Kilmer Poses Questions Regarding Syria to Defense Secretary Hagel and General Dempsey at HASC Hearing
After receiving thousands of responses from constituents on the potential US involvement in the Syrian conflict, Representative Derek Kilmer today posed questions asked by his constituents to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey during a House Armed Services Committee Meeting.
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An excerpted transcript of the exchange between of Representative Kilmer, Secretary Hagel, and General Dempsey follows:
Representative Kilmer: In the short time I have been in Congress this is clearly the most consequential issue that we’ve dealt with. I sent an email to my constituents last week and I’ve literally gotten thousands of responses back including from veterans and from servicemembers serving overseas – and all of them ask some very real questions about whether or not Congress should authorize the President to take military action in Syria. And I appreciate your willingness to be here to help answer some of those questions.
We’ve repeatedly discussed the need to show the integrity of our commitment with action – and that Iran and North Korea are watching. One of the most common questions or themes that I’ve been asked about is what happens if we approve the use of military force, and Assad crosses the line again? At that point how do we keep this from escalating and how do we limit further military actions that it is clear the people have a great deal of skepticism about?
Secretary Hagel: […] We believe based on our intelligence, based on our close coordination with partners in the area – note as General Dempsey says there’s no perfect answer to your question - and because of every contingency and option we’ve provided, that if we in fact carry forward with the options the president may use, this will specifically address the clearly defined objective of degrading and deterring his capability to further use chemical weapons. Now if he would choose – if that would occur – if he would choose to accelerate his efforts and use chemical weapons again, then certainly the President of the United States has every option – not just militarily – but other options available to him. I can’t speak to the President but my guess would be he would come back to the Congress and ask for further authorization. The president always has that option to defend the interest of this country and I believe he would.
General Dempsey: The only thing I’ll add ,sir, is the US, what is it that causes us to believe that we can manage the risk of escalation? I think it’s the combination of the limited nature of the military operation as conceived. I think it’s our ability to over match opponents in that part of the world. And it’s our forward presence. And back to the budget issues we’ve been talking about. It’s why forward presence is such an important part of our national security strategy.
Representative Kilmer: […] The other main thing I’ve heard from folks in my neck of the woods is they want to know that all other options have been exhausted prior to taking military action. Particularly in light of news that Russia is recommending disarmament of chemical weapons from Syria, do you believe that there are further opportunities to achieve a diplomatic resolution to this crisis? Are there other tools that we ought to be looking at? Are there any further sanctions that ought to be contemplated? What other tools should be contemplated if any?
Secretary Hagel: […] We have exhausted almost every diplomatic option in this effort. This is why I noted in my remarks earlier in response to some questions earlier this morning that Secretary Kerry continues to lead this Geneva II process, diplomatic resolution, political settlement. I think most of us believe, the President does, I do, I think most of our partners in the world believe that’s the only way that this is going to get settled. With some diplomatic political resolution. We’re continuing to play that card out and stay on that track. Evidence of the development in the last 48 hours – what Secretary Kerry noted a couple of hours ago. So we are pursuing that track as well.