Post by Avery Adams on Dec 21, 2005 7:50:59 GMT -5
Following the Department of Defense Daily briefing, the Secretary of Defense fielded questions from the Press.
Q: Mr. Secretary, there has been a number of alarming items regarding Iran lately. Sir, could you tell us if the US is prepared to take action against that country?
A: First of all if we were to take any military action against any country such orders would come from the President and you would not receive a pre-announcement of such an event from me.
Secondly, the activities of Iran on a number of issues have concerned the United States and its friends for nearly three decades. They have been left behind, along with Syria, in the mid-east march towards democracy.
Q: But if you were ordered to take action, do we have the forces in the region to effectively strike Iran and plans to do so? What about protecting our forces and allies from retaliation? In particular, what about Iraq's Shi'ite population?
A: Well that is a particularly loaded question. I may have to reinstate my predecessor's 1-question rule. (laughter)
Obviously there is a good deal of American military presence in the region. Depending on the instructions of the president, this may or may not be the proper arraignment of forces for a given mission. The US military is quite capable of deploying additional forces if needed.
Central Command, all the regional Combatant Commands for that matter, along with the Joint Staff and my office are constantly reviewing contingencies for various scenarios and emergencies. So to ask if we have "plans" is short sighted, we have ALOT of plans...
As for protecting forces and allies, whenever we deploy forces abroad or into combat we take great pains to ensure both the host nations and ourselves are protected.
And the last part? oh yes, the Shi'ite in Iraq. While I am not an expert in their specific situation, I would say it is likely that some would be vested in maintaining a stable and unified Iraq, while others might be upset by actions against an ethnically or religiously similar country. It is hard to say, however many in Iraq have expressed their own security concerns regarding Iran to us.
Lets see, next...
Q: Mr. Secretary, what is the status of the Defense Appropriations bills?
A: We have submitted our request to the White House Office of Management and Budget, as well as posted it (in the DoD section) for congress to view in preparation for it to be forwarded. The three major components are Reorganization, Procurement, and Research & Development. I look forward to answering the questions congress might have on these proposals, and urge them to address what I believe are vital needs.
I would like to open the floor to any question...
(OOC: everybody please feel free to ask any "press" questions you would like)
Q: Mr. Secretary, there has been a number of alarming items regarding Iran lately. Sir, could you tell us if the US is prepared to take action against that country?
A: First of all if we were to take any military action against any country such orders would come from the President and you would not receive a pre-announcement of such an event from me.
Secondly, the activities of Iran on a number of issues have concerned the United States and its friends for nearly three decades. They have been left behind, along with Syria, in the mid-east march towards democracy.
Q: But if you were ordered to take action, do we have the forces in the region to effectively strike Iran and plans to do so? What about protecting our forces and allies from retaliation? In particular, what about Iraq's Shi'ite population?
A: Well that is a particularly loaded question. I may have to reinstate my predecessor's 1-question rule. (laughter)
Obviously there is a good deal of American military presence in the region. Depending on the instructions of the president, this may or may not be the proper arraignment of forces for a given mission. The US military is quite capable of deploying additional forces if needed.
Central Command, all the regional Combatant Commands for that matter, along with the Joint Staff and my office are constantly reviewing contingencies for various scenarios and emergencies. So to ask if we have "plans" is short sighted, we have ALOT of plans...
As for protecting forces and allies, whenever we deploy forces abroad or into combat we take great pains to ensure both the host nations and ourselves are protected.
And the last part? oh yes, the Shi'ite in Iraq. While I am not an expert in their specific situation, I would say it is likely that some would be vested in maintaining a stable and unified Iraq, while others might be upset by actions against an ethnically or religiously similar country. It is hard to say, however many in Iraq have expressed their own security concerns regarding Iran to us.
Lets see, next...
Q: Mr. Secretary, what is the status of the Defense Appropriations bills?
A: We have submitted our request to the White House Office of Management and Budget, as well as posted it (in the DoD section) for congress to view in preparation for it to be forwarded. The three major components are Reorganization, Procurement, and Research & Development. I look forward to answering the questions congress might have on these proposals, and urge them to address what I believe are vital needs.
I would like to open the floor to any question...
(OOC: everybody please feel free to ask any "press" questions you would like)