Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh held a press briefing on Friday.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon.
00:07Just a few things at the top, and then happy to jump in and take your questions.
00:12As you know, on Wednesday, Secretary Austin concluded his 11th trip to the Indo-Pacific.
00:18With stops in Tokyo, Japan, and Manila, Philippines, the Secretary participated in a series of
00:23historic engagements as part of the Department's ongoing work to bolster our partnerships and
00:28alliances to advance a shared vision of regional peace, stability, and deterrence.
00:34Highlights from the trip included 2-plus-2 meetings with the Secretary's Japanese and
00:38Philippine counterparts, as well as a historic first-ever trilateral ministerial meeting
00:44between the U.S., Japan, and the ROC.
00:48Additionally, the Secretary made a trip to Subic Bay in the Philippines, where he met
00:52with service members and DOD personnel hard at work strengthening our defense industrial
00:57bases like never before.
00:59The Secretary's 11th trip to the region highlighted yet again how, under the leadership of the
01:04Biden-Harris administration, the United States is delivering historic results in the Indo-Pacific.
01:09The United States is operating with our partners and allies more closely and more capably than
01:13ever, and together, we are working to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.
01:20Switching gears, Secretary Austin spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Golant this morning
01:25about the destabilizing threats posed by Iran, its partners, and proxies.
01:30The Secretary reiterated ironclad support for Israel's security and informed the minister
01:35of additional measures to include ongoing and future defensive force posture changes
01:41that the department will take to support the defense of Israel.
01:45Secretary Austin highlighted that further escalation is not inevitable and that all
01:50countries in the region would benefit from de-escalation intentions, including through
01:54completing a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
01:58He also stressed that the unprecedented scale of U.S. support for Israel since October 7th
02:04should leave Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and other Iranian-backed terrorist groups with
02:08no doubt about U.S. resolve.
02:12Switching gears, the Senate this week confirmed more than 3,000 officers nominated throughout
02:16the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force.
02:21The Senate also fully confirmed Dr. Michael Suhlmeier to be Assistant Secretary of Defense
02:25for Cyber Policy.
02:27Together, they will all continue to be great leaders within our department and will ensure
02:32we remain the finest military in the world.
02:35The Senate Armed Services Committee also voted this week to advance Tanya Wilkinson, nominee
02:39to be Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.
02:43We now urge the Senate to confirm all of our civilian and military nominees waiting for
02:47action on the Senate floor.
02:50And finally, the Department of Defense, in coordination with the Department of Veterans
02:55Affairs, developed Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry to assist service members
03:00and veterans in documenting potential exposure to airborne hazards during overseas deployment.
03:07The VA announced updates to the Burn Pit Registry yesterday, and registry updates will now allow
03:12service members and veterans to provide more feedback, expand participation criteria, automatically
03:18include participants, and simplify registry requirements.
03:22To learn more, visit the registry site at www.publichealth.va.gov.
03:29And with that, I'd be happy to take your questions.
03:30Tara, why don't you start us off?
03:33Yeah.
03:34I wanted to ask about the Middle East.
03:37What if any sort of contingency planning is occurring to assist Americans in evacuation
03:42if that's needed, and what types of forced posture changes are being considered to better
03:48protect troops if this escalates?
03:50I'll take the second question first.
03:53So as you know, and as we've demonstrated since October and again in April, the United
03:59States' global defense is dynamic, and the department retains the capability to deploy
04:04on short notice to meet evolving national security threats.
04:08So as a result, the Secretary will be directing multiple forthcoming forced posture moves
04:14to bolster forced protection for U.S. forces regionwide, to provide elevated support to
04:20the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to this evolving
04:24crisis.
04:25In terms of what specifics that means, I don't have that for you right now.
04:29Again, that's something that the Secretary will be directing at a later time, but when
04:35we have more specifics, I'll certainly come back to you.
04:39In terms of planning measures, we are a planning organization, as I know you've heard us say
04:43before.
04:44So I'm not going to engage in hypotheticals, but of course we always have contingency plans
04:49in place.
04:50But again, just not going to go down the hypothetical route.
04:53So on the forced posture changes though, you say at a later date, are we talking, I mean,
04:59within hours, within a couple of days, by this weekend?
05:02And would these troops be being pulled from the Indo-Pacific, or are these domestic forces
05:06that would be sent?
05:09In terms of specific troops or capabilities, again, this is something that's with the Secretary,
05:14and the Secretary will be deciding.
05:16I don't have a specific timeline for you.
05:18Once we have more information, as you know, we'll certainly provide it.
05:22But at this moment, I just don't have that.
05:24Oren.
05:25I just want to be clear here.
05:27Yesterday, President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and spoke of,
05:30and I quote here, new defensive U.S. military deployments.
05:35Those haven't been ordered yet?
05:36He was speaking hypothetically yesterday, or have they been decided and ordered at this
05:40point?
05:41The Secretary and the President have been in close conversations about this.
05:48The Secretary will be directing forthcoming forced posture moves to bolster our force
05:53protection.
05:55So there's a commitment that was made in the call with the President and Prime Minister
05:59Netanyahu in terms of what specific units, what specific capabilities.
06:04That's something that the Secretary will decide.
06:07I don't have an exact timeline of when that decision will be made, but that was a commitment
06:11that the President reiterated to Prime Minister Netanyahu that you saw on the call yesterday.
06:16And again, the Secretary reiterated that in his call with Minister Gallant that happened
06:19earlier this morning.
06:20And just to be clear on the wording here, because the word defensive is very prominent
06:25in what you're saying.
06:26There are no – it is purely defensive?
06:28Is this ground-based air defenses?
06:29Is it air defenses based on destroyers?
06:33And you're not shifting any offensive capabilities?
06:36So appreciate the question.
06:38So again, these are defensive capabilities.
06:42As we have done before since October 7th and what we did on April 13th, all of our capabilities
06:49that we have there in the region are defensive and to send a message of deterrence.
06:56The Secretary on his call committed to Minister Gallant that the United States will stand
07:00with Israel in their self-defense.
07:03So these would be defensive capabilities if needed.
07:05Yeah, Phil.
07:06Just a couple of follow-ups.
07:09Just to be – so the Secretary has not yet decided on what capabilities to deploy, but
07:15does that mean also that he's not necessarily decided whether additional – whether there
07:20are – there's a need for additional forces beyond what's already in the region right
07:25now?
07:26And I'm talking about additional – even if there were some troops rotating in or rotating
07:30out, additional to kind of the status quo as it stands, not the actual units.
07:35So there could be additional units that come in with additional capabilities, as those
07:38capabilities would need to be operated by additional people.
07:42But again, I'm not going to get ahead of any decisions that the Secretary has not made
07:47yet.
07:48All I can tell you is that he, in his call with Minister Gallant, committed to bolster
07:56force protection in the region.
07:58And of course, as Oren was saying earlier, additional defensive capabilities if needed
08:04for the support of Israel.
08:05I guess what I'm trying to understand is, does that mean a plus-up or not in terms of
08:10overall U.S. forces and capabilities in the region?
08:14It certainly could mean additional capabilities and people in the region, as those people
08:20would have to operate if the Secretary decides to include more defensive capabilities, they're
08:29going to need to be operated by additional people.
08:31So again, I don't have the decision yet from the Secretary.
08:34The Secretary – it's something that he's going to continue to weigh, and when we have
08:42more to read out, we certainly will.
08:44Tony.
08:45Well, on the units that are already in the region, is it possible the Secretary would
08:50order a repositioning of the 24th MEU and the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Battle Group
08:55from the Gulf of Oman up this Red Sea and through the Suez Canal to off of Israel and
09:04Lebanon?
09:05Is that a possibility?
09:06So you have to remember that the ARG MEU has always been operating within the eastern Mediterranean.
09:12So she remains in the eastern Mediterranean.
09:14And just like we saw with the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group that was in the CENTCOM AOR earlier
09:21this year, the Eisenhower continued to move around within the AOR.
09:25So the TR could move around within the AOR, but of course I'm not going to get ahead
09:30of any movements or force posture changes that the commander decides to make or that
09:34the Secretary decides to make.
09:36Force posture in those cases could be repositioning of ships already in the region versus bringing
09:41in new vessels from Asia or something.
