GENERAL DEMPSEY SAYS CYBER AMONG TOP THREATS

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Right:  Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talks to about 700 attendees during a student conference on national affairs at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, Feb. 19, 2015. DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen.  

Dempsey: Russia, Terrorists, Cyber Among Top Threats
By Lisa Ferdinando
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Feb. 19, 2015 – The global security environment contains a host of threats, including Russian aggression that threatens NATO allies, and the violent extremists network from western Pakistan to north Africa, said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey spoke today at a student conference on national affairs at Texas A&M University, rounding out a two-day visit to the campus.
He outlined his "two, two, two and one" view on national security, which is comprised of two heavyweights, two middleweights, two networks and one domain.

Russia is included as a heavyweight, along with China.
Russia ‘Lit a Fire’

Russia "lit a fire of ethnicity and nationalism that actually threatens to burn out of control," he said. "And in so doing, they are threatening our NATO allies."
Dempsey said it is hard to imagine that in 2015 there would be that kind of conflict and "those kind of instincts" that are coming to the front again in Europe.
The human suffering in Ukraine is "atrocious," he said.

"It's almost unimaginable," the chairman told the audience, which included members of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets, other university students and members of the military.

The United States is working with its NATO allies, he said, to reassure the alliance and also try to assist Eastern Europe, including non-NATO countries, in "suppressing this effort to rekindle fires that haven’t burned in Europe" in 70 years.

China Reemerging

On the other heavyweight, China, he said that nation is reemerging on the global scene. It is a very strong economic country that is becoming militarily strong, the chairman said.

The United States will continue to work with China in managing any differences, he said.

"We'll be competitors but it doesn’t mean, I think, we'll have to be enemies," he said. "We're working hard to do that."

Middleweight Powers: Iran, North Korea

The two middleweights are Iran and North Korea.

The United States is working with its partners to try to convince Iran to seek a diplomatic resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue, he said. Western nations contend that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, while Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are for peaceful purposes.

"We are working hard to reach a negotiated settlement on their nuclear program, but we shouldn’t forget there are other issues which cause us concern about Iran," the chairman said, noting those concerns include Iran being a state sponsor of terrorism.

Networks and Cyber Domain

The two networks Dempsey talked about in his speech are the violent extremist network from western Pakistan to northern Africa, and the transnational criminal network that runs north and south in the Western Hemisphere. The domain is cyber.

The transregional network of al-Qaida, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and other terrorists are competing for a radical, anti-Western ideology that is fomenting the internal challenges of Islam's Sunni and Shia, he said.

"That network is transregional,” he said. “It will take a generation or more to be defeated and it will take persistence on our part and working closely and most often through partners and hardening our allies in order to deal with it."

To combat both the extremist and transnational criminal networks, they need to be "pressed" across their entire length, not just "pinched" in a spot, the chairman said.

"You have to interdict the financing; you have to interdict the flow of foreign fighters or criminals. It takes a really broad effort with partners to deal with that," he said.

Finally, on the domain of cyber, he said, "we've got a lot of work to do. We've made some strides, some pretty significant strides, militarily in particular in terms of defending ourselves."

But the general said despite the security in military networks, 90 percent of his administration and logistics functions ride on commercial Internet providers.
"So if they're vulnerable, I'm vulnerable and I don't like being vulnerable," he said.

Action in securing this domain, he said, includes legislation that establishes a common set of standards on Internet security, and allows information sharing between the government and the private sector.

From College Station, Dempsey travels on to Kwajalein Atoll and Australia.

DOD VIDEO: NATO SPEARHEAD FORCE TO ENHANCE ALLIANCE

READOUT: VP BIDEN'S CALL WITH SLOVAKIA PRIME MINISTER ROBERT FICO

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

Readout of the Vice President’s Call with Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia

Vice President Biden spoke today with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.  The Vice President and Prime Minister discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine.  The Vice President underscored the United States’ support for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Ukraine, contingent on Russia’s disavowal and cessation of destabilizing actions within Ukraine.  The two leaders agreed that if Russia further escalated the situation in Ukraine, it would face mounting consequences for its actions.   The Vice President thanked the Prime Minister for Slovakia’s commitment to bolstering energy security within Europe, including by supporting the reverse flow of natural gas to Ukraine.

U.S. SECRETARY CLINTON AND CZECH REPUBLIC PRIME MINISTER SCHWARZENBERG REMARKS

A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 81st Fighter Squadron line up for takeoff in support of a close air support mission during Ramstein Rover 2012 at Namest Air Base, Czech Republic, Sept. 10, 2012. RARO 12 is a NATO partnership-building exercise involving more than 16 nations. Participating in exercises like RARO 12 ensures effective employment of airpower in support of alliance or coalition forces while mitigating risks to civilians in contingency operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Natasha Stannard)

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With Czech Republic Prime Minister Karel Schwarzenberg
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Czernin Palace
Prague, Czech Republic
December 3, 2012

MODERATOR: (In Czech.)

