Wednesday, May 15, 2013
THE ARCTIC COUNCIL MINISTERIAL SESSION
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Remarks at the Arctic Council Ministerial Session
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Kiruna City Hall
Kiruna, Sweden
May 15, 2013
(Kiruna Declaration Signing takes place)
FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: And could I then – I think they are ready for the readout, for two or three questions, anyone here on Arctic Council issues. Then I think there is – that’s a microphone over there – and then I think there is a national leader opportunities of these four.
So please, if there is questions.
QUESTION: If I could ask Secretary Kerry and Minister Lavrov, you’ve spent a lot of time in the last few weeks and months working together on a variety of issues from Syria to the Arctic issues that you’ve discussed in the last two days. And yesterday, you had an American official from the Embassy in Moscow who was detained by the Russians and accused of espionage. Is that constructive to the kind of work, collaborative work, that you’re trying to do now? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: (Off mike.) Testing – one, two, three, four, five. So for all of you who didn’t hear that answer, I have nothing to add with respect to the situation regarding an Embassy official in Moscow.
And I’m grateful to my friend Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Russia, for a very productive meeting yesterday in which we did the large business of our countries, which was facing first of all the challenge of Syria. We met at length. We both agreed that there is much work to be done. We understand what each of us has to do in the next days. We’re very optimistic that we can get that work done. We’ve both been in touch with the United Nations, with Ban Ki-moon, with other participants. Each of us has agreed to work very hard with respect to the flow of people that we are in touch with, the foreign ministers, the opposition, the Assad regime, others, in order to bring the parties to the table. And I think it’s fair to say that both of us are confident about the direction that we’re moving in and very, very hopeful that within in a short period of time the pieces will have come together fully so that the world, hopefully, will have an opportunity to be given an alternative to the violence and destruction that is taking place in Syria at this moment.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you. I can confirm that we had a very productive meeting yesterday. We did not discuss the incident to which you refer. Everything we should have to say – we, the Russian side – on that particular incident was stated yesterday by the spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry. I have nothing to add.
As to the substance of our cooperative meeting yesterday, I would share the assessments just presented by John. We have a very clear initiative on the table. The Russian-American proposal to convene a conference to start implementing the Geneva communique of June last year – it’s self explanatory and what we need now is to mobilize support for this initiative on the basis of what was, I believe, in Geneva and what was proposed by Washington and Moscow – to mobilize support first of all by all the Syrian groups, the regime and all opposition groups; and second by those outside actors who have influence on either one or the other Syrian group.
That’s what we discussed. That’s what we will be doing in our conference with all outside players and with the Syrian, but especially in the expectation of the two events, which the opposition is holding one, a meeting by National Coalition in Istanbul. And about the same time there is – there will be a meeting in (inaudible) convened by the internal opposition, in particular by the National Coordinating Committee. It is very important that the participants of both meetings express their clear support for the Russian-American initiative to start implementing the Geneva communique. Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: If I could just add, I want to emphasize the degree to which we both believe Russia and the United States share a belief that is extremely constructive and positive that we are working together cooperatively in an effort to try to implement a peaceful resolution based on Geneva I, which recognizes the need for a transition government with full executive authority by mutual consent. That’s what we’re working towards, and I don't think it’s insignificant that at this moment in time we are finding this common ground and working closer together.
FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: Next question over there.
QUESTION: Hello. Yelena Chernenko, Kommerserant Daily Newspaper. As far as I understand, your ministers, all of the requests from the countries to become observer members have been accepted today. The question is, does such a high number of observers not make the Arctic Council less effective and is there a limit of how many observers in the future there might be in the Council, or it can it grow forever, the number of observers? Thank you.
FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: That’s why we have also adopted (inaudible) the about the recent procedure earlier with some procedures, so there’s a very clear what observers are and what observers aren’t. That’s been the very purpose of that work that’s been done.
As to your question, I would say it demonstrates the broad international acceptance of the role of the Arctic Council, because by being observer, these organizations and states, they accept the principles and the sovereignty of the Arctic Council on Arctic issues. So I think it – as a matter of fact, it strengthens the position of the Arctic Council on the global scene. That is why this is, that we hope that the remaining issues that are indicated concerning (inaudible) is that that will be sorted out fairly quickly, and I trust that will be the case.
One there before we --
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, what will be your priority when it comes to Arctic issues in the future?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I think it’s premature for me, prior to assuming the chairmanship, with my Canadian friend standing to the left of me, to start laying out the agenda. But as I said in my statement, the Arctic is a precious treasure for all of the world. And the United States recognizes that we are one of the two major contributors to global emissions. More than 50 percent of the world’s emissions come from two countries, China and the United States. And then there are 17 to 20 major emitters, as we know, some of whom are standing here and others are not, who are responsible for well over 90 percent. So you have small nations who are hugely impacted by the long-time development practices of other nations.
President Obama has twice now this year at significant events embraced the importance of dealing with climate change, once in his Inaugural Address, and second time in his State of the Union message. And we are looking at every single option available to us to act responsibly. But no one nation can solve this. The United States of America today is below Kyoto levels in emissions. People don’t know that. The United States today is actually below the Waxman-Markey legislation mandates that didn’t pass. So we’re doing things – automobile efficiency, standards, efficiencies, building codes, fleet purchase, all kinds of things, but not enough. No one is doing enough.
The problem is that everything that we do or everything one other nation does is going to be wiped out by China or another nation if they continue with coal firepower at the rate that we are proceeding. So the warning signals are all there, and I can assure that when our chairmanship time comes around we will pick up on Leona’s appropriate concern for indigenous populations and we will build on that with respect to the needs for all of us to do things that recognize the global impact on the ecosystem of what is happening in the Arctic.
FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: Thanks and just two final remarks from my side. First that I do wish, on the issue that was mentioned earlier, that spirit of cooperation, of true Arctic cooperation of these few days, will continue to inspire U.S. to leading members of the UN Security Council when you proceed on your – on the enormously important issue of Syria.
Secondly, let me just on behalf of all us thank the city of Kiruna for having the your neighbors occupy this beautiful city hall and thank also the people of Kiruna and for your understanding that we might have messed up your town for a couple of days, but I hope that you accept that we’ve come here for not only one but for a couple of valuable purposes. Thanks very much. (Applause.)
Remarks at the Arctic Council Ministerial Session
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Kiruna City Hall
Kiruna, Sweden
May 15, 2013
(Kiruna Declaration Signing takes place)
FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: And could I then – I think they are ready for the readout, for two or three questions, anyone here on Arctic Council issues. Then I think there is – that’s a microphone over there – and then I think there is a national leader opportunities of these four.
So please, if there is questions.
QUESTION: If I could ask Secretary Kerry and Minister Lavrov, you’ve spent a lot of time in the last few weeks and months working together on a variety of issues from Syria to the Arctic issues that you’ve discussed in the last two days. And yesterday, you had an American official from the Embassy in Moscow who was detained by the Russians and accused of espionage. Is that constructive to the kind of work, collaborative work, that you’re trying to do now? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: (Off mike.) Testing – one, two, three, four, five. So for all of you who didn’t hear that answer, I have nothing to add with respect to the situation regarding an Embassy official in Moscow.
And I’m grateful to my friend Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Russia, for a very productive meeting yesterday in which we did the large business of our countries, which was facing first of all the challenge of Syria. We met at length. We both agreed that there is much work to be done. We understand what each of us has to do in the next days. We’re very optimistic that we can get that work done. We’ve both been in touch with the United Nations, with Ban Ki-moon, with other participants. Each of us has agreed to work very hard with respect to the flow of people that we are in touch with, the foreign ministers, the opposition, the Assad regime, others, in order to bring the parties to the table. And I think it’s fair to say that both of us are confident about the direction that we’re moving in and very, very hopeful that within in a short period of time the pieces will have come together fully so that the world, hopefully, will have an opportunity to be given an alternative to the violence and destruction that is taking place in Syria at this moment.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you. I can confirm that we had a very productive meeting yesterday. We did not discuss the incident to which you refer. Everything we should have to say – we, the Russian side – on that particular incident was stated yesterday by the spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry. I have nothing to add.
As to the substance of our cooperative meeting yesterday, I would share the assessments just presented by John. We have a very clear initiative on the table. The Russian-American proposal to convene a conference to start implementing the Geneva communique of June last year – it’s self explanatory and what we need now is to mobilize support for this initiative on the basis of what was, I believe, in Geneva and what was proposed by Washington and Moscow – to mobilize support first of all by all the Syrian groups, the regime and all opposition groups; and second by those outside actors who have influence on either one or the other Syrian group.
That’s what we discussed. That’s what we will be doing in our conference with all outside players and with the Syrian, but especially in the expectation of the two events, which the opposition is holding one, a meeting by National Coalition in Istanbul. And about the same time there is – there will be a meeting in (inaudible) convened by the internal opposition, in particular by the National Coordinating Committee. It is very important that the participants of both meetings express their clear support for the Russian-American initiative to start implementing the Geneva communique. Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: If I could just add, I want to emphasize the degree to which we both believe Russia and the United States share a belief that is extremely constructive and positive that we are working together cooperatively in an effort to try to implement a peaceful resolution based on Geneva I, which recognizes the need for a transition government with full executive authority by mutual consent. That’s what we’re working towards, and I don't think it’s insignificant that at this moment in time we are finding this common ground and working closer together.
FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: Next question over there.
QUESTION: Hello. Yelena Chernenko, Kommerserant Daily Newspaper. As far as I understand, your ministers, all of the requests from the countries to become observer members have been accepted today. The question is, does such a high number of observers not make the Arctic Council less effective and is there a limit of how many observers in the future there might be in the Council, or it can it grow forever, the number of observers? Thank you.
FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: That’s why we have also adopted (inaudible) the about the recent procedure earlier with some procedures, so there’s a very clear what observers are and what observers aren’t. That’s been the very purpose of that work that’s been done.
As to your question, I would say it demonstrates the broad international acceptance of the role of the Arctic Council, because by being observer, these organizations and states, they accept the principles and the sovereignty of the Arctic Council on Arctic issues. So I think it – as a matter of fact, it strengthens the position of the Arctic Council on the global scene. That is why this is, that we hope that the remaining issues that are indicated concerning (inaudible) is that that will be sorted out fairly quickly, and I trust that will be the case.
One there before we --
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, what will be your priority when it comes to Arctic issues in the future?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I think it’s premature for me, prior to assuming the chairmanship, with my Canadian friend standing to the left of me, to start laying out the agenda. But as I said in my statement, the Arctic is a precious treasure for all of the world. And the United States recognizes that we are one of the two major contributors to global emissions. More than 50 percent of the world’s emissions come from two countries, China and the United States. And then there are 17 to 20 major emitters, as we know, some of whom are standing here and others are not, who are responsible for well over 90 percent. So you have small nations who are hugely impacted by the long-time development practices of other nations.
President Obama has twice now this year at significant events embraced the importance of dealing with climate change, once in his Inaugural Address, and second time in his State of the Union message. And we are looking at every single option available to us to act responsibly. But no one nation can solve this. The United States of America today is below Kyoto levels in emissions. People don’t know that. The United States today is actually below the Waxman-Markey legislation mandates that didn’t pass. So we’re doing things – automobile efficiency, standards, efficiencies, building codes, fleet purchase, all kinds of things, but not enough. No one is doing enough.
The problem is that everything that we do or everything one other nation does is going to be wiped out by China or another nation if they continue with coal firepower at the rate that we are proceeding. So the warning signals are all there, and I can assure that when our chairmanship time comes around we will pick up on Leona’s appropriate concern for indigenous populations and we will build on that with respect to the needs for all of us to do things that recognize the global impact on the ecosystem of what is happening in the Arctic.
FOREIGN MINISTER BILDT: Thanks and just two final remarks from my side. First that I do wish, on the issue that was mentioned earlier, that spirit of cooperation, of true Arctic cooperation of these few days, will continue to inspire U.S. to leading members of the UN Security Council when you proceed on your – on the enormously important issue of Syria.
Secondly, let me just on behalf of all us thank the city of Kiruna for having the your neighbors occupy this beautiful city hall and thank also the people of Kiruna and for your understanding that we might have messed up your town for a couple of days, but I hope that you accept that we’ve come here for not only one but for a couple of valuable purposes. Thanks very much. (Applause.)
STATE DEPARTMENT ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE'S REMARKS AT YALE-TERI ENERGY SUMMIT
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at Fourth Yale-TERI Energy Summit
Remarks
Robert O. Blake, Jr.
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
Washington, DC
May 13, 2013
Thanks so much for the opportunity to speak to this distinguished audience. Yale and TERI’s partnership – and leadership – to advance clean and innovative energy solutions has made this a vital forum for sharing new ideas and casting an ambitious vision for the future. TERI’s focus on clean energy solutions dates back to the mid-1970s, which turned out to be very prescient. Today, clean energy is at the center of our thinking on powering the economies of the future.
I’d like to extend special thanks to all of the CEOs and other business leaders here today. Your passion and ingenuity are central to the United States’ and India’s quest to help grow mutually beneficial clean energy ecosystems.
Ladies and gentleman, it’s a remarkable time to be engaged in a discussion about clean energy. We’ve recently seen enormous changes in the global energy landscape. And the nexus between energy and the environment is more relevant than ever.
The United States has four key priorities related to the future of energy use. Not coincidentally, each dovetail with our clean energy goals.
First, we will maintain our commitment to renewable energy – wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro – and put a premium on new innovation and technological advances;
Second, we will harness the "natural gas revolution" in the United States to meet our own energy needs as an intermediate or "bridge fuel" opportunity;
Third, we will continue to pursue the highest environmental standards, in the spirit of the Clean Air Act and other efforts to limit harmful emissions; and
Fourth, we will use existing energy more efficiently – in essence, to get more bang for our buck. That isn’t just good public policy, it makes good business sense.
There’s no doubt that our private sectors have a critical role to play in achieving these ambitious goals. But our governments have a responsibility to help foster the right environment for innovation; we must ensure that nothing stands in the way of quickly taking the best ideas conceived from Hyderabad to Houston, from Madhya Pradesh to Massachusetts, to the broadest possible market.
Simply put, governments must create policies that allow our companies to work together seamlessly. That means avoiding policies that hinder innovation, such as subsidies to local producers, measures that favor indigenous over foreign companies, or technology transfer requirements as a pre-condition for market access. We’re discussing these issues with our Indian friends through bilateral engagements like these like the Clean Energy Ministerial and the U.S.-India Energy Dialogue.
We are also expanding our bilateral cooperation on clean energy through the U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy, or PACE, which has mobilized over $1.7 billion dollars to finance clean energy initiatives. In addition, a $125 million public-private joint research center is being created that will be led by 95 government, research, and private organizations.
President Obama is taking a leadership role in these efforts. He recently called on Congress to establish an "Energy Security Trust," which would fund groundbreaking research focused on cost-effective technologies – like electric vehicles, homegrown biofuels, fuel cells, and domestically-produced natural gas.
We are also talking to the Government of India at all levels about energy issues – from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office. When we hold the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue this summer, clean energy cooperation will be a key part of the agenda.
We have much to be optimistic about. Clean energy technology is cheaper than it has ever been – according to one report photo-voltaic module prices are down 80% percent since 2008, and 20% just in the last year. In 2012 alone, a whopping 88 gigawatts of new clean energy capacity became available around the world, more than half of that from the wind sector.
Energy and climate change issues are important not just for our partnership with India, but for our broader strategy for the region. We believe that collaboration in this area can drive broader cooperation and economic connectivity, to help make the region more secure and prosperous. That’s why we’ve been such a strong supporter of regional energy and economic integration efforts to significantly increase economic connectivity across Asia.
USAID’s South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration program, for example, facilitates cross-border energy trade, expand access to clean energy, and build power-sector capacity to integrate energy supplies across the entire region.
And we’ve been strong advocates for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, or TAPI, which stands to bring enormous energy relief to a region still saddled with aging coal generation facilities and inefficient power generation methods. Today, more than half of India’s power comes from coal. TAPI would help shift the region away from carbon-based energy sources and could allow for unprecedented cooperation and commercial synergy.
These efforts are creating new opportunities to expand clean energy generation, which many never thought possible. The key to their success, of course, is you – the entrepreneurs and innovators. I can’t wait to see what you will come up with next, and we stand ready to work together toward a cleaner and more prosperous future. Thank you.
Remarks at Fourth Yale-TERI Energy Summit
Remarks
Robert O. Blake, Jr.
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
Washington, DC
May 13, 2013
Thanks so much for the opportunity to speak to this distinguished audience. Yale and TERI’s partnership – and leadership – to advance clean and innovative energy solutions has made this a vital forum for sharing new ideas and casting an ambitious vision for the future. TERI’s focus on clean energy solutions dates back to the mid-1970s, which turned out to be very prescient. Today, clean energy is at the center of our thinking on powering the economies of the future.
I’d like to extend special thanks to all of the CEOs and other business leaders here today. Your passion and ingenuity are central to the United States’ and India’s quest to help grow mutually beneficial clean energy ecosystems.
Ladies and gentleman, it’s a remarkable time to be engaged in a discussion about clean energy. We’ve recently seen enormous changes in the global energy landscape. And the nexus between energy and the environment is more relevant than ever.
The United States has four key priorities related to the future of energy use. Not coincidentally, each dovetail with our clean energy goals.
Second, we will harness the "natural gas revolution" in the United States to meet our own energy needs as an intermediate or "bridge fuel" opportunity;
Third, we will continue to pursue the highest environmental standards, in the spirit of the Clean Air Act and other efforts to limit harmful emissions; and
Fourth, we will use existing energy more efficiently – in essence, to get more bang for our buck. That isn’t just good public policy, it makes good business sense.
There’s no doubt that our private sectors have a critical role to play in achieving these ambitious goals. But our governments have a responsibility to help foster the right environment for innovation; we must ensure that nothing stands in the way of quickly taking the best ideas conceived from Hyderabad to Houston, from Madhya Pradesh to Massachusetts, to the broadest possible market.
Simply put, governments must create policies that allow our companies to work together seamlessly. That means avoiding policies that hinder innovation, such as subsidies to local producers, measures that favor indigenous over foreign companies, or technology transfer requirements as a pre-condition for market access. We’re discussing these issues with our Indian friends through bilateral engagements like these like the Clean Energy Ministerial and the U.S.-India Energy Dialogue.
We are also expanding our bilateral cooperation on clean energy through the U.S.-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy, or PACE, which has mobilized over $1.7 billion dollars to finance clean energy initiatives. In addition, a $125 million public-private joint research center is being created that will be led by 95 government, research, and private organizations.
President Obama is taking a leadership role in these efforts. He recently called on Congress to establish an "Energy Security Trust," which would fund groundbreaking research focused on cost-effective technologies – like electric vehicles, homegrown biofuels, fuel cells, and domestically-produced natural gas.
We are also talking to the Government of India at all levels about energy issues – from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office. When we hold the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue this summer, clean energy cooperation will be a key part of the agenda.
We have much to be optimistic about. Clean energy technology is cheaper than it has ever been – according to one report photo-voltaic module prices are down 80% percent since 2008, and 20% just in the last year. In 2012 alone, a whopping 88 gigawatts of new clean energy capacity became available around the world, more than half of that from the wind sector.
Energy and climate change issues are important not just for our partnership with India, but for our broader strategy for the region. We believe that collaboration in this area can drive broader cooperation and economic connectivity, to help make the region more secure and prosperous. That’s why we’ve been such a strong supporter of regional energy and economic integration efforts to significantly increase economic connectivity across Asia.
USAID’s South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration program, for example, facilitates cross-border energy trade, expand access to clean energy, and build power-sector capacity to integrate energy supplies across the entire region.
And we’ve been strong advocates for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, or TAPI, which stands to bring enormous energy relief to a region still saddled with aging coal generation facilities and inefficient power generation methods. Today, more than half of India’s power comes from coal. TAPI would help shift the region away from carbon-based energy sources and could allow for unprecedented cooperation and commercial synergy.
These efforts are creating new opportunities to expand clean energy generation, which many never thought possible. The key to their success, of course, is you – the entrepreneurs and innovators. I can’t wait to see what you will come up with next, and we stand ready to work together toward a cleaner and more prosperous future. Thank you.
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE HAGEL'S REMARKS AT TOWN HALL MEETING
Presenter: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Director of Administration and Management Mike Rhodes
May 14, 2013
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFESE
Remarks by Secretary Hagel at the Town Hall Meeting with Department of Defense Personnel, Alexandria, Virginia
MIKE RHODES: Good afternoon. My name is Mike Rhodes, and I have the honor of serving as the director of administration and management for the Department of Defense. Welcome. Welcome to all of you here from so many organizations across the department housed here at the Mark Center, and also welcome to the many across the globe who are observing today's event online or on television through the Pentagon Channel. Thank you for your service to the nation, and thank you for your attendance today.
I've spent my entire career -- nearly 30 years -- with the Department of Defense. And I join each of you in having the greatest pride in our collective mission of national security and national defense. The past seven -- little over seven years, I've had the honor of serving at the Office of the Secretary of Defense. As a civil service career member of the secretary's staff, I feel that I've had a unique opportunity to observe our recent secretaries.
During that time, I've observed Secretary Hagel. I've observed him as he's focused on critical issues of the department, and I note that he has always done so with a keen interest in the impact on our people, our military and civilian personnel.
While I'm personally not surprised by it, I greatly respect his desire to come down here today to meet with us in person to discuss the difficult decisions regarding furloughs. It speaks volumes of who he is. I know that we all understand that the secretary can't explain the individual impacts and implications associated with these decisions, and in the days ahead, we're going to have to meet with our respective supervisors and talk with the human resources professionals to figure out some of those details. However, the secretary is here today to share his macro views and considerations.
He's going to take a few minutes after his remarks to answer some questions, and those will be fielded from the -- by the microphones that are set up in the aisle. So now it's my privilege to introduce our secretary.
Now, having served as a noncommissioned officer in the Army myself, I have to -- have to make sure and recognize the fact -- of the significant fact that Secretary Hagel is the first enlisted combat veteran to lead this department. In addition, he brings experience both from the private and the public sectors. He served in the Veterans Administration. He served in Congress. And he served with the United Services Organization, just to name a few.
Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming our 24th secretary of defense, the Honorable Chuck Hagel. (Applause.)
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CHUCK HAGEL: Mike, thank you. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Hi. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Mike, I'm grateful for the introduction, and I'm grateful for what you do, and I'm grateful to all of you for what you each do individually and what you do together as a team to enhance this department, but more to the point, assure the security of this country. That's why I suspect you do this. You all have a lot of options in your lives. You will continue to have many options. But yet you -- you prefer to do this job.
There comes with this job, as you all note -- and I have always admired long before I had the privilege of serving with you as part of your team -- the purposefulness of your job. You're leading purposeful lives. We all, I think, strive to do that with our lives, in whatever abilities God has given each of us and how we develop those.
But to make a difference in the world is about as good as it can get. And in the end, when we inventory what we did with our lives, that's a -- that's a pretty significant question to ask yourself, because you ask yourselves and I ask myself every day, does it matter what we do? Does it matter what I'm doing, what each of us is doing? And it does.
I say that in the way of, first, thanking you and also recognizing that I know as secretary of defense what you do. I don't know every detail of everything you do every day. I don't need to. I know enough. And you don't often get recognized for that. So, thank you.
We're living at a difficult time. I was saying last night at a dinner off-the-record with a number of journalists, I don't know of a time in our history, especially in our lifetimes, when it has been more difficult to govern. I don't know when it has been more difficult to lead.
For all the reasons you know, the pressures that we have in our society, in the world, the threats, the complications, technology, it has really had an impact on everything. And in many ways, we are seeing institutions and, consequently, individuals come loose of their moorings. We're a transient society. When I was growing up in a little town -- little towns in Nebraska, I mean, you stayed in one place. I mean, your parents worked in the same state or maybe you moved to some different towns, but you were anchored to something. You didn't have technology in how you communicate. You communicated with each other. You talked to each other. You socialized with each other. You didn't have Facebook, and you didn't have Internet, and you didn't have the clippie little one-sentence deals that -- well, I'll e-mail you, which is, we're not going to go backward and I'm not -- my children may disagree -- I'm not a dinosaur.
It's all impacting on all of us in every way. And so we are living at a very difficult time. But yet it's a defining time. It's a time when we are truly building a new world order. And that's pretty significant. Not many generations, not many people ever have an opportunity in their -- in their careers, in their lifetimes to say they lived at such a time. We are living at such a time.
What comes out, I don't know. But I do know this: It will -- it will come out based on what we do. We have control of our own destiny. We can define our future. Yes, there are more uncontrollables today than ever before. Yes, there are more complications. Yes, there are more sophisticated threats.
But still, there isn't a country in the world like America. There is not a country in the world that's in our universe. It doesn't mean we're right. It doesn't mean we're better. It doesn't mean we're perfect. Not at all. But we have an amazing system for many reasons. If for no other, it is a system that allows us to self-correct. Just like each of us as individuals, we all know when we're maybe veering a little bit too far in different directions. And you self-correct. We have a system that allows us to self-correct.
Now, with all that said, I wanted to -- before I get into some of the comments I want to make and address specifically here, I wanted to make the overall point that what you're doing is important, it will continue to be important. Many, many people in the country recognize that, not just me. I'm just a passing steward on the stage. But as long as I'm here, I've got a responsibility, and that is not to let our country down, not to let you down. And you have the same responsibility to the country, not to me, not to me, but to the country, to that purposeful life that you have.
So I want to talk about something that I wish I didn't have to talk about today, and that is a decision I've made, which I suspect everybody's heard about it already and it's been coming, and that is the decision on furloughs.
Let me, before I get into specifics of that, make a couple of frame-up points. You know what the budget is about. You're all dealing with it every day. March 1st, we went into what as you all know as sequestration. That has produced a situation for us, Department of Defense, our budget, where we have found ourselves through sequestration about $30 billion short in our operations and maintenance account, the overall accounts. And there's another probably $7 billion to $8 billion in additional deficits in some of our other accounts. We're going to have to deal with that. We don't have any choice.
Over the last two-and-a-half months -- and that's how long I've been in this job -- I have worked every day with our comptroller, who's here today -- and he and his people deserve a tremendous amount of credit for working on this, because this has been a very difficult process. How do we minimize the pain for our people? That's the first -- the first priority, as well as why we're all here, and that is our core missions, readiness and protect this country. And I don't think anybody argues with that.
Now, how do we balance that and assure the security of this country and protecting our core missions and doing what's right, doing what's fair for our people? Because it doesn't make any difference how good equipment you have or how sophisticated or what the process is. Without people, it doesn't work. People are the most important asset any institution has.
So when we started this process when I got here two-and-a-half months ago, there was a very real -- more than possibility, but probability we were going to most likely have to look at a 22-day furlough decision. Through a lot of hard work by our leaders at every level in every service, both uniformed and civilian, and through a reprogramming effort that we got through, so -- that Bob Hale and his people could move money around in different accounts, we got that down to where we thought -- we were at 14. Then, we kept going back, and, finally, we got to a point where I could not responsibly go any deeper into -- into cutting or jeopardizing our core missions on readiness and training, and I just couldn't do any more.
That means that I've made a decision that we'll go forward with furloughs starting July 8th of 11 days. If we can -- if we can do better, as we get through the front end of this over the next few months, then -- then we might be in a position to be able to -- to knock that back. I can't promise that; I won't promise that. You deserve fair, honest, direct conversation about this. And I'm not going to be cute with you at all. This is -- this is where we are.
We'll continue to look at it. We're going to continue to do everything we can. We have cut maintenance. We have cut training. You probably know, because you're all involved in some capacity of this, of our Army training is done for the fiscal year. We've had to bring wings down. We've had to idle ships. There will be exceptions to this. The exceptions will be based on law, will be based on readiness and essential components to the civilian workforce, and we've gone through all of that. We've gone through all that many times over. We'll follow OPM guidelines.
I said when I first got here on this issue, I knew we would be faced with this. Everybody knew it. But -- and I instructed all of our leaders that we've done it this way, we have to be fair. And I have had various options to look at. I've looked at all of them. I had different recommendations from all the services, all the civilian leaders. But what guided me on this, after the realization that we had to make some tough choices, we've got to be fair. And everybody has to be treated the same here, except for those exceptions where there -- there is an essential role that they play.
We've evaluated that on law. We've evaluated that on readiness. We've evaluated that on core missions. As I said, if we can do better -- and we'll continue to search for ways to do better -- but right now, I can't -- I can't run this institution into the ditch. This will go until the end of the fiscal year.
We've taken it as close to the line as we can. And still capable of protecting this country and this country's interests around the world. We still have a war going on. Unfortunately, we still have casualties. We've got a lot of very dangerous, unpredictable places in the world, and I can't put this country in jeopardy by not factoring that in, in the end, as the overall most significant responsibility, as well as treating our people right, is treating our people fair.
Difficult choice, but we had to make it. And we -- I tried everything. We did everything we could not to get to this -- this day, this way. But that's it. That's where we are. And I think, at this point, let me -- let me end and, again, thank you for everything you do and recognize, as I go to questions next, I know, the leaders of this institution know the hardship this decision puts on everybody and your families. We're not unmindful of that. And that's the most distressing part of this decision. We recognize that. And I'm sorry about that.
But I've got to be honest and deal with the facts. You deserve honesty. You deserve the facts. And I appreciate what you're doing. And I know this is going to be difficult, but we'll get through this. And I said everyone going in, we're going in together, we're coming out together. No one service, no one's going to be protected more than anybody else. Budgets are different, and everybody's budget's a little different, but we're all in this together. And I can't allow this great institution that does so much for our country, with such great tradition and history, with such great people, to get picked apart inside by each other, and I won't -- I won't allow that to happen.
So with that, thank you for giving me an opportunity to come by this afternoon and giving me the opportunity to thank you. I would take questions now. I sure as hell would like some advice. (Laughter.)'
Yes, ma'am? Yes.
Q: (OFF-MIC)
SEC. HAGEL: I'm sorry. What is what?
Q: (OFF-MIC)
SEC. HAGEL: What's the status of raises? Is...
Q: (OFF-MIC)
SEC. HAGEL: Oh.
Q: (OFF-MIC)
SEC. HAGEL: Well, I'm going to give you an honest answer. I don't know about any raises going forward. I think we've got to get through this. We've got to get through what we've got right now. And I know that the civilian employees have not had raises in three years, and I know that. That's why it's even more difficult to have to come out here today, and all the people in the Pentagon Channel, around the world, and have to make this announcement.
Recognize you've had three years of sacrifice. I get that. I get that. All I can tell you is, I will do everything I can to try to get us in a position, working with the Congress, trying to help as much as I can to promote, which I do, which our people do, some kind of an agreement between the Congress and the president, so -- so that we can find a new budget center of gravity here that we can eliminate where we are.
That's not my -- that's not my decision. This is a big decision by a lot of people in order to get there. So I'm sorry I can't give you a better answer, but I'm not going to tell you something that's just not true.
Bob Hale, our comptroller, may help me out here. (Laughter.)
UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT F. HALE: (OFF-MIC)
SEC. HAGEL: I'll repeat what he said. And I should have said this, but I just assumed you knew this. You know, in the budget proposal, what the president's budget for F.Y. 2014 proposed, what I testified about, and all of our people, we have asked for a 1 percent raise. Now, it's up to the Congress whether that happens or not, but -- thank you, Bob. I should have said that, but I just assumed you knew -- maybe you didn't know that.
But the president has asked for a 1 percent raise in his budget request, and we, of course, supported that, and I testified to that, as well as all of our leadership. That's why he -- that why he's the comptroller. (Laughter.)
Yes?
Q: Good afternoon. My name is Jennifer Hayes, and I work for WHS HRD. And I know that we have to deal with the situation at hand, like you've said, but going forward, is there any protection for us as federal workers that we won't have to endure something like this again? Or will we have to deal with this again next year? As a federal employee, we have took a great deal of hits in the -- in these past couple of years. So it's a great interest to a lot of us.
SEC. HAGEL: Well, your question's an important question. And I would give you this answer, because it's the best answer I can give you. I can't guarantee you that we're not going to be in some kind of a similar situation next year. I'm not predicting it. I'm not saying that that's going to happen. But what we're doing here is we're just trying to survive and get through this fiscal year.
I would hope -- but you can't run an operation, you can't lead an operation, you can't have so many people dependent and the country dependent on leadership based on hope. I hope that we will be in a better situation all the way around. I've got some confidence that that will occur. But I'm not going to stand here and promise you that it won't.
So we're dealing with what we've got to deal with in front of us right now. We're all trying to get to some high ground for FY 2014, which, as you know, begins October 1st, and then we'll see.
But I know that's not a good answer. No one likes uncertainty. It's a dark cloud that hangs over everybody's lives. I know for your families, I know for every part of your lives, it's not a good answer, but it's an honest answer. We will do everything possible not to -- not to have to be in this situation again, but a good amount of this is out of our control, too. Thank you.
Yes?
Q: Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here. I'm John Bell with OIG. I know some other large agencies have managed to make cuts without resorting to furloughs by cutting their contracting. For example, the Department of State, I know, has done that, isn't going to be furloughing any employees. Is there any possibility that DOD could use those strategies going forward to reduce the number of days or eliminate them altogether? Thank you.
SEC. HAGEL: Thank you. And it's a question that we -- we went into great detail, great depth, great width on. In fact, there are a number of adjustments on this in that general area of contracts and acquisitions and procurement and other accounts. But we did explore it at every, every level. I asked -- that was one of the first questions I asked, was your question.
So we looked at this in every way we could possibly look at it. Bob Hale and people in all the different agencies in the leadership have spent many weekends -- and still do -- going through this. They would come back to me on a Monday or Tuesday and I'd send them back. I'd say, "Go back. Find it somewhere else."
But I think we are -- not I think -- I have confidence that we are running now right to the edge where I just can't hold back any more. I had to make a decision for the good of the security of this country and for everybody. But believe me, we looked at everything, including your question.
All right. Well, again, I wish I could end on a -- oh, we got -- no. We do have somebody back there. Okay.
Q: Hello.
SEC. HAGEL: Hi.
Q: Now that we know that we'll have 11 furlough days, will it be two furloughs per pay period? Or will it be one furlough per pay period?
SEC. HAGEL: We're looking at -- and I don't want to get too deep into how we're going to administer it, because all your supervisors should have by now -- or will this afternoon, I think -- get directions and instructions on all these specific questions, yours being one of them.
But I think what they're thinking about -- and, Bob, just -- it's two per pay period, right? So that'd be, what, one per week? Yeah. But I think that's the general guideline, is that right?
But your supervisors, all the leaders of your institutions will have the specific guidelines on this. And I know there's -- there will be questions. I know that. We've tried to think through every possible question, and we've got a lot of pieces to this. We've got unions and we've got different authorities. We're dealing with all of them. We've been today talking with all these different authorities, Capitol Hill, think-tanks, the White House, so that what I'm saying to you today is being rolled out with all these different authorities, all day today.
But to your specific question, I think it's two days per pay period, so that -- one day a week. But -- but you will be able to work those things out with your -- with your supervisors.
All right. Well, again, I'm sorry I have to come to you today on this. But thank you. I'm grateful. Our president's grateful. Our country's grateful. And we'll get in, we'll do what we got to do, we'll get out, we'll get on the other side of this, and we'll get it turned around.
And my -- my thoughts and prayers are with your families. And thank your families for -- for what they do. I've always thought families always take the brunt of everything. And I'm not unaware of that, nor is the president or the leadership of our institution. So God bless your families. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
ISAF NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN FOR MAY 14. 2013
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Combined Force Kills Taliban Leader in Kunduz Province
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 14, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force killed a mid-level Taliban leader in the Khanabad district of Afghanistan's Kunduz province today, military officials reported.
The deceased Taliban leader had been in charge of a group responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, and he was involved in trafficking weapons and suicide vests, and had engaged in kidnapping and reconnaissance operations.
In other Afghanistan operations today:
-- A combined force in Kandahar province's Panjwai district arrested a Taliban leader responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He manages numerous weapons caches for Taliban insurgent cells. The security force also arrested two other insurgents.
-- In Helmand province's Nahr-e Saraj district, a combined force arrested a Taliban facilitator who is responsible for procuring and distributing weapons and equipment to insurgents in the province's Nad-e Ali and Nahr-e Saraj districts. The facilitator also leads a group responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also seized an assault rifle, two pistols, four magazines and ammunition.
In operations yesterday:
-- A combined force in Kandahar province's Maiwand district wounded an insurgent during a search for a Taliban leader who directs the movement of Taliban fighters, bomb-making materials, weapons, ammunition and supplies. He also has operational control of an insurgent group responsible for attacks against Afghan civilians and Afghan and coalition forces.
-- In Helmand province's Marjah district, a combined force arrested a senior Taliban leader who is in charge of at least seven separate Taliban insurgent groups responsible for attacks on Afghan and coalition forces. He is involved in all stages of operations, including procuring weapons and ammunition, planning attacks and executing those plans. He and the insurgents he controls also have been involved in kidnapping Afghan security force members.
-- Afghan special forces soldiers, enabled by coalition forces, killed an insurgent and wounded another after watching them plant a roadside bomb along a patrol route used by Afghan and coalition forces in Herat province's Shindand district. After the engagement, two other insurgents were killed by their own bomb as they were traveling back toward the location of the first one.
 |
| U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter tours the tunnels that were once the hideout for notorious, and still at large, Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar which is now under the control of Firebase Maholic in Afghanistan, May 14, 2013. The tunnels and nearby Taliban stronghold was captured by U.S. forces in 2001. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett |
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Combined Force Kills Taliban Leader in Kunduz Province
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 14, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force killed a mid-level Taliban leader in the Khanabad district of Afghanistan's Kunduz province today, military officials reported.
The deceased Taliban leader had been in charge of a group responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, and he was involved in trafficking weapons and suicide vests, and had engaged in kidnapping and reconnaissance operations.
In other Afghanistan operations today:
-- A combined force in Kandahar province's Panjwai district arrested a Taliban leader responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He manages numerous weapons caches for Taliban insurgent cells. The security force also arrested two other insurgents.
-- In Helmand province's Nahr-e Saraj district, a combined force arrested a Taliban facilitator who is responsible for procuring and distributing weapons and equipment to insurgents in the province's Nad-e Ali and Nahr-e Saraj districts. The facilitator also leads a group responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also seized an assault rifle, two pistols, four magazines and ammunition.
In operations yesterday:
-- A combined force in Kandahar province's Maiwand district wounded an insurgent during a search for a Taliban leader who directs the movement of Taliban fighters, bomb-making materials, weapons, ammunition and supplies. He also has operational control of an insurgent group responsible for attacks against Afghan civilians and Afghan and coalition forces.
-- In Helmand province's Marjah district, a combined force arrested a senior Taliban leader who is in charge of at least seven separate Taliban insurgent groups responsible for attacks on Afghan and coalition forces. He is involved in all stages of operations, including procuring weapons and ammunition, planning attacks and executing those plans. He and the insurgents he controls also have been involved in kidnapping Afghan security force members.
-- Afghan special forces soldiers, enabled by coalition forces, killed an insurgent and wounded another after watching them plant a roadside bomb along a patrol route used by Afghan and coalition forces in Herat province's Shindand district. After the engagement, two other insurgents were killed by their own bomb as they were traveling back toward the location of the first one.
FORMER NEVADA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY OWNER INDICTED FOR INCOME TAX EVASION
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Former Construction Company Owner Indicted in Nevada for Income Tax Evasion
A federal grand jury in Nevada today returned an indictment against a former construction company owner for evading federal income and employment taxes, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Chief Richard Weber, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge William C. Woerner of the Las Vegas Field Office, and Sheriff Doug Gillespie of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Leon Benzer, 46, of Las Vegas, was charged in U.S. District Court in the District of Nevada with two counts of tax evasion.
In January 2013, Benzer was indicted in a related case on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. According to court documents, from approximately August 2003 through February 2009, Benzer orchestrated a scheme to direct construction defect litigation and repairs at condominium complexes to a conspiring law firm and Benzer’s construction company, Silver Lining Construction (SLC). As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that SLC was awarded a contract worth over $7 million for work at the Vistana Homeowner’s Association (Vistana HOA) in Las Vegas. The case is pending.
According to the indictment returned today, in August 2006 Benzer filed five years’ worth of personal tax forms and business tax returns without any payments accompanying those returns. As of April 2007, Benzer had allegedly failed to pay his personal tax liability of approximately $459,000 and SLC’s employment tax liability of approximately $687,000 and unemployment tax liability of approximately $18,000. In May 2007, the IRS issued a notice of intent to file a levy; Benzer subsequently appealed this process and indicated that he wanted to enter into an "offer-in-compromise" with the IRS to pay a portion of what was owed in full satisfaction of all his tax liabilities. According to the indictment, during this offer-in-compromise process, the IRS requested detailed financial information from Benzer.
Between March 2005 and January 2008, the indictment alleges that Benzer and SLC received over $7 million from the Vistana HOA contract, including a wire transfer of over $1 million on Sept. 21, 2007, to a personal US Bank account that Benzer opened in August 2007. The indictment alleges that when Benzer filed certain IRS forms related to the offer-in-compromise process on Sept. 25, 2007, he failed to disclose this personal U.S. Bank account or the assets contained in it.
The maximum prison sentence for each count of tax evasion is five years in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000.
The charges and allegations against the indicted defendant are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Chief Kathleen McGovern, Deputy Chief Charles La Bella and Trial Attorney Thomas B.W. Hall of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case is being investigated by IRS-CI, the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Criminal Intelligence Section.
Today’s charges were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Former Construction Company Owner Indicted in Nevada for Income Tax Evasion
A federal grand jury in Nevada today returned an indictment against a former construction company owner for evading federal income and employment taxes, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Chief Richard Weber, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge William C. Woerner of the Las Vegas Field Office, and Sheriff Doug Gillespie of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Leon Benzer, 46, of Las Vegas, was charged in U.S. District Court in the District of Nevada with two counts of tax evasion.
In January 2013, Benzer was indicted in a related case on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. According to court documents, from approximately August 2003 through February 2009, Benzer orchestrated a scheme to direct construction defect litigation and repairs at condominium complexes to a conspiring law firm and Benzer’s construction company, Silver Lining Construction (SLC). As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that SLC was awarded a contract worth over $7 million for work at the Vistana Homeowner’s Association (Vistana HOA) in Las Vegas. The case is pending.
According to the indictment returned today, in August 2006 Benzer filed five years’ worth of personal tax forms and business tax returns without any payments accompanying those returns. As of April 2007, Benzer had allegedly failed to pay his personal tax liability of approximately $459,000 and SLC’s employment tax liability of approximately $687,000 and unemployment tax liability of approximately $18,000. In May 2007, the IRS issued a notice of intent to file a levy; Benzer subsequently appealed this process and indicated that he wanted to enter into an "offer-in-compromise" with the IRS to pay a portion of what was owed in full satisfaction of all his tax liabilities. According to the indictment, during this offer-in-compromise process, the IRS requested detailed financial information from Benzer.
Between March 2005 and January 2008, the indictment alleges that Benzer and SLC received over $7 million from the Vistana HOA contract, including a wire transfer of over $1 million on Sept. 21, 2007, to a personal US Bank account that Benzer opened in August 2007. The indictment alleges that when Benzer filed certain IRS forms related to the offer-in-compromise process on Sept. 25, 2007, he failed to disclose this personal U.S. Bank account or the assets contained in it.
The maximum prison sentence for each count of tax evasion is five years in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000.
The charges and allegations against the indicted defendant are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Chief Kathleen McGovern, Deputy Chief Charles La Bella and Trial Attorney Thomas B.W. Hall of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case is being investigated by IRS-CI, the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Criminal Intelligence Section.
Today’s charges were brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants.
RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS
A Sailor maintains radio communication with the bridge while participating in a counter-measure wash down evolution on the flight deck aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6). Bonhomme Richard is underway preparing for her Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Michael Achterling (Released) 130510-N-BJ178-083
An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Rampagers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Dwight D. Eisenhower is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility promoting maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and support missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Andrew Schneider (Released) 130508-N-XQ474-103
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY MAKES REMARKS WITH SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER FREDRIK REINFELDT
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Remarks With Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Rosenbad
Stockholm, Sweden
May 14, 2013
PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT: Okay, warmly welcome. It’s a great pleasure for me to welcome Secretary of State John Kerry to Sweden and Stockholm only a few months after his appointment. It’s a sign of the excellent bilateral relations between Sweden and the United States. Links between our two countries go far back in history, and the King and Queen of Sweden and Vice President Joe Biden celebrated last week the foundation of the colony New Sweden situated in Delaware some 375 years ago.
At the heart of our relations are the core values that we share: freedom, democracy, respect for human rights. It’s also the same values that Raoul Wallenberg stood up for. But the U.S. is also a key partner in trade and investment. Sweden is actually one of the largest investors per capita in the U.S. Sweden’s foreign – Swedish foreign direct investment and trade with Sweden create around 250,000 jobs in the U.S.
During our talks today, we have stressed the importance of a EU-U.S. trade and investment agreement. It could actually increase trade flows with as much as 20 percent. It’s together one third of the world trade, world economy, we are talking about. We also explained the difficult economic situation that many EU member-states now are experiencing and the measures that are taken to revert to growth and employment.
We have also talked about the disastrous situation in Syria and developments in Afghanistan. I’ve informed the Secretary of State about the discussions going on in Sweden at the moment of our engagement in Afghanistan post-2014. Afghanistan will be one of our most important partners in development aid in the coming years.
So there is a common understanding between Sweden and the U.S. on many of these questions. Your visit will help develop our shared views and relations even further. And so I wish you the best of luck both in Stockholm and now heading for Kiruna. I mentioned I made my military service there. It’s a meeting with the Arctic Council, but it will also be a meeting with the Arctic climate, could actually be some snow as well, so be prepared.
Welcome.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Prime Minister Reinfeldt, thank you very much. I’m from Boston, so I’m prepared. (Laughter.) I’m really delighted to be here with you today and I look forward to getting to Kiruna later in the day. I didn’t know you had done your military service there, so I’m going to check out just how safe you made it for us. (Laughter.)
PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT: Absolutely.
SECRETARY KERRY: It’s a real pleasure for me to be back in Stockholm. I came here a number of years ago when I was traveling through this part of the world working on the issue of acid rain, and we made a lot of progress with respect to the Montreal Protocol. We now have to make a lot of progress with respect to the challenge of global climate change, and we talked about that earlier today.
But I want to thank – I want to begin today by just thanking the Prime Minister and the citizens of Sweden and your Foreign Minister Carl Biltd, who had to leave us to go up to Kiruna to prepare for the meetings, and I will join him there later. But I want to thank you for the very strong partnership with the United States of America. We are deeply appreciative. This is an important partnership that is based on our shared values and on a lot of shared aspirations for peace, for better relations between countries, and certainly for the combined security and prosperity of all of our people.
I really want to salute the Prime Minister and the people of Sweden for taking on some of the toughest challenges of our time. The Swedish people should be very, very proud, and I know they are, of the work of their government and their own contributions to significant challenges on a global basis. And this goes way back, from the Balkans to the great challenges of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Middle East peace process, and now Syria, where Sweden is one of the great contributors, I think one of the more significant contributors to the humanitarian crisis in that area.
We also are very appreciative in the United States for Sweden’s efforts with respect to Afghanistan. In fact, no country receives as much foreign assistance from Sweden as Afghanistan, no other country provides as much foreign assistance in Afghanistan as Sweden does. And it has significantly contributed to the efforts previously in Kosovo, Libya, through NATO, though not even a member of NATO, but it’s made those contributions, and we appreciate it.
It is clear that the United States and Sweden share a common aspiration for the people of Syria. And given the sizeable Syrian community in Sweden, we know that the crisis of Syria is of particular concern to the people of Sweden, and Sweden has therefore been one of the generous donors of humanitarian assistance.
We’re also grateful for Sweden’s very strong stand on sanction and your appointment of a special envoy to the Syrian opposition, and Ake Sellstrom’s significant efforts with respect to the determination of whether or not chemical weapons have been used in Syria is of great importance to all of us. We welcomed him to Washington the other day and we welcome that initiative to try to determine the facts for the world.
We also share a mutual vision for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear threat in Iran. And Sweden deserves great credit for its defense of human rights of the Iranian citizens, and we thank them for that effort, too.
I also want to say that we appreciate Sweden’s partnership because these challenges in Europe and North Africa and Central Asia simply do not belong to one nation; they’re shared by all of us and they affect all of us. And at the top of that list of shared challenges which does not get enough attention, and it’s one of the principal reasons that I came here today to share bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister but also will travel on to Kiruna to take part in the Arctic Council, a principal challenge to all of us of life and death proportions is the challenge of climate change. It is not a challenge that can be solved by any one nation, and in our discussions with the Prime Minister he pointed out to me that, in fact, Sweden’s contribution to the problem of – to the problem of climate change is a tiny point percentage of the total problem. And yet Sweden’s contribution to the solution is much more significant than anything that might be expected because of the level of its own contribution to the problem. So Sweden is way ahead of the curve.
And I have to say that I regret that my own country – and President Obama knows this and is committed to changing it – needs to do more and we are committed to doing more. And we come here to Kiruna with a great understanding of the challenge to the Arctic as the ice melts, as the ecosystem is challenged, the fisheries, and the possibilities of increased commercial traffic as a result of the lack of ice raises a whole set of other issues that we need to face up to. So it’s not just an environmental issue and it’s not just an economic issue. It is a security issue, a fundamental security issue that affects life as we know it on the planet itself, and it demands urgent attention from all of us.
I will have more to say about this tomorrow at the Arctic Council, but I want to thank Sweden for its invaluable leadership as we work to strengthen our cooperation throughout the Arctic and more broadly to try to address very real challenges of life on this planet itself.
Like the United States, Sweden understands the challenge of bringing universities, students, scientists, businesses, cities, a broad array of actors have to come to the table in order to meet this challenge. And we have to produce best practices which can then be translated to action in countries around the world. This is why recently in my trip to China we joined with the Chinese, who together the United States and China represent more than 50 percent of the global emissions of climate change. Recognizing that, we have come together to elevate the dialogue between our countries, and we will be continuing that dialogue in Washington in a very formal way in July in an effort to try to do more to address this issue.
So I come here aware of the challenge with humility but with great respect for what Sweden has been doing in leading on this effort, and we look forward to working together on that and on many other challenges, Mr. Prime Minister. So thank you for a generous welcome today, and I look forward to answering any questions.
MODERATOR: Okay. We have time for a couple of questions. Please state your name (inaudible).
QUESTION: My name is Rolf Forschwidt (ph) from Swedish TV 4. Mr. Secretary, will you please tell us how many number of American soldiers will be kept in Afghanistan post-2014? And also, what do you expect from the Swedish Government, how many people we should keep in the country after 2014?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me begin with the second part of your question, Rolf (ph), and then I’ll go to the first part. How many soldiers Sweden leaves is up to Sweden, not the United States, and I’m not going to announce any expectations, except to say that I know Sweden has already made an announcement about the number of troops that it expects to have on an ongoing basis. And we’re very grateful. We’re very grateful for whatever Sweden decides to do. We believe that as we have said previously, in together, out together. That is the philosophy that has guided us with respect to Afghanistan.
Now, on the number of troops that the United States will leave, I can guarantee you it will be enough to get the mission accomplished that the President has defined, which after 2014 will be to continue to train, equip, and support the Afghan army and also to conduct sufficient counterterrorism operations that Afghanistan cannot be used as a platform to attack people anywhere in the world. The President is in the process right now – this week, next week, the next days – of deliberating about this. And I can tell you that very shortly, not too long from now, the President does intend to make public what his plans are for post-2014. But I can tell you he will – he is committed to continuing to support the mission, he is committed to continuing to support the Afghan military beyond 2014. And I leave it to the President to announce the precise contours of what that will be, but I am convinced that it will be adequate to meet the mission and to complete the task.
The final thing I’ll say is we have not invested in this, all of us together for all of these years, in order to invite failure as we begin to do the very thing we sought to do, which is stand up the Afghan military and capacity and provide a transition. We’re in the middle of that now. This is the first fighting season as the Afghans take the lead, and thus far they’re doing pretty well. So we need to finish this in a way that does honor to the sacrifices and the efforts of a lot of countries for the last 11, 12 years, and I’m convinced we will.
QUESTION: Kim Ghattas with the BBC. Mr. Secretary, first a question for you on Syria. You spoke a while back about needing to change the calculations that President Assad is making as you discuss the possibility of a political transition there. But Mr. Assad and his government forces seem to be making military gains on the ground, they seem to be regaining the upper hand, and it seems as though they are hoping that they can change your calculation about how this transition needs to go forward. They’re not even interested in coming to the table at the moment.
Can you foresee a scenario whereby Mr. Assad will simply stay in power and the conflict will simply go on? He has no interest in coming to the table at the moment with the military gains he’s making.
And Prime Minister, a question for you on North Korea. You represent U.S. interests in North Korea. Do you have any updates on access to Kenneth Bae or any sort of talks with the North Koreans on his status?
PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT: No, not really. As you know, we are present there and also helping a lot of other countries, but I don’t have an update on these talks.
SECRETARY KERRY: With respect to Assad’s calculation, if he decides not to come to the table it will be another one of President Assad’s gross miscalculations. Now, I don’t believe that that is the case at this moment. The Russians – Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has informed me that President Assad has already given him the names of people who will negotiate.
So I don’t know where this information is coming from. You hear all kinds of reports right now. Let me just say to everybody point blank I have talked to the Secretary General in the last few days; I have talked to Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. They are both making plans for this negotiation to take place. I have talked with almost all of the foreign ministers in the Core Group who will be meeting next week together in order to lay plans for this negotiation. The members of the opposition have been in touch. I talked as recently as this morning with General Idris, who is committed to this negotiation process.
And I keep hearing some people suggest somehow that – the process moving away, not closer. I just don’t agree with that. Enormous plans are being laid. This is under the aegis of the United Nations. It’s not up to me to announce a date or the process. It’s up to the UN. But the talks we’ve had with them make it very clear that progress is being made. It’s only been five days since this was announced, and a huge amount of work is already underway. When we announced it, we said towards the end of the month or early June. We expect it to be exactly that, somewhere in early June I would hope. And that’s our current expectation. But as I say, it’s not up to me to set a date.
We will continue to work. We are all in touch; meetings are going on every single day. We believe the only way to settle Syria is through – the best way to settle Syria - is through a negotiated settlement. And that settlement process was set out a year ago in the Geneva communique, which calls for a transitional government with full executive power by mutual consent. The Russians signed onto that, the United States, and many other countries. That is precisely the formula that we are now trying to pursue.
Now, if President Assad decides to miscalculate again about that, as he has miscalculated about his own country’s future over the course of the last years, it is clear the opposition will be receiving additional support, there will be additional efforts made, and unfortunately, the violence will not end. But I know that the opposition and the support group, the Core Group of countries who have been engaged in this for some time, are deeply committed to trying to end the violence, to try to end the bloodshed, to try and save Syria, to keep a Syria as a united country which is available to all of the participants in the country. That includes Alawite, it includes Druze, Sunni, Shia, Christian. All elements of Syrian society should be protected and take part. And that is the approach which we are pursuing as a matter of conscience and also as a matter of practicality. And we hope we’ll have a chance to be able to get to that table. If Assad decides not to come, the world will see how empty his rhetoric is, as well as his intent.
Thank you all very, very much.
Remarks With Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Rosenbad
Stockholm, Sweden
May 14, 2013
PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT: Okay, warmly welcome. It’s a great pleasure for me to welcome Secretary of State John Kerry to Sweden and Stockholm only a few months after his appointment. It’s a sign of the excellent bilateral relations between Sweden and the United States. Links between our two countries go far back in history, and the King and Queen of Sweden and Vice President Joe Biden celebrated last week the foundation of the colony New Sweden situated in Delaware some 375 years ago.
At the heart of our relations are the core values that we share: freedom, democracy, respect for human rights. It’s also the same values that Raoul Wallenberg stood up for. But the U.S. is also a key partner in trade and investment. Sweden is actually one of the largest investors per capita in the U.S. Sweden’s foreign – Swedish foreign direct investment and trade with Sweden create around 250,000 jobs in the U.S.
During our talks today, we have stressed the importance of a EU-U.S. trade and investment agreement. It could actually increase trade flows with as much as 20 percent. It’s together one third of the world trade, world economy, we are talking about. We also explained the difficult economic situation that many EU member-states now are experiencing and the measures that are taken to revert to growth and employment.
We have also talked about the disastrous situation in Syria and developments in Afghanistan. I’ve informed the Secretary of State about the discussions going on in Sweden at the moment of our engagement in Afghanistan post-2014. Afghanistan will be one of our most important partners in development aid in the coming years.
So there is a common understanding between Sweden and the U.S. on many of these questions. Your visit will help develop our shared views and relations even further. And so I wish you the best of luck both in Stockholm and now heading for Kiruna. I mentioned I made my military service there. It’s a meeting with the Arctic Council, but it will also be a meeting with the Arctic climate, could actually be some snow as well, so be prepared.
Welcome.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, Prime Minister Reinfeldt, thank you very much. I’m from Boston, so I’m prepared. (Laughter.) I’m really delighted to be here with you today and I look forward to getting to Kiruna later in the day. I didn’t know you had done your military service there, so I’m going to check out just how safe you made it for us. (Laughter.)
PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT: Absolutely.
SECRETARY KERRY: It’s a real pleasure for me to be back in Stockholm. I came here a number of years ago when I was traveling through this part of the world working on the issue of acid rain, and we made a lot of progress with respect to the Montreal Protocol. We now have to make a lot of progress with respect to the challenge of global climate change, and we talked about that earlier today.
But I want to thank – I want to begin today by just thanking the Prime Minister and the citizens of Sweden and your Foreign Minister Carl Biltd, who had to leave us to go up to Kiruna to prepare for the meetings, and I will join him there later. But I want to thank you for the very strong partnership with the United States of America. We are deeply appreciative. This is an important partnership that is based on our shared values and on a lot of shared aspirations for peace, for better relations between countries, and certainly for the combined security and prosperity of all of our people.
I really want to salute the Prime Minister and the people of Sweden for taking on some of the toughest challenges of our time. The Swedish people should be very, very proud, and I know they are, of the work of their government and their own contributions to significant challenges on a global basis. And this goes way back, from the Balkans to the great challenges of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Middle East peace process, and now Syria, where Sweden is one of the great contributors, I think one of the more significant contributors to the humanitarian crisis in that area.
We also are very appreciative in the United States for Sweden’s efforts with respect to Afghanistan. In fact, no country receives as much foreign assistance from Sweden as Afghanistan, no other country provides as much foreign assistance in Afghanistan as Sweden does. And it has significantly contributed to the efforts previously in Kosovo, Libya, through NATO, though not even a member of NATO, but it’s made those contributions, and we appreciate it.
It is clear that the United States and Sweden share a common aspiration for the people of Syria. And given the sizeable Syrian community in Sweden, we know that the crisis of Syria is of particular concern to the people of Sweden, and Sweden has therefore been one of the generous donors of humanitarian assistance.
We’re also grateful for Sweden’s very strong stand on sanction and your appointment of a special envoy to the Syrian opposition, and Ake Sellstrom’s significant efforts with respect to the determination of whether or not chemical weapons have been used in Syria is of great importance to all of us. We welcomed him to Washington the other day and we welcome that initiative to try to determine the facts for the world.
We also share a mutual vision for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear threat in Iran. And Sweden deserves great credit for its defense of human rights of the Iranian citizens, and we thank them for that effort, too.
I also want to say that we appreciate Sweden’s partnership because these challenges in Europe and North Africa and Central Asia simply do not belong to one nation; they’re shared by all of us and they affect all of us. And at the top of that list of shared challenges which does not get enough attention, and it’s one of the principal reasons that I came here today to share bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister but also will travel on to Kiruna to take part in the Arctic Council, a principal challenge to all of us of life and death proportions is the challenge of climate change. It is not a challenge that can be solved by any one nation, and in our discussions with the Prime Minister he pointed out to me that, in fact, Sweden’s contribution to the problem of – to the problem of climate change is a tiny point percentage of the total problem. And yet Sweden’s contribution to the solution is much more significant than anything that might be expected because of the level of its own contribution to the problem. So Sweden is way ahead of the curve.
And I have to say that I regret that my own country – and President Obama knows this and is committed to changing it – needs to do more and we are committed to doing more. And we come here to Kiruna with a great understanding of the challenge to the Arctic as the ice melts, as the ecosystem is challenged, the fisheries, and the possibilities of increased commercial traffic as a result of the lack of ice raises a whole set of other issues that we need to face up to. So it’s not just an environmental issue and it’s not just an economic issue. It is a security issue, a fundamental security issue that affects life as we know it on the planet itself, and it demands urgent attention from all of us.
I will have more to say about this tomorrow at the Arctic Council, but I want to thank Sweden for its invaluable leadership as we work to strengthen our cooperation throughout the Arctic and more broadly to try to address very real challenges of life on this planet itself.
Like the United States, Sweden understands the challenge of bringing universities, students, scientists, businesses, cities, a broad array of actors have to come to the table in order to meet this challenge. And we have to produce best practices which can then be translated to action in countries around the world. This is why recently in my trip to China we joined with the Chinese, who together the United States and China represent more than 50 percent of the global emissions of climate change. Recognizing that, we have come together to elevate the dialogue between our countries, and we will be continuing that dialogue in Washington in a very formal way in July in an effort to try to do more to address this issue.
So I come here aware of the challenge with humility but with great respect for what Sweden has been doing in leading on this effort, and we look forward to working together on that and on many other challenges, Mr. Prime Minister. So thank you for a generous welcome today, and I look forward to answering any questions.
MODERATOR: Okay. We have time for a couple of questions. Please state your name (inaudible).
QUESTION: My name is Rolf Forschwidt (ph) from Swedish TV 4. Mr. Secretary, will you please tell us how many number of American soldiers will be kept in Afghanistan post-2014? And also, what do you expect from the Swedish Government, how many people we should keep in the country after 2014?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me begin with the second part of your question, Rolf (ph), and then I’ll go to the first part. How many soldiers Sweden leaves is up to Sweden, not the United States, and I’m not going to announce any expectations, except to say that I know Sweden has already made an announcement about the number of troops that it expects to have on an ongoing basis. And we’re very grateful. We’re very grateful for whatever Sweden decides to do. We believe that as we have said previously, in together, out together. That is the philosophy that has guided us with respect to Afghanistan.
Now, on the number of troops that the United States will leave, I can guarantee you it will be enough to get the mission accomplished that the President has defined, which after 2014 will be to continue to train, equip, and support the Afghan army and also to conduct sufficient counterterrorism operations that Afghanistan cannot be used as a platform to attack people anywhere in the world. The President is in the process right now – this week, next week, the next days – of deliberating about this. And I can tell you that very shortly, not too long from now, the President does intend to make public what his plans are for post-2014. But I can tell you he will – he is committed to continuing to support the mission, he is committed to continuing to support the Afghan military beyond 2014. And I leave it to the President to announce the precise contours of what that will be, but I am convinced that it will be adequate to meet the mission and to complete the task.
The final thing I’ll say is we have not invested in this, all of us together for all of these years, in order to invite failure as we begin to do the very thing we sought to do, which is stand up the Afghan military and capacity and provide a transition. We’re in the middle of that now. This is the first fighting season as the Afghans take the lead, and thus far they’re doing pretty well. So we need to finish this in a way that does honor to the sacrifices and the efforts of a lot of countries for the last 11, 12 years, and I’m convinced we will.
QUESTION: Kim Ghattas with the BBC. Mr. Secretary, first a question for you on Syria. You spoke a while back about needing to change the calculations that President Assad is making as you discuss the possibility of a political transition there. But Mr. Assad and his government forces seem to be making military gains on the ground, they seem to be regaining the upper hand, and it seems as though they are hoping that they can change your calculation about how this transition needs to go forward. They’re not even interested in coming to the table at the moment.
Can you foresee a scenario whereby Mr. Assad will simply stay in power and the conflict will simply go on? He has no interest in coming to the table at the moment with the military gains he’s making.
And Prime Minister, a question for you on North Korea. You represent U.S. interests in North Korea. Do you have any updates on access to Kenneth Bae or any sort of talks with the North Koreans on his status?
PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT: No, not really. As you know, we are present there and also helping a lot of other countries, but I don’t have an update on these talks.
SECRETARY KERRY: With respect to Assad’s calculation, if he decides not to come to the table it will be another one of President Assad’s gross miscalculations. Now, I don’t believe that that is the case at this moment. The Russians – Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has informed me that President Assad has already given him the names of people who will negotiate.
So I don’t know where this information is coming from. You hear all kinds of reports right now. Let me just say to everybody point blank I have talked to the Secretary General in the last few days; I have talked to Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. They are both making plans for this negotiation to take place. I have talked with almost all of the foreign ministers in the Core Group who will be meeting next week together in order to lay plans for this negotiation. The members of the opposition have been in touch. I talked as recently as this morning with General Idris, who is committed to this negotiation process.
And I keep hearing some people suggest somehow that – the process moving away, not closer. I just don’t agree with that. Enormous plans are being laid. This is under the aegis of the United Nations. It’s not up to me to announce a date or the process. It’s up to the UN. But the talks we’ve had with them make it very clear that progress is being made. It’s only been five days since this was announced, and a huge amount of work is already underway. When we announced it, we said towards the end of the month or early June. We expect it to be exactly that, somewhere in early June I would hope. And that’s our current expectation. But as I say, it’s not up to me to set a date.
We will continue to work. We are all in touch; meetings are going on every single day. We believe the only way to settle Syria is through – the best way to settle Syria - is through a negotiated settlement. And that settlement process was set out a year ago in the Geneva communique, which calls for a transitional government with full executive power by mutual consent. The Russians signed onto that, the United States, and many other countries. That is precisely the formula that we are now trying to pursue.
Now, if President Assad decides to miscalculate again about that, as he has miscalculated about his own country’s future over the course of the last years, it is clear the opposition will be receiving additional support, there will be additional efforts made, and unfortunately, the violence will not end. But I know that the opposition and the support group, the Core Group of countries who have been engaged in this for some time, are deeply committed to trying to end the violence, to try to end the bloodshed, to try and save Syria, to keep a Syria as a united country which is available to all of the participants in the country. That includes Alawite, it includes Druze, Sunni, Shia, Christian. All elements of Syrian society should be protected and take part. And that is the approach which we are pursuing as a matter of conscience and also as a matter of practicality. And we hope we’ll have a chance to be able to get to that table. If Assad decides not to come, the world will see how empty his rhetoric is, as well as his intent.
Thank you all very, very much.
ADM. STAVRIDIS PRAISES NATO AS HE STEPS DOWN AS COMMANDER ALLIED FORCES
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Stavridis Highlights NATO's Progress as 'Force for Good'
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
MONS, Belgium, May 13, 2013 - As the flags of NATO's 28 nations cracked in the wind during a change of command ceremony here today, the alliance's outgoing and incoming supreme allied commanders noted the symbolism.
Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis passed the flag of Allied Command Operations