as I said, a new and different era with amultitude of different threats and challenges. The United States military must prepare for these challenges, and wewill. But America must continue to leadthis fight against al-Qaeda. Ourpartners demand it, the threat demands it, and our fellow citizens demand it.
OnSeptember 11, 2001, the United States was thrust into a war that we did not askfor, nor did we seek. Over 11 yearslater, we have fought back with a vengeance, to make clear we will do whateverwe must to make sure 9/11 never happens again.
Wehave made America safer, but we must not rest until we have made America safe,today, and tomorrow. Thank you verymuch.
Thankyou.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder