(Center for a New American
Security)
As
Delivered by Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta, Washington, D.C., Tuesday,
November 20, 2012
Thank
you very much, Michelle, for that kind introduction.
I'm
always reminded of my father who, as I say to many people, was an immigrant
from Italy with my mother, and came over, and then eventually, you know ran a
restaurant in Monterey during the war years.
And my earliest recollections were washing glasses in the back of that
restaurant. My parents believed that
child labor was a requirement.
And
then he bought this farm in Carmel Valley, after the war, and planted walnut
trees. And then I remember working in
the walnut orchard. And my father would
go around -- when the walnut trees got older, we'd go around with a pole and
hook, and basically shake each of the branches.
And my brother and I would be collecting the walnuts underneath the
trees. When I got elected to Congress,
my father said, "You know you've been well trained to go to
Washington. Because you've been dodging
nuts all your life."
And
I have successfully been dodging nuts all of my life. But I listen to the list of positions, and
I'll tell you a story. When events
occurred at the CIA last week, my wife immediately gave me a call.
She
said I hope that there is no way that the president is going to ask you to take
that job again. And I said, no. I said, been there, done that.
Ladies
and gentleman, it's an honor to have the chance to share some thoughts with you
on some of the issues that we confront at the Defense Department.
And
I also, if I might, just take this opportunity, since we're close to
Thanksgiving, to
wish
all of you and your families, a happy Thanksgiving.
Michelle
is a dear friend, and a great strategic thinker, and a great public
servant. And I'm obviously sorry to see
her leave the Department of Defense, but having been in those kinds of jobs
most of my life, I understood the reasons why she felt that, you know she really
wanted to spend some time with her family, and she deserves that.
But
I should tell you that I continue to feel her positive impact throughout the
national security community. She always
there. And it's not only because of her
time as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, which is an extremely important
position at the Department of Defense, but also because she is a co-founder of
the Center for a New American Security.
And
you can't walk for long in the E-Ring there at the Pentagon, and not bump into
somebody from that organization. In particular
I'd like to single out somebody else who came from there, Jim Miller who is now
the successor for Michelle in the position of the Policy Undersecretary. And he too is somebody that I depend on every
day to try to deal with everything from tremendous number of crises that we
confront, to the long-term strategic challenges that we also have to
discuss. And so I'm particularly pleased
with his leadership, which really follows in the footsteps of Michelle, and his
acumen, and his wisdom, and all of the qualities that I deeply appreciate.
I
spent a lot of time in Washington. And
you meet a lot of people, but it's the people who have a conscience, and work
hard at their jobs that are, for me, the most respected people that you can
work with. As we enter a second term for
President Obama, Jim and so many other CNAS alumni will continue, I think, to
play a very critical role in helping guide the administration's defense and
foreign policy.
With
the election behind us, Washington is turning its attention to the unfinished
business, particularly the unfinished business of the current Congress,
including how to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff, how to prevent
sequestration from happening, and the impact that that would have, not just on
the Defense, but on the domestic discretionary budget as well. And for our purposes, hopefully they will
also take the time to pass a defense authorization bill, in order to be able to
set some important policy guidance that we need, as we go into this next year.
The
hope is that, obviously these issues can be resolved before the Congress
adjourns. And obviously we are all
hopeful that the leadership will be able to come together, to find a way to
resolve these issues. These are tough
decisions. I've been there, I know how
tough they are. But they can do it. They can do it. It will take some risk, but that's part of
the game, is that you have to take risks in order to do the right thing. And I hope they do that.
The
worst thing that can happen, frankly from my perspective, is if they just kick
the can down the road. All that would
wind 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.
The
fact is, that when it comes to national security, the challenges and
opportunities that we face in the future go beyond the political gridlock of
the moment. They are significant, as we
look to not just today, but tomorrow.
In
many ways -- I've said this, I say it to the troops when I meet with them, I
say it to the groups that I speak to, but I believe it – this is an era of
historic change. We are at a turning
point after 10 years of war -- over 10 years of war. We've ended the war in Iraq. NATO conducted a successful campaign to bring
down Qadhafi in Libya. We are now
embarked on, what I think is a good campaign plan to allow us to draw down in
Afghanistan, and we have the continuing effort against al-Qaeda.
And
as we achieve those important goals, the United States is moving towards, as I
said, the end of the longest period of sustained armed conflict in the nation's
history.
And
I also would like to take a moment to express my pride in the men and women in
uniform who have fought throughout that period, putting their lives on the line
in order to protect this country. Were
it not for their sacrifices, were it not for their willingness to do that, we
would not be able to accomplish what we have, and thank God that they are there,
as I often say.
One
thing I found out when I came from the CIA to the Defense Department is, I have
a 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 anything
without the good men and women in uniform that serve this country, and dedicate
their lives to protecting this country.
That is the real strength of the United States of America.
As
we transition into this new era, we will have to look at some very important
priorities that will take on a greater urgency.
Particularly as we look at the second term of this administration, and
look at, what are the challenges that we are going to be confronting?
This
is not like periods in the past where we come out of a period of war, and the
threats kind of diminish. And then
everybody winds up cutting the hell out of the defense budget. This is this is a period where even as we
come out of these 10 years of war, we are confronting some major issues, and
major threats in the world.
We
still are involved in a war on terrorism.
We are still at war in Afghanistan, even as we try to draw down in that
war. We are in the process of trying to
implement the Department's defense strategy, at the same time that we are
trying to meet our fiscal responsibilities.
We
are in a period where obviously, the budget situation in this country, the huge
deficits that we're facing, the huge debt that's confronting this country, are
limiting resources, and will continue to limit resources.
I
do 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 and
our fiscal security.
We
are, at the Pentagon, implementing a strategy that we put together in order to
deal with the fiscal challenge that we are presented. And the Congress handed us the figure of $487
billion to reduce the defense budget over 10 years, almost a half-a-trillion
dollars to reduce the defense budget.
Now
my 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 the
force, as we've done in the past. Every
time we've come out of a war, whether it was World War II, whether it was
Korea, whether it was Vietnam, whether it's the Cold War, every time we came
out, 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.
And
so for that reason, you know I said to my service chiefs, the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs, we've got to sit down and try to develop a strategy for the
future that will provide the defense force for the 21 century. Not just now, but in the future.
And
then with that strategy, we'll then build our budget around that strategy. And so, you know the strategy as you all know
very quickly: one, we know that we're
going to be smaller, we're going to be leaner.
It's the reality of coming out of these wars.
But
we have to be agile, we have to be deployable, we have to be flexible, and we
have to be on the cutting edge of technology.
Secondly,
we're going to have to have force projection in the areas where we confront the
biggest problems, in the Pacific and in the Middle East.
Thirdly,
we have to have a presence elsewhere in the world.
And
to 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 help
train, to have a presence, to work with those countries to develop their
capabilities. And it's something that
I've discussed when going to Latin America.
It's something I've discussed, you know in going to the Asia-Pacific
region. And the fact is, we are doing
that. We are doing it in a way that
countries respond. They like the idea
that we're there helping them develop their capabilities to provide for their
own security.
In
addition to that, we've made clear that we always have to be capable of
defeating more than one enemy at a time, and have the capability to do that.
And
lastly, 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 to
mobilize quickly if we have to. Those
are all important investments as well for the future. And most importantly, maintaining our defense
industrial base in this country. So that
we don't -- we are not in a position where I'm forced to contract out the most
important defense capabilities that I need.
I can't do that. I can't just
contract those out to another country, I've got to have that capability here in
the United States.
So,
those are elements of the strategy. We
built a budget on that. We built a
budget that looked at every area of the defense budget to analyze, what do we
do on force structure? What do we do
with regards to weapons and procurement?
What do we do with regards to compensation, which is a huge area in the
defense budget?
What
do we do in trying to develop the kind of efficiencies that we need to develop
at the Defense Department? All of that
was part of our budget. All of that we
presented to the Congress. But we're
going to have to continue to work at that.
We
have the continuing problem of counter-proliferation. We're dealing with the nuclear threat in
North Korea. We're dealing with the
nuclear threat in Iran. Those remain
unstable, and uncertain regimes that we have to deal with. We're dealing with the whole issue of
cybersecurity. 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 deal
with that. We're going to have to work
with the private sector, and with other government agencies to make sure that
we're prepared to deal with that.
We've
got the whole challenge of energy security, and that's particularly true for
the Defense Department. With the fuel
costs that I have to deal with, with trying to improve our efficiency in moving
from one area to another, I've got to be able to be energy efficient. Not to mention the impact of energy security
with regards to our larger security issues.
We've
got to implement this rebalance now to the Pacific. Something I talked about on the trip that I
just took to the Pacific. And, you know
this is my fourth trip to the Pacific to make very clear that we are going to
continue to have a strong force projection in the Pacific. It's important to our economic security, it's
important to our national security to be able to do that for the future.
In
addition, I now have at the same time, in trying to rebalance the Pacific, I've
got a significant force presence in the Middle East to deal with the threats in
the Middle East. We've got a very, very
significant force presence throughout that area to deal with any potential
threat that we have to deal with in that region as well.
And
at the same time with all of those challenges, we have to be able to take care
of our service members, and our veterans, and our military families. The sacrifices they've made, they deserve
that we stand by the commitments we've made to them. And particularly in light of the force
structure reductions, which are going to take place. We've got to make sure that we provide them
the support system so that they can return to their communities, and to their
families, and be able to reestablish their lives. All of that is out there.
All
of that are issues that we have to think about, and we have to be prepared, in
order to protect the national security of this country, we have to be prepared
to deal with.
But
tonight I wanted to focus on the goal that still remains at the top of the
priority list, as it must. The goal that
the 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.
Since
September 11, 2001, our country has worked relentlessly to bring those
responsible for the worst terrorist attacks in our history, to justice. We have made very clear, that we are at war
with al-Qaeda. We've also made clear in
going after Osama bin Laden, and dozens of others, that nobody attacks the
United States, and gets away with it.
And we have made clear that we will do everything possible to ensure
that such an attack never happens again.
That means counterterrorism will continue as a key mission to our
military, and intelligence professionals as long as violent extremists pose a
direct threat to the United States, our allies, and our global interest, we
have a responsibility to counter that threat.
During
my tenure as Director of the CIA, and now as Secretary of Defense, I have truly
been privileged to meet, and work with thousands of professionals who have made
this 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 world
has ever seen. Their work, I believe has
made the American people safer, the United States more secure, and has put
al-Qaeda on the defensive.
Let
me describe some of the progress that has been achieved in this fight against
al-Qaeda.
First
of all with respect to core al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and Pakistan. And that's
where the leadership of al-Qaeda, after 9/11 found refuge. Our military forces, our intelligence
professionals, our diplomats, our development experts have taken the fight to
al-Qaeda's leadership – first, through
dramatically expanded counterterrorism operations on the Afghanistan/Pakistan
border, and second, through a renewed, revitalized, and properly resourced
effort 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 never
again become a safe haven for al-Qaeda.
Over
the last few years, al-Qaeda's leadership, their ranks have been
decimated. That includes the loss of
four of al-Qaeda's five top leaders in the last two and a half years
alone. Osama bin Laden, Shaikh Saeed
al-Masri, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, and Abu Yahya al-Libi.
Through
what has probably been the most precise campaign in the history of warfare and
by partnering with local allies, numerous other experienced operational
terrorists and commanders in this region have been killed, or captured. This pressure has significantly demoralized
and weakened al-Qaeda in terms of their core capabilities. And it seriously disrupted their active
plotting against our homeland.
The
broader military campaign in Afghanistan has also been central to our efforts
to disrupt, and dismantle, and defeat al-Qaeda. And that is why roughly 68,000
American troops remain in Afghanistan today, supporting the ISAF mission, and
our Afghan partners.
Together
they 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 to
Afghanistan in order to provide sanctuary for extremists. If we are to defeat al-Qaeda, that cannot
happen. And make no mistake, we remain
determined to prevent al-Qaeda from ever again launching a terrorist attack on
America from safe havens inside of Afghanistan.
Over
the past two years, since the 33,000 surge troops were ordered by President
Obama, and arrived in Afghanistan, we have continued to put pressure on the
Taliban-led insurgency, and dealt them a heavy blow, and made real progress in
building an Afghanistan that can in fact secure and defend itself against that
threat.
Earlier
this month, ISAF conducted an in depth assessment of the insurgency, following
the end of the fighting season, and the conclusion of the surge. By nearly every indication, the insurgency
has been significantly weakened.
Violence
levels, which had increased for five years, decreased in 2011, and 2012.
The
insurgency has been pushed out of population centers, and strategic areas. Security dramatically improved this year in
most of Afghanistan's largest municipalities, with attacks dropping 22 percent
in Kabul, and 62 percent in Kandahar.
ISAF
coalition casualties have also been reduced, declining by 30 percent this year.
These
signs of progress are real, and so are the challenges that remain. This is an insurgency that is resilient, and
they will do everything they can to project an appearance of strength to
Afghans and to the international community.
The Taliban claims responsibility for the troubling rise in insider
attacks. They have launched high-profile
attacks, and assassinations, and they will continue to do that. But in the face of these tactics, we have
been able to maintain strong international unity, and a strong commitment to
finish the job.
As
the insurgency has been rolled back, we have vastly improved the capabilities
of the Afghan National Security Forces to maintain these gains after most of
the international forces will have departed.
Every day, every week, every month, Afghan forces are shouldering more
and more of the burden. 2011 -- I
mention this time and time again -- I believe marked an important turning point
in the war effort. Because we were able
to see Afghan forces become operational, and take charge of security. In 2012, that process of transition took firm
hold across the country. The transition
is now well underway. We have
transitioned an area that involves 75 percent of the Afghan population. And that population is increasingly secure.
As
a result, we are on track for two key milestones. One is that the Afghans will be in the lead
throughout the country for security in mid 2013. And Afghans will ultimately full
responsibility for security by the end of 2014.
After 2014, the United States has made clear through a strategic
partnership agreement, that we will maintain an enduring presence, and a long
term commitment to Afghan security. And
NATO made a similar commitment to a post 2014 Afghanistan at the Chicago summit
last May.
All
of this sends a very simple, and a very powerful message to al-Qaeda, to the
Taliban, and to the violent extremist groups who want to regain a safe haven in
Afghanistan: we are not going anywhere.
Our commitment to Afghanistan is long term, and you cannot wait us
out. This is important, because
al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other associated forces under pressure in Pakistan,
continue to view the rugged terrain of northeastern Afghanistan, especially
Kunar and Nuristan provinces, as a viable safe haven. A relentless, and effective counterterrorism
effort, conducted by our Special Operations Forces this year, made clear that
we will not allow them to regain that sanctuary.
As
a result of prolonged military and intelligence operations, al-Qaeda has been
significantly 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 United
States, has been seriously impacted. And as a result, America is safer from a
9/11 type attack.
These
gains are real, but it is important to point out that even with these gains,
the threat from al-Qaeda has not been eliminated.
We
have slowed a primary cancer, but we know that the cancer has also metastasized
to other parts of the global body.
Two
examples of that spreading al-Qaeda presence, are Yemen and Somalia.
For
years our eyes have been wide open to the growing capabilities of Yemen-based
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has also targeted our homeland for
attack, and sowed violence and chaos in Yemen itself. We have struck back in an effort to disrupt
and dismantle this group through a very close partnership with the government
of Yemen.
By
training local security forces, we are building and training a counterterrorism
force poised to be the most effective over the long term. And that force is the Yemenis
themselves. And by participating in
joint efforts against key leaders, and key operatives, we have put
unprecedented pressure on AQAP, and given the Yemeni people an opportunity to
free themselves from the grip of these terrorists. AQAP leaders who have targeted the United
States have met their demise. Plots have
been disrupted, and innocent lives have been saved.
But
this fight has not been easy. As Yemen's
government became destabilized last year, AQAP attempted to seize the
initiative, taking control of several key cities in the south of Yemen. In the months since, AQAP's advances have
been largely reversed through a renewed, and even more effective partnership
with Yemen’s new government led by President Hadi.
Our
work in Yemen is far from done.
Dismantling AQAP, eliminating it as a threat to the United States will
ultimately require sustained pressure, more U.S. training and assistance, close
partnership with the Yemeni government, and the Yemeni people, and steadfast
support for political transition.
Another
country 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 large
pieces of territory, declared fealty to al-Qaeda, brought about a humanitarian
crisis, and planned attacks in the region.
But there too, we have seen significant progress, in large part because
of an effective partnership between the United States, and the African Union
Mission in Somalia.
The
result of these efforts is an al-Shaabab that has lost more than 50 percent of
the territory it had held in early 2010.
And since losing control of Mogadishu in August of 2011, hundreds of
al-Shaabab fighters have surrendered to AMISOM forces. These forces recently took the stronghold of
Kismayo, and a number of other strategic towns.
And as a result today, al-Shaabab is diminished as a threat, and we continue
to work every day to consolidate these gains against these terrorists.
But
still our challenge is far from over. Yes, we have decimated core
al-Qaeda. And yes, we have made notable
progress against its associated forces in Yemen and Somalia. And yes, we have reduced the chance of a
large scale terrorist attack against the United States.
Butthe
al-Qaeda cancer, has also adapted to this pressure by becoming even more widely
distributed, loosely knit, and geographically dispersed.
The
fight against al-Qaeda has taken a new direction. One that demands that we be especially
adaptable and resilient as we continue the fight. President Obama has made clear, we will fight
not just through military means, but by harnessing every element of American power: military, intelligence, diplomatic, law
enforcement, financial, economic, and above all, the power of our values as
Americans.
Al-Qaeda
has long sought to operate in areas beyond the reach of effective security and
governance. After being left on the
sidelines 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 new
sanctuary, to incite violence, and to sow instability.
We
know that al-Qaeda, its affiliates and adherents are looking to establish a
foothold 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.
The
international community, and our regional partners share our concern about
Mali, where al-Qaeda affiliated groups are now taking control of territories in
the north, and pose an emerging threat.
We
are also concerned about Libya, where violent extremists and affiliates of
al-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 perpetrated
those attacks.
To
protect Americans at home and overseas, we need to continue to pursue al-Qaeda
wherever they go, whatever form they take, wherever they seek to hide. We must be constantly vigilant. We must be constantly determined to pursue
this enemy.
But
what will it take to achieve the end of al-Qaeda, or at least the beginning of
the end?
First,
it will be essential to finish the job that we started, and that we must
complete 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 the
Afghan's goal as well. But it will
require continued commitment by the international community, and the United
States in order to help the Afghan forces achieve that goal. We have come too far, we have invested too
much blood, and treasure not to finish the job.
There are no shortcuts, nor can we afford to turn away from this effort
when we are so close to achieving success in preventing al-Qaeda from ever
returning 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 organizational
capabilities, remaining vigilant, to ensure the threat does not reconstitute,
and working to build the capacity of our partners, including Pakistan, to
confront these shared threats. Despite challenges
in the bilateral relationship between the United States and Pakistan, one area
in which our national interests continue to align, is defeating the terrorist
on Pakistan soil that threaten both of us.
We remain committed to pursuing defense cooperation based on these
shared interests.
Thirdly,
we must prevent the emergence of new safe havens for al-Qaeda elsewhere in the
world that could be used to attack the United States, or our interests. The last decade of war has shown that
coordinated 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, including
through support and partnership with governments in transition in the Middle
East and North Africa.
This
campaign against al-Qaeda will largely take place outside declared combat
zones, using a small footprint approach, that includes precision operations,
partnered activities with foreign Special Forces operations, and capacity
building so that partner countries can be more effective in combating terrorism
on their own.
Wherever possible, we will work through, and
with local partners, supporting them with the intelligence and resources they
need in order to deter these common threats.
For example in Mali, we are working with our partners in Western Africa
who are committed to countering the emerging threat to regional stability posed
by AQIM.
Fourth,
in support of these kinds of efforts, we have to invest in the future, in new
military and intelligence capabilities, and security partnerships. Our new defense strategy makes clear that the
military must retain, and even build new counterterrorism capabilities for the
future. As we reduce the size of the
military, we are going to continue to ramp up special operations forces, which
have doubled in size from 37,000 on 9/11, to 64,000 today. Special operations forces will grow to 72,000
by 2017. We are expanding our fleet of
Predator and Reaper UAVs, over what we have today. These enhanced capabilities will enable us to
be more flexible, and agile against a threat that has grown more diffuse.
We
are also continuing to invest in building partner capacity, including through
Section 1206 authority to train and equip foreign military forces. Our new Global Security Contingency Fund has
been very helpful in placing new emphasis on cultivating regional expertise in
the ranks.
Which
brings me to the final point, that too often takes a backseat to our operations
against al-Qaeda. What do we do to
prevent extremist ideologies from attracting new recruits in the future?
Over
the past decade, we have successfully directed our military, and intelligence
capabilities at fighting terrorism. And
yet, we are still struggling to develop an effective approach to address the
factors that attract young men and women to extreme ideologies, and to ensure
that governments and societies have the capacity, and the will to counter, and
reject violent extremism.
To
truly end the threat from al-Qaeda, military force aimed at killing our enemy
alone will never be enough. The United
States must stay involved and invested through diplomacy, through development,
through education, through trade in those regions of the world where violent
extremism has flourished.
That
means continued engagement in Pakistan, and following through on the
commitments we have made in Afghanistan to their long term stability. Secretary Clinton has also outlined a
comprehensive strategy for North and West Africa, combining security assistance,
economic development, strengthening democratic institutions, advancing
political reforms.
These
regions are undergoing an historic transition that offers many in the region
hope for a better future. But these
changes, unless influenced by the international community, could result in
greater turmoil. The American people
were outraged by the loss of Ambassador Chris Stevens, and three others in
Benghazi. They were emissaries of peace,
and friends of Libya. And the Libyan
people have turned against the violent extremists who killed them.
Of
course we will be vigilant, and we will posture our military, and intelligence
forces to prevent, and if necessary, respond to threats of violence against our
interests throughout the Middle East and North Africa, including threats
against our embassies, and consulates, and our diplomats themselves.
But
to truly protect America, we must sustain, and in some areas deepen our
engagement in the world. Our military,
intelligence, diplomatic, and development efforts are key to doing that. After all, we are confronting a number of
challenges 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 threat
from Iran. And every -- every time and
over time we also must address the religious, economic, and cultural
differences that create tension, and that are exploited by extremists.
Still
as our country emerges from a decade of large-scale conflict, and confronts new
fiscal constraints here at home, I frankly worry that our political system will
prevent us from making the investments in diplomacy, and development that we
need to ensure we protect America's interests in these volatile regions of the
world.
These
investments, unfortunately, lack a constituency in the Congress at a time of great
fiscal pressure. Indeed we face the
prospect of budget sequestration that would be devastating to national
security, not just because of what it does to our national defense, but also
for what it does to these programs that support diplomacy, and enhance our
quality of life.
Our
men and women in uniform know too well what sacrifice is all about for the sake
of our nation. For more than a decade
after we were attacked on September 11, they have fought, they have bled, on
distant battlefields, and they have made our country safer. If we turn away from these critical regions
of the world, we risk undoing the significant gains they have fought for. That would make all of us less safe in the
long term.
This
is not a time for retrenchment. This is
not a time for isolation. It is a time
for renewed engagement, and partnership in the world.
After
Iraq and Afghanistan we are entering, as I said, a new and different era with a
multitude of different threats and challenges.
The United States military must prepare for these challenges, and we
will. But America must continue to lead
this fight against al-Qaeda. Our
partners demand it, the threat demands it, and our fellow citizens demand it.
On
September 11, 2001, the United States was thrust into a war that we did not ask
for, nor did we seek. Over 11 years
later, we have fought back with a vengeance, to make clear we will do whatever
we must to make sure 9/11 never happens again.
We
have made America safer, but we must not rest until we have made America safe,
today, and tomorrow. Thank you very
much.
Thank
you.
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