Islamic State More a Regional Threat – Dempsey

Military Action in Syria if Becoming Threat to U.S.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey told reporters last night that Islamic State insurgents are more of a regional threat, not planning any attacks against U.S. or Europe; and he will recommend direct military action against them in Syria only if they become a threat to the U.S. homeland.

Gen. Dempsey added that U.S. allies in the region, such as Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, will join battle against the IS insurgents. The allies, he said, could come together and squeeze the group “from multiple directions in order to initially disrupt and eventually defeat them. It has to happen with them, much less with us.” (AP/Daily Mail, 25 August)

Dempsey made the comments on a military plane en route to Afghanistan to attend a change of command ceremony on Monday. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford stepping down as the top commander there; Army Gen. John Campbell will take over.

On additional military assistance to Iraq, Gen. Dempsey said there is a possibility to have U.S. forces provide more expanded advice and assistance. He said U.S. military assessment teams looked at about 50 Iraqi brigades and a number of Kurdish units and have good idea which ones have appropriate training and equipment and have not been infiltrated by militia.

To date, U.S. forces have conducted a total of 96 airstrikes across Iraq. The strikes have helped to break the insurgents’ momentum, said Dempsey, and strip some of the mythology that the Islamic State is impregnable or overwhelming.

File photo: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey (AP)

Defeating Islamic State Would Requite Attacks in Syria – Dempsey

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey said defeating the Islamic State would not be possible without attacking its fighters in Syria. Gen. Dempsey made his remarks today during a joint news conference with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon.

The Islamic State has reportedly as many as 17,000 fighters who can move across the Iraq-Syria border with impunity, The New York Times said today, quoting U.S. military and civilian officials. U.S. warplanes have conducted 90 airstrikes against IS positions since 8 August, including 20 since they beheaded James Foley, an American journalist.

American officials said that the United States was conducting reconnaissance over Syria, but that attacks by drones or manned strike aircraft on Islamic State positions in Syria had not been ordered. (The New York Times, 21 August)

Other important points covered by Gen. Dempsey and Secretary Hagel at the news conference on Islamic State (IS):

• Hagel: IS is as sophisticated and well-funded as any group that we have seen. They're beyond just a terrorist group.

• Hagel: “Terrorism is not new to the world...sophistication of terrorism and ideology married now with resources presents a whole new dynamic.”

• Hagel: IS poses threats greater than 9/11; “This is beyond anything that we've seen. We must prepare for everything.”

• Hagel: Evidence is clear — IS is barbaric. They are an imminent threat.

• Dempsey: This is an organization that has an apocalyptic vision that will eventually have to be defeated. 

• Hagel and Dempsey: Assad is absolutely part of the problem not the solution to IS in Syria. IS must be defeated in Syria as well as Iraq. 

File photo: An image taken on 9 June 2014 shows Islamic State militants waving their flag on the Syrian-Iraqi border after destroying the berm marking the frontier between the two countries. (AFP)

Not Impossible to ‘Act Collaboratively with Iran’

Gen. Dempsey on Iraqi Crisis

In an interview today with All Things Considered, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iranian goals in Iraq are not going to be “completely aligned” with those of the U.S., and “we're very clear about that.”

“We will look at Iran with a cold eye on where and when we may need to operate in the same space and toward what is potentially the same goal of countering the ISIL.

“I'm not predicting that it's entirely impossible that we would at any point act collaboratively with Iran...But there's a long way to go between here and there, in my judgment,” Gen. Dempsey said. (NPR, 27 June)

Dempsey also said the primary goal of the U.S. assessment team sent to Iraq was to determine if the Iraqi security forces “can be a credible partner moving forward.” He added that the team of advisors needs to “get a look under the hood” of the Iraqi security forces to determine if they “remain committed to national unity, [what is] the sectarian makeup ... and the morale of the force, as well as understanding what capabilities, weapon systems, ammunition, etc., they have.”

“We're flying a great deal [of] manned and unmanned ... intelligence and reconnaissance assets, and we're building a picture so that if the decision were made to support the Iraqi security forces as they confront [ISIL], we could do so," Dempsey added.

He nonetheless expressed concern that the U.S. not operating in a way as “taking one side or another,” referring to Shia and Sunni adversaries.

“Then ... with Iraq, if it chooses to establish this national unity government," he said, "we will be deliberating on how to push back [ISIL] and take steps to lead to its eventual defeat.” Dempsey said.

File photo: Joint Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey at a news conference at the Pentagon, December 2013. (NPR)

U.S. and Israel Agree on ‘Iran Threat’ - Dempsey

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told reporters today aboard a government aircraft leaving Israel, after wrapping up a two-day visit to the country, that U.S. and Israel are now in broad agreement about the “Iran threat.” (USA Today, 1 April)

“I think they (the Israeli officials) are satisfied that we have the capability to use a military option if the Iranians choose to stray off the diplomatic path,” Gen. Dempsey said. “I think they are satisfied we have the capability. I think they believe we will use it.”

In the past, Israelis have expressed wariness with U.S. policy toward Iran and there were disagreements on the pace at which Iran could field a nuclear weapon.

“Our clocks are more harmonized than they were two years ago,” Dempsey said. “They just wanted to know that we are maintaining and continuing to refine our military options,” he said. (USA Today, 1 April)

File photo: Gen. Martin Dempsey (Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images/USA Today)

General Dempsey In Israel

The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, arrived in Israel on Sunday to oversee the largest air defense drill of its kind, which is currently under way. Gen. Dempsey met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv Sunday night. (Jerusalem Post, 29 October).

Photo: Ariel Harmoni/GPO/JP

Israeli Attack on Iran 'Would Not Stop Nuclear Program' - Dempsey

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said today that an Israeli attack would delay but probably not destroy Iran’s nuclear program. "I don't want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it," Gen. Dempsey said.

Demsey’s latest remarks reinforce Washington’s opposition to unilateral Israeli action. He added that sanctions against Iran should be given a chance to work. International coalition applying pressure on Iran "could be undone if [Iran] was attacked prematurely," the general warned. (The Guardian, 31 August)

Photo Credit: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Guardian