FOREIGN MINISTER SCHWARZENBERG: (In Czech.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, my friend. It is such a pleasure to be back in one of the most beautiful cities in the world and to meet with one of our strongest allies, partners, and friends on the continent.

As the minister said, our friendship dates back to the earliest days of the Czech Republic. It is based on a mutual respect and shared interests founded on three pillars – security cooperation; economic, civil-nuclear, science, and technology cooperation; and cooperation based on our shared values, particularly in the promotion of democracy and human rights around the world.

For many years, we thought primarily in a bilateral way about what we could do together with the Czech Republic. But our partnership has grown far beyond that, and today, we collaborate on global security issues, democratic transitions in the Middle East and North Africa, and so much else. So as the minister said, we covered a lot of issues today, and let me just touch on a few of the highlights.

First, our collaboration on security: In Afghanistan, hundreds of Czech troops stand with Americans and other allied nations to helped the Afghan people build a stable future for their country. We will work together to manage the drawdown on the end of combat operations in 2014 and then to support the Afghan National Security Forces beyond that, and we appreciate greatly the Czech Republic’s commitment to those.

We also are highly impressed by the new multinational training center for helicopter pilots that the Czech Republic is developing, one of the first projects in the smart defense program that NATO adopted earlier this year. And in NATO and beyond, the Czech Republic plays a key role in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear response. And it is expanding that leadership, for example, with a conference on the challenges posed by Syria’s weapons stockpile that was recently hosted here in Prague.

In Syria, the Czech Republic serves as the United States protecting power, which is essential for our shared effort to help the Syrian people bring an end to their suffering and the beginning of a new democratic transition. More broadly, the Czech Republic has reached out to help countries that can benefit from the very valuable experiences of this country’s transition.

We also want to emphasize greater cooperation on energy. The United States has made energy a priority in our diplomacy. We began the U.S.-EU energy dialogue because this has a major impact on everything from security to climate change. Czech and American scientists are already collaborating extensively in this field, including our effort to develop the first joint civil-nuclear center that the United States will have with a NATO ally.

And as I conveyed to the minister, the Obama Administration strongly supports Westinghouse’s bid to help expand the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant. Given how long term and strategic this investment is, the Czech people deserve the best value, the most tested and trustworthy technology, an outstanding safety record, responsible and accountable management, and job opportunities for Czech companies and workers. Westinghouse offers all of these things.

The United States wants to continue to support investments that produce tangible benefits for Americans and Czechs alike. Temelin is a perfect example, but in fact, the United States is the largest non-European foreign direct investor in the republic, and we hope to make that even bigger. Also, our work together on civil-nuclear power will spur greater cooperation between our scientists and academics and businesses on basic research and innovation.

So again, let me express my appreciation to the minister for hosting us today and to the Czech Republic for being a steadfast ally and partner. The American people have a great deal of affection and respect for how far the Czech Republic has come in the past two decades. And we will continue to support continuing progress and prosperity and our shared values that are rooted in our common experience and history. Thank you very much, Minister.

FOREIGN MINISTER SCHWARZENBERG: Thank you.

MODERATOR: (In Czech.)

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, a question on civil-nuclear cooperation. What importance do you attach to the Westinghouse bid in the Czech Republic with regards to the energy independence and security of this country?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, let me begin by saying that energy security and energy diversification are top issues for our foreign policies around the world. This is not just about Europe and it is certainly not just about the Czech Republic.

When it comes to civil-nuclear energy, the Czech Republic leads Central Europe both in terms of your commitment to nuclear safety and security here at home and your support for nonproliferation in the international nuclear framework. It was certainly no accident that President Obama came to Prague early in his first term to speak about the global nonproliferation agenda. And through our joint declaration on cooperation in research and development and a series of cooperative ventures that were announced last fall, we already have Americans working with their Czech counterparts to improve the efficiency of reactors and reprocessing of spent fuel, to share best practices among nuclear security experts, and we’re working to stand up a joint center for civil-nuclear cooperation in Prague.

So as I said in my opening remarks, we certainly discussed these issues. We are encouraging the Czech Republic to diversify its energy sources and suppliers in ways that are economically sustainable and environmentally sound, which is an important message for all of our European partners. And we are not shy about pressing the case for Westinghouse to expand the Temelin Nuclear Power Plant because we believe that company offers the best option for the project in terms of technology and safety. It would clearly enhance Czech energy security and further the nuclear cooperation between our two countries and it would create jobs and economic opportunity for Czechs and Americans. It will ensure that the new facility would be built to the highest international standards, using a model that has already been approved by the EU and the International Energy Agency regulators. So we clearly hope that Westinghouse will receive the utmost consideration as this process moves forward.

MODERATOR: (In Czech), New York Times.

QUESTION: Michael Gordon, New York Times. Madam Secretary, there have been reports in recent days of increased activity at Syria’s chemical weapon sites. What is the nature of this activity? Is there a basis for concern? And what would – President Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime would cross a redline, but he hasn’t made entirely explicit what he would do about it. If the United States saw that Syria was preparing to use chemical weapons, would it intervene militarily to stop it? If it had begun to use chemical weapons, would it again use force to prevent it from continuing to attack its civilians?

And a question for the Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic: Your country has expertise in this area. In a post-Assad environment, if the Syrian leader was to be deposed, would your nation send its expertise and its units to Syria to help dismantle the chemical arsenal?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Michael, those are a lot of questions, but they’re important questions and ones that are very much in on the minds of our Administration and likeminded countries around the world, including the Czech Republic. Because as I alluded to earlier, the Czech Republic is widely viewed as having some of the most extensive expertise and experience with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear matters. And they have already been consulting about what can be and should be done, both at this time and post the inevitable fall of the Assad regime.

We have made our views very clear. This is a redline for the United States. I’m not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. But suffice it to say, we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur.

So we once again issue a very strong warning to the Assad regime that their behavior is reprehensible. Their actions against their own people have been tragic. But there is no doubt that there is a line between even the horrors that they have already inflicted on the Syrian people and moving to what would be an internationally condemned step of utilizing their chemical weapons.

So in talking to the Foreign Minister about this matter, we are certainly united in our warning and condemnation, and will stand with the international community in a united way should there be any evidence that the Assad regime has ignored international opinion on this important matter.

FOREIGN MINISTER SCHWARZENBERG: Just to answer your question, there are some of our people for the moment in Jordan cooperating with the neighboring Jordan forces, and evidently some American friends came here too training for event, we hope, won’t – never happen. Of course, the situation in Syria itself is rather chaotic and we can’t even exclude the case as it, by chance, one of the rebel groups would get hold of these arms. And that, of course, would be a danger as well. So this chaotic situation of a civil war is, with the existence of these kind of arms in the country, highly dangerous.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.

MODERATOR: (In Czech.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, my friend

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, USAID AND WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Highlights of the U.S. Department of State and USAID's Efforts to Support Press and Media Freedom
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
May 3, 2012
On World Press Freedom Day—and every day—the United States honors and supports media freedom at home and abroad. Press freedom is a key element of the freedom of expression, which is a foundation for other universal human rights. In 2011, the United States hosted the international World Press Freedom Day activities in Washington, D.C. This year, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Esther Brimmer is leading the U.S. delegation to a World Press Freedom conference in Tunisia, May 2-6; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathy Fitzpatrick of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor will also attend.

As a part of its "Free the Press" campaign, the Department of State is documenting on www.HumanRights.govemblematic cases of journalists living and working under threat and duress because of their efforts to exercise the freedom of expression. We call on all governments to protect the universal human right to freedom of expression.

Advancing media freedom is a regular part of U.S. diplomatic work. We advocate for freedom of expression and raise media freedom issues, including specific cases, in bilateral discussions with other governments and in multilateral bodies, including but not limited to the UN Human Rights Council, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Organization of American States. At the OSCE, for example, the United States has been a leading voice for freedom of expression and the defense of journalists, and championed a Ministerial Declaration to support fundamental freedoms in the Digital Age.

The Department of State reports on the state of media freedom around the world—and threats to journalists—through the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. USAID's Media Sustainability Index measures the media environment in countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Eurasia.
With support from Congress, the Department of State and USAID fund foreign assistance and exchange programs that support a free press and Internet freedom.

Foreign assistance supports the development of local and independent print, TV, radio, and online media; advocacy for legal and regulatory reform in support of media freedom and the free flow of information; general and issue-specific journalism training, including for women, youth, and marginalized groups; and security training and emergency assistance for journalists and bloggers. Since 2009, we have allocated approximately $300 million for such programs.

The Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists has welcomed more than 900 rising international journalists to the United States since 2006. According to a recent report evaluating media exchanges from 2001-2006, the 1,600 journalists and media professionals who participated in various Department of State exchange programs engage in activities that promote greater press freedom once they return home, such as advocating for freedom of information; protecting journalists’ rights, and adopting new professional and ethical standards. For more information, please consult the full report or executive summary.