General Dunford At U.N.: Transnational Threats Need Transnational Solutions

Jim Garamone at the DoD News offers the below report:

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2016 — Transnational threats require transnational solutions, and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force is a key component of preserving stability, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said at the U.N. in New York yesterday.

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford told the U.N. Meeting on Peacekeeping that the current security environment is the most complex and volatile since World War II.

“The challenges we face range from conventional conflict to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, from violent extremism to transregional crime, and the character of war has changed,” he said.

Commonality

But there is a commonality, the chairman said: the threats today are increasingly transnational and transregional.

“The current fight against violent extremism is an example,” he said. “We estimate that over 45,000 foreign fighters from 120 different countries have come to Iraq and Syria. No nation today can turn away and consider violent extremism somebody else’s problem. We have many examples of how the fight can follow us home from fragile states in the form of terrorist acts and the mass migration of those seeking to escape violence.”

In addition, he said, these threats are increasingly multidomain – meaning the threats involve simultaneous action on sea, on land, in the air, in space, and in cyberspace. “And we also see nonstate actors involved in conflict that are able to leverage information, cyber capabilities and sophisticated weapons,” he added.

The sheer scope also increased, Dunford said. Last year, nearly 60 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes by conflict, and the Commission for Refugees estimates that violence will displace more than 40,000 people a day, he noted.

All this begs for multinational cooperation in responding to conflict, the chairman said.
“No longer can conflict be considered something that is ‘over there,’” he said. “While the international community must develop a wide range of capabilities to respond to today’s challenges, we already have a relevant and potentially very effective tool in the form of the U.N. peacekeeping.”

Blue Helmets

The chairman told the audience he believes the blue helmets worn by U.N. peacekeepers will play a larger role in alleviating the suffering caused by these conflicts, noting that16 different peacekeeping operations are going on around the world, involving more than 121,000 troops, police and civilians. U.N. peacekeepers have been on the job since 1948, and 3,741 have died in these operations. About 120 countries contribute to the organization.

President Barack Obama agrees, Dunford said, and made that point in September when he said, “We know that peace operations are not the solution to every problem, but they do remain one of the world’s most important tools to address armed conflict.” Obama built on that point and has directed the U.S. military to increase its support of U.N. peacekeeping operations, the chairman said.

“Just as the character of war has changed, the nature of U.N. peacekeeping missions has changed,” the general added. “Today, two-thirds of all blue-helmeted peacekeepers are serving in active conflict areas,” he said, “a trend that in my estimation is likely to continue well into the future.”

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in South Sudan and in Lebanon, peacekeepers are overseeing refugee relief and ceasefire compliance and are providing security for daily life to return to normal, Dunford said. “As day turns to dusk in Mali,” he added, “peacekeepers wearing blue helmets are providing people with the security they need to return to their communities while preventing the return of violent extremists.”

Though the United Nations can be proud of what the peacekeepers have accomplished, “we will get no credit tomorrow for what we did yesterday,” Dunford said.

Robust Capabilities and Capacities

Future, U.N. peacekeepers must be capable of defending themselves, protecting civilians and carrying out their mandate in the context of very dynamic security environments, the chairman said. “In short,” he added, “to meet what I believe will be a growing demand for more complex peace operations, we’re going to need to adapt. Meeting the growing demand for a wide range of peacekeeping operations requires a robust set of capabilities and capacities.”

Those capabilities and capacities include strong civilian and military leadership teams; staff capacity to design missions with clear objectives, end states and measures of effectiveness; effective command and control; well-trained forces at the brigade, battalion and company levels; and appropriate enabling capabilities such as intelligence, air and ground mobility, logistics, counter-improvised explosive device capability, engineering and medical capability.

The foundation of any mission is quality, disciplined people with the right skills, Dunford said.

“I’d like to highlight there’s a growing need for women to serve as peacekeepers,” he said. “During my deployments to Iraq and later as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, I learned firsthand that women are an important part of an effective response to today’s challenges. Women not only add to the capability of our own forces, they have a unique ability to connect with local populations in areas of instability.” 

Addressing Problems

The peacekeeping operation is not without flaws, Dunford said, and he urged the organization to address them.