09:45There could be a repositioning of assets, but again, that's something that the Secretary
09:49will be directing, and I'm not going to get ahead of any decisions that the Secretary
09:52has made at this time.
09:53Do you think that's why he can do this today or later today?
09:55I don't have a timeline for you.
09:57Yeah.
09:58Of course.
09:59Yeah.
10:00Thank you, Sabrina.
10:01For the Italian television, what kind of talk or coordination the Pentagon has or having
10:05or had with states like Italy or Southern European states that can be more involved
10:11in support of the U.S. in case of Iranian attack to Israel?
10:16And the second question is, is that the kind of talk that the Pentagon is having with the
10:21Arabic state that are part of the deal, the negotiation that now have to be neutral between
10:28Iran and Israel?
10:30So those are my two questions.
10:32What's the strategy?
10:33So we're always in touch with our partners and allies.
10:36As you've seen with the events of October 7th, and you've also seen with the coalition
10:43of Operation Prosperity Guardian, that is allies and partners coming together in the
10:48region, either to support in the defense of Israel or to ensure that commercial shipping
10:53can continue through the Red Sea and ensure that the international rules-based order is
10:58upheld.
10:59So this is something that we're always in touch with our allies and partners on.
11:03In terms of, you know, any calls to read out, I don't have anything more additional to provide,
11:07but I can assure you that at all levels of government, whether here at the department
11:11or somewhere else, we are always in communication when it comes to what is happening in the
11:18region and, of course, closely coordinating with our partners.
11:20I mean, for maybe I haven't asked what I meant.
11:25It's like if the Pentagon have asked for military support on the Mediterranean close
11:32to Israel, to the European Union.
11:36I don't have anything to read out.
11:37But as you know, Operation Prosperity Guardian is a coalition of like-minded nations coming
11:43together to ensure that, you know, commercial trade can continue to flow through, but also
11:50responding to the ongoing attacks from the Houthis that they continue to lob at our
11:56ships, allied partners in ships, and commercial vessels.
12:00So I just don't have anything more to read out for you, but I would point you to the
12:04fact that we have this large coalition that's already operating within the Red Sea.
12:09Charlie.
12:10Yes, thank you.
12:11Sabrina, when it comes to the timeline, the U.S. military isn't the only one that gets
12:16a vote.
12:18There will be a window that we've been expecting, learning over the next sort of 72 hours, late
12:25Sunday, Monday, where Iran might retaliate, Hezbollah might even retaliate before that,
12:30and then a joint retaliation.
12:32So whether the decisions have been made, wouldn't there have been a movement of U.S. resources
12:38already in order to defend against that?
12:40Well, Charlie, I would remind you that in the Eastern Mediterranean and in the CENTCOM
12:45AOR, we have many, many assets that are there.
12:48You have the ARGMU that is continuing to operate in the Eastern Mediterranean.
12:54There are also destroyers there.
12:55You have the TR and the entire carrier strike group that's also continuing to operate in
13:01the CENTCOM AOR.
13:03So it's not like we don't have assets or coverage in the region.
13:07I think that's important.
13:08Again, this is a decision that the Secretary is weighing, and he committed to Minister
13:17Gallant and the President committed to Netanyahu that we will be bolstering our force protection
13:22in the region.
13:23But what specific assets we'll be moving, I just don't have that for you right now.
13:29When I do, we'll certainly let you know.
13:31But presumably, some of that would already have to be underway, if you're talking about
13:35force posture changes.
13:36Again, I don't have anything to announce right now.
13:38Yes?
13:39To what extent are you concerned about or seeing any indications that Iran may attempt
13:46to retaliate against Israel outside of the Middle East?
13:50Well, I've seen their public comments.
13:54I don't have anything more to provide other than I can point you to the fact that they
13:57have, publicly, of what they've said.
14:00In terms of what we are doing here at the Department is we will stand with Israel in
14:05their self-defense.
14:06And that was something that the Secretary reiterated to Minister Gallant on his call
14:09this morning.
14:10Is there any communication between the U.S. and Iran, directly or indirectly, to prevent
14:16any further escalation?
14:17On behalf of the Department, I don't have anything to read out.
14:19Yeah, Chris.
14:20Thanks, Sabrina.
14:21The Iraqi government and the spokesman for their armed forces expressed outrage at the
14:27U.S. airstrike in Iraq a couple days ago on the UAV site and said it violated Iraqi sovereignty.
14:34Did the U.S. discuss that military action with the Iraqis, and what is the Pentagon's
14:38response on whether that airstrike violated Iraqi sovereignty?
14:43You're talking about the airstrike that we took on the 30th?
14:48Yes.
14:49So that airstrike was a defensive airstrike, and we were targeting combatants that were
14:55attempting to launch one-way attack, an uncrewed attack system at our forces.
15:02So it was a defensive measure that we took.
15:04In terms of communication with the Iraqi government, I would point you to CENTCOM to
15:08speak to that.
15:09Okay.
15:10Yes.
15:11On the same Iraqi comments, the Iraqi government says that this attack undermines all the efforts
15:18and diplomatic and technical discussion with the U.S. government.
15:22So what's your comment on that?
15:23Has this affected your communication, your discussions with the Iraqi government when
15:27it comes to the higher military commission and also all the discussion with the Iraqi
15:31government?
15:32We don't believe that it's impacted conversations related to the higher military commission.
15:38We have been very, very clear that we will take measures in order to ensure our forces
15:44are safe in the region.
15:45And that's what you saw with that July 30th strike.
15:49We were taking measures because we saw that an attack was about to be launched on our
15:54forces.
15:55And we've been very clear about that with the Iraqi government, both publicly here from
16:00the podium – you've heard me say that a number of times – and privately.
16:04We will always take measures that we need to in order to ensure our servicemembers'
16:09safety in the region.
16:11And so we did just that on July 30th.
16:13If needed, we will continue to do that.
16:15And we've been pretty clear about that from the beginning.
16:18Yeah.
16:19And as it comes to the Iranian response to the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, it's expected
16:24that the Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran be involved in targeting the U.S. forces in
16:29Iraq and Syria.
16:30So have you reached the Iraqi government to prevent any such attack in Iraq?
16:35I'm sorry.
16:36Can you repeat the question?
16:38When it comes to the Iranian response to the Ismail Haniyeh's killing and attacking Israel,
16:43there are some officials and also there are some reports suggesting that the Iraqi militia
16:48groups may attack the U.S. forces inside Iraq and in Syria in the response to that.
16:53Okay.
16:54Sorry.
16:55And have you reached the Iraqi government to prevent such attack?
16:56Yeah.
16:57I'm sorry.
16:58I didn't understand your question at the beginning.
17:00I've seen the public comments that were made about from, you know, allowing attacks on
17:09U.S. forces.
17:10And what I will say to you is what exactly I said for your first question, is that we
17:14will always take measures to ensure the safety and security of our personnel stationed anywhere
17:19around the world.
17:20I'm not going to get into hypotheticals.
17:22I'll just leave it at that.
17:23I'm going to go to the phones and I'm happy to come back in the room.
17:27Dan Lamothe, Washington Post.
17:28Thanks, Sabrina.
17:29I appreciate it.
17:30I made a couple of checks this week and it appears we've had no U.S. destroyers in the
17:35Red Sea for several days at a pretty dynamic time.
17:40Can you explain that decision?
17:41Is there something going on there, you know, in light of the Houthi attack that caught
17:46me by surprise?
17:47Thanks, Dan, for your question.
17:50In terms of, you know, movements within the Red Sea and positions of different ships,
17:55I'd really direct you to CENTCOM to speak to that.
17:59As you know, they put out almost daily updates of, you know, engagements that they have done,
18:05either shooting down incoming missiles that are coming from Houthi-controlled areas in
18:09Yemen or other engagements.
18:12But I would remind you that just because a U.S. ship is not in the Red Sea does not mean
18:18that you don't have other coalition ships, part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, in
18:23the Red Sea and continuing to engage in, you know, attacks coming from Houthi-controlled areas.
18:31I will take another one from the phone.
18:33Jeff Schogol, Task and Purpose.
18:36Have any units been placed on prepare-to-deploy orders in light of the situation with Israel
18:42and Iran and Hezbollah?
18:45And also, there were two non-combat deaths in Iraq.
18:49Does OSD have any information about what happened?
18:52Thanks, Jeff, for your question.
18:55So I would direct you to the Army to speak more to those non-combat deaths that you referenced.
19:02So I just don't have more for you at this time.
19:04In terms of any units placed on PTDO orders, again, as I mentioned, the Secretary spoke
19:13with Minister Gallant earlier today.
19:16He is going to make the decision, we are going to make a decision on ongoing and future
19:22defensive force posture changes.
19:25I'm not aware that any units have been put on PTDO orders at this time.
19:30And when we have more to provide, we certainly will.
19:33I'll come back in the room.
19:34Yeah, Janie.
19:35Thank you, Sabrina, a couple of questions.
19:38South Korea's Defense Minister said recently there was a possibility that North Korea would
19:46conduct its seventh nuclear test before or after the U.S. presidential election.
19:56What do you think about the possibility of North Korea interfering in the U.S. presidential
20:05election?
20:06Well, Janie, as we've mentioned before, you know, those tests are extremely destabilizing
20:10to the region.
20:11And we want to see a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
20:16On the Secretary's trip to the Indo-Pacific, as I mentioned at the top, you know, he held
20:20a historic trilateral meeting in Tokyo with the Minister of Defense from Korea and the
20:28Japanese Foreign Minister.
20:29And of course, something that came up was the DPRK's continued destabilizing actions.
20:35And this was a large topic of conversation throughout the week.
20:41It's something that we're going to continue to monitor.
20:43It's something that we'll always work with our ROK and Japanese allies on and coordinating
20:47on.
20:48But any tests like that are incredibly destabilizing to the region and we'll continue to monitor.
20:54Okay, one more last question.
20:56Bipin Narang, acting Assistant Secretary for Space Policy, recently said that if North
21:05Korea-China-Russia do not change their nuclear trajectories, the scale of the U.S. nuclear
21:14posture must be changed, I mean, adjusted.
21:18Do you think it is possible to increase nuclear assets in South Korea?
21:24No.
21:25No, I mean, I would, sorry, I should have been so direct.
21:29I haven't seen all of his comments.
21:32Certainly, what we want to see is a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
21:38The Secretary, while in Tokyo, made a number of announcements that I'm sure you're tracking
21:43on the upgrade of U.S. Forces Japan to a unified command.
21:49Beyond that, I don't have any more announcements.
21:50And I'm sorry, I just haven't seen some of those comments, so I don't have more to add
21:53at this time.
21:55In the back, yeah.
21:56Yes, thank you.
21:57You noted that in his conversation with Defense Minister Gallant, Secretary Austin expressed
22:04concern about the dangers of escalation.
22:08Did he also speak to Gallant or warn Israel about the dangers of escalating the conflict?
22:17Should Iran retaliate, prompting a large-scale Israeli retaliation or strike on Iran?
22:27Is that something that was discussed?
22:29And if so, how?
22:30Yeah.
22:31So we'll have a readout later today of their call.
22:34I'm not really going to go beyond what I said at the top, other than to emphasize that
22:40the Secretary highlighted that escalation is not inevitable and that all countries in
22:46the region would benefit from de-escalation.
22:48And I'll leave it at that.
22:49If I could just follow up, you noted again that the Secretary talked about the dangers
22:56of escalation.
22:58President Biden said that the assassination of Hanea was not helpful to the ceasefire
23:06negotiation process.
23:07Doesn't this bolstering of defense for Israel represent a kind of reward to Israel for destabilizing
23:17that very process that both the Secretary and the President are saying they want to
23:22continue?
23:23No, I'd respectfully push back on that.
23:26What we are doing to bolster our capabilities is in the defense of Israel and by nature
23:30is defensive.
23:32So no, I wouldn't say that it escalates tension.
23:36In fact, some of the decisions that the Secretary has made since October 7th, you might remember
23:40we moved the Ford, the USS Ford carrier strike group, to the Eastern Med on October 8th.
23:46We moved the Ike soon thereafter to the CENTCOM AOR.
23:50These were all to project a message of deterrence.
23:53We certainly do not want to see this spread out to a wider regional conflict.
23:57We don't believe it has right now.
23:59We're going to continue to urge for de-escalation.
24:02And the best way for that to happen is for this ceasefire deal to come through.
24:08And so we can get American hostages out as well.
24:12But we believe that that would be the best way to de-escalate and further lower tensions
24:17in the region.
24:18Louie.
24:19Sorry, I thought I saw you over there.
24:20Two questions.
24:21Sure.
24:23You noted that the commitment has been made by the President and by the Secretary.
24:30What is triggering those commitments?
24:33I think you can point to events that have happened in the past week.
24:40Again, we don't want to see an escalation.
24:43We want to see things to de-escalate.
24:45And because of that, we are committing defensive capabilities to the region that I don't have
24:51an announcement of what those will be.
24:53But when we do, we will certainly read those out.
24:55And the second one, in this answer right here, you kind of spoke to it.
24:58But by making this public, isn't this just a deterrent as well?
25:04Speaking from the podium?
25:05Yes.
25:06Yes.
25:07Announcing that there is a commitment that the Secretary will decide on force protection
25:12measures that have not been actually decided on yet, which is kind of atypical, actually,
25:17for this building to actually make an announcement like this.
25:19So therefore, I mean, isn't your statement in itself a deterrent?
25:26I mean, of course, we are – when it comes to messaging, we do things publicly and privately.
25:33So public messaging, we're very clear about the defensive capabilities that we are committing
25:38to the region and that we are going to bolster them.
25:41Because we don't want to see tensions continue to rise.
25:44We want to see a de-escalation.
25:46So if they are – if someone is watching this briefing overseas, I think we are being
25:54very direct in our messaging that certainly we don't want to see heightened tensions.
25:59And we do believe there is an off-ramp here, and that is that ceasefire deal.
26:03Once that comes through and once hostages are released, that's what we really want
26:08to see here.
26:09And we've said it from the beginning on – the next day following October 7th is
26:14we don't want to see a wider regional conflict.
26:17We don't believe we are there.
26:19And that's partly because we moved assets to the region that do project power and that
26:24also, I think, send a very strong message of deterrence.
26:27I'm going to go to the phones and then happy to come back over here.
26:31Howard Altman, Warzone.
26:32Thanks, Sabrina.
26:33Can you confirm that the Air Force is going to be sending additional combat aircraft to
26:40the region in response to all this?
26:43What kind of airframes?
26:45Can you tell me?
26:46Yeah.
26:47Thanks, Howard, for the question.
26:48I cannot at this time.
26:49Sam Legrone, USNI.
26:58Okay.
26:59Happy to come back in the room.
27:00Goyal.
27:02I have two questions, please.
27:03Sure.
27:04One, this was the first time that Secretary – there was an interaction between U.S.
27:08and India, but Secretary met not the defense minister of India but the foreign minister
27:13of India, Mr. Jaishankar.
27:15And this was the first meeting after Prime Minister Modi visited Moscow.
27:21So what was discussed between the two about this meeting, the foreign minister, not the
27:25defense minister of India?
27:27I think that question is better directed for the State Department.
27:30Secretary Blinken held that meeting.
27:31It was a quad meeting, so I direct you to the State Department to speak more to that.
27:36Second, madam, thousands of people, millions of people watched burning of U.S. flag in
27:43Washington, D.C. during that demonstration.
27:46Many were upset, including in my community, that burning of U.S. flag is like a unity
27:52– U.S. stands for unity and united.
27:56This building, many from this building, men and women, they fight every day to protect
28:00the U.S. flag.
28:01So what were the comments from the Secretary about those demonstration had nothing to do
28:05with the U.S. flag, but they burned it and brought down and they brought another flag
28:11on there, Hamas flag?
28:14So we certainly don't support the burning of American flags and we certainly don't
28:20support the raising of a flag from Hamas.
28:24I believe even the White House put out a statement on that.
28:28It was something that we monitored from here when it came to some of those demonstrations
28:34here in Washington, D.C., but that's not something that we support.
28:37That's not something that reflects the values of this building or this administration.
28:40Okay, Oren and then Chris, and then have you come back.
28:45Sorry, Oren.
28:46I'm looking – I said Oren, but I'm looking at Chris.
28:48Go ahead.
28:49You said twice now, once in the opener and once a couple minutes ago, ongoing and future
28:53defensive force posture changes.
28:55We get the future part, the discussions, the decisions that will be made.
28:58What's the ongoing part?
29:00Are there movements that have already happened or are happening based on orders that have
29:03already been given?
29:04No, it's just ongoing is what the commander decides in the region, so what he decides
29:08to move and reposition where, and I don't have anything to read out right now, but that
29:12would be the ongoing part.
29:13Those have been made already or are being made?
29:15I think ongoing means they will be made, but I'm just not going to get into a discussion
29:21on tenses from here.
29:22Okay, Chris.
29:23Thanks.
29:24Just a numbers clarification.
29:27The airstrike in Iraq came in response to cases of rockets being launched towards U.S.
29:33troops in Iraq and Syria.
29:35What is the total number of attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan since
29:40October?
29:41So, I mean, Chris, just one correction here.
29:49Not so much a response, but we saw, we saw forces assembling to attack U.S. forces in
29:58Iraq or U.S. forces in the region, and so we took defensive action.
30:04So I think it's important to remember that's not necessarily in response.
30:07We do have a right to respond and protect our forces anywhere around the world.
30:11In terms of attacks on U.S. forces, in total, you're talking about from the very beginning?
30:19Yeah.
30:20160, 170.
30:21What's the number?
30:22I believe it's over 180, but again, that was from October 17th, from last year, and since
30:30I think January or February, we did see a slowdown of attacks.
30:34We saw one in April, and then again, we saw a long period of pause, and that's what we
30:39want to continue to see.
30:42We do not, again, and I know I've said this, and you'll probably hate me for saying it
30:47again, but I'll just do it anyways.
30:49We do not want a regional war.
30:51We do not see this spilling out into a larger regional conflict, but we will take action
30:55to protect our forces anywhere in the world.
30:58Okay, great.
30:59Phil, and then the last one over here.
31:03On the Iraq strike, I mean, I understand that you've explained that it was a defensive strike
31:07and that these forces were preparing to attack U.S. troops.
31:11Yeah.
31:12Do you think the timing of the strike was interpreted by Iran and others as part of
31:18the series of activities in the region at that time?
31:23The strike or the attack in Tehran and the other, in Damascus, and then the strike in
31:29Iraq.
31:30Do you think that they were interpreted as being a joint operation, and what would you
31:37say to people who would make that assumption?
31:39No, I wouldn't interpret it as a joint operation at all.
31:42I would say that the action that we took is similar to the actions that we've taken from
31:47when we started getting attacked on October 17th.
31:51We will always take action that ensures the safety and security of our personnel, and
31:56we've done that from the very beginning.
31:59What we saw was combatants attempting to launch a UAS system, and so CENTCOM forces
32:05took action so that our forces were not hurt or injured if that attack had been able to
32:12launch.
32:13But no, there's no – I would not read into any type of coordination.
32:16I would say that this is something that we've done time and time again, and we will do if
32:20we need to at any time.
32:23Last question.
32:24Oh, and we got Jared, and then that's really last question.
32:26I have a previous question.
32:28Is the Pentagon have – see that, like, stay like partners, allies, like the Saudi or the
32:37Jordans will support – still supporting in case of an attack to Israel from Yemen
32:43or Iran or the Hezbollah, because they were involved, like, in the negotiation for the
32:52deal, like, Lebanon – I mean, like, the Jordan, the Saudi.
32:55They helped in the deal with Gaza now that the leader has been killed.
33:00Are they going to be neutral, in your opinion, or they're going to support Israel in case
33:05of an attack?
33:06What the Pentagon is –
33:07So as you can appreciate, I'm just not going to get into hypotheticals.
33:11We have great partnerships in the region, and I'll just leave it at that.
33:14Jared, last question.
33:15You beat me to it, but I might try to ask it a different way.
33:18That's fine.
33:19Okay.
33:20Has the department been in contact with any allies or potentially regional partners on
33:26coordinating ahead of a potential defense of Israel?
33:29So I don't have any calls to read out from the Secretary, but I can tell you that the
33:33department at all different levels is always in touch with their counterparts all around
33:38the world.
33:39But I don't have anything more specific to read out from the Secretary at this time.
33:43Okay, great.
33:44We'll leave it there.
33:45Thanks, everyone.