“I think it’s clear to all of us that the U.N.’s record in this area has been mixed – and there’s a lot of reasons for that mixed record, but chief among them is the hard reality that U.N. peacekeeping missions deal with some of the most challenging and protracted issues on the planet,” he said. “But while many of the challenges are due to the nature of the conflicts, there’s other challenges that should concern us all. Problems of ill-disciplined units conducting criminal acts, including sexual assault, problems with corruption, and shortfalls in equipment cannot be blamed on the environment.”

Addressing those challenges is within the U.N.’s control, the chairman said. “We have to do that, because they threaten our collective legitimacy and our effectiveness,” he added. “To much of the world’s population, a soldier or policeman wearing a blue helmet and a U.N. patch represents their last best hope for safety and security, and we must work to ensure that image and hope isn’t diminished.”

The U.S. military will help nations involved in U.N. peacekeeping, Dunford said, as U.S. service members help nations develop military capabilities and bring about reform.


“This is a personal priority for me, the United States’ Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the entire U.S. joint force,” he said. “The priority we place on U.N. peacekeeping operations is consistent with our view that these operations make an indispensable contribution to international security.”

Note: In the top DoD photo taken by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro, Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, depart the U.N. in New York City on June 17, 2016.

Defense Secretary Carter: U.S. Military Targets Key ISIL Terrorists

Cheryl Pellerin at the DoD News offers the below piece:

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2016 — The U.S. military killed several key Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists this week, including a senior ISIL leader and finance minister who led certain external affairs and plots, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said here today.

During a Pentagon press briefing, joined by Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Carter said the coalition is systematically eliminating ISIL's cabinet, including Haji Imam.

“He was a well-known terrorist within ISIL's ranks, dating back to its earliest iteration as al-Qaida in Iraq when he worked under [the group’s leader Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi as its liaison for operations with Pakistan,” the secretary said.

Hampering ISIL Operations

“The removal of this ISIL leader will hamper the organization's ability … to conduct operations both inside and outside of Iraq and Syria,” he said.

Carter said Imam is the second senior ISIL leader the coalition has killed this month. Earlier this month defense officials confirmed the death of ISIL's so-called minister of war, Abu Omar al-Shishani, known as Omar the Chechen.

When the fight against ISIL accelerated a few months ago, the secretary said, the coalition began with storage sites where ISIL holds its cash, and now the leader who oversees all funding for ISIL operations is dead, hurting the terrorist army’s ability to pay fighters and hire recruits.

“Our campaign plan is first and foremost to collapse ISIL's parent tumor in Iraq and Syria, focusing on its power centers in Raqqa and Mosul,” he added.

Repelling Counterattacks

In Syria, coalition-supported local forces recently took the town of Shaddadi, repelled ISIL's counterattacks and ultimately severed the main artery between Syria and northern Iraq, making it harder for ISIL's leaders and forces to travel between Raqqa and Mosul, Carter said.

Iraqi forces have moved from their staging base at Makhmur and are advancing to new positions as part of the early stages of operations to collapse ISIL's control over Mosul, the defense secretary added.
U.S. Marines near Makhmur now are providing artillery fire there at Iraq’s request, he said, to help protect and support the Iraqi advance against ISIL.

“In both Syria and Iraq we're seeing important steps to shape what will become crucial battles in the months to come,” Carter said.

Relentless Pressure

As local partners move forward, the coalition continues to bring relentless pressure on ISIL commanders in Mosul, the secretary added.

Along with killing Imam, U.S. forces targeted Abu Sara, a top ISIL leader charged with paying fighters in northern Iraq, and several ISIL associates who were directly involved in external plotting and training, he said.

“These precise actions came after recent strikes that destroyed a significant quantity of improvised explosive devices and bomb-making equipment that could have been used against our partners headed for Mosul,” Carter added, noting that the actions are believed to be successful and damaging to ISIL.

Campaign Momentum

The defense secretary said the momentum of the campaign against ISIL is clearly on the coalition’s side.

“The United States military will continue to work intensively with our coalition partners to build on this progress, as our counterparts throughout our governments work to defend our homelands at the same time,” he said.

Carter also announced that yesterday he and his Saudi counterpart, Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman, agreed to convene a U.S.-Gulf Cooperation defense ministerial on April 20 in Riyadh ahead of President Barack Obama's participation in the U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council leaders’ summit there the next day.

“This will be an important forum to build on our counter-ISIL defense ministerial in Brussels last month,” Carter said.


The meeting also will strengthen U.S.-GCC defense partnerships by allowing participants to review and discuss the way ahead for joint regional defense initiatives that all committed to during the 2015 US-GCC Camp David Summit last May, the secretary added.

Note: In the above DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Tim D. Godbee, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, answer questions about efforts against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during a news conference at the Pentagon, March 25, 2016.

Defense Secretary Carter: DoD Intensifies ISIL Fight, Urges More International Support

Cheryl Pellerin at the DoD News offers the below report.

WASHINGTON Dec. 1, 2015 — The Defense Department is quickly adapting to fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and is urging the international community to step up the pace of its contributions to the fight, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today.

The secretary, joined by Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before members of the House Armed Services Committee on U.S. strategy for Syria and Iraq.

“The president had directed us to intensify and adapt the military campaign before the [Nov. 13] Paris attacks,” Carter told the panel. “We continue to accelerate our efforts in the wake of Paris, and we are urging others to do the same, because those attacks further highlighted the stake that not just the United States, but the world, has in this fight.”

Adapting to ISIL

Carter said specific elements of the adaptations to ISIL include deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force, expanding U.S. attacks on ISIL infrastructure and revenue sources, improving ways to find and eliminate ISIL leadership, and organizing a new way to leverage established infrastructure.

Tens of thousands of U.S. personnel are operating in the broader Middle East region, and more are on the way, the secretary said.

Some of the most advanced U.S. air and naval forces are attacking ISIL, he added, and U.S. troops advise and assist ground operations in Syria and Iraq.

“On President [Barack] Obama’s orders and the chairman’s and my advice, we’re sending special operations forces personnel to Syria to support the fight against ISIL,” Carter said.

Expeditionary Force

In coordination with the Iraq government, the department is deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force to help Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces and to put more pressure on ISIL.
“These special operators will, over time, be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders,” the secretary said. “That creates a virtuous cycle of better intelligence, which generates more targets, more raids and more momentum.”

Raids in Iraq will take place at the Iraqi government’s invitation and will focus on defending Iraq’s borders and building Iraqi security forces capacity, he added, and the special operators will be in a position to conduct unilateral operations into Syria.

Expanding U.S. Attacks

The department also significantly expanded U.S. attacks on ISIL infrastructure and revenue sources, especially oil revenue, Carter said.

“Over the past several weeks, because of improved intelligence and understanding of ISIL’s operations, we’ve intensified the air campaign against ISIL’s war-sustaining oil enterprise, a critical pillar of ISIL’s financial infrastructure,” he told the panel.

Coalition forces have destroyed fixed facilities, such as wells and processing facilities, and nearly 400 ISIL oil tanker trucks, Carter said. “There’s more to come, too,” he added.

Raids using targeted airstrikes and the specialized expeditionary targeting force are helping to improve the ability to eliminate ISIL’s leadership, he said.

Leveraging Infrastructure

Because the threat posed by ISIL and similar groups spans regions and U.S. combatant commands, Carter said, the department is organizing a new way to leverage infrastructure already established in Afghanistan, the Levant, East Africa and Southern Europe into a unified capability to counter transnational and transregional threats.

“An example of this network in action was our recent strike on Abu Nabil, where assets from several locations converged to successfully kill this ISIL leader in Libya,” he said. “As that strike shows, there’s a lot of potential here, but to do more, we need to be creative and consider changes to how the Defense Department works and is structured.”

Carter said the department is constantly looking to do more in the fight against ISIL, but the world must do the same.

International Contributions

“The international community, including our allies and partners, has to step up before another attack like Paris,” the secretary said. France has been galvanized by the attacks in its capital, Britain is debating expanded airstrikes, Italy has made important contributions in Iraq, and Germany is making more contributions, he noted. . All countries, including the United States, must do more, he added.
Turkey must do more to control its border, and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States have been preoccupied by the Yemen conflict after joining the air campaign in the early days, Carter said. Russia, which publicly committed to defeating ISIL, has largely attacked opposition forces rather than ISIL, the secretary told the House committee.

“It is time for Russia to focus on the right side of this fight,” he said.

American leadership is essential, he added, but contributions from other nations will boost the combat power the department can achieve using its own force.


“We also need to leverage our allies’ and partners’ relationships and capabilities to effectively work with Syrians and Iraqis, who in the end must expel ISIL and restore effective governance," the secretary said.

Note: In the above DoD photo Defense Secretary Ash Carter, foreground, and Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify before the House Armed Services Committee about U.S. strategy for Syria and Iraq in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 1, 2015. The photo was taken by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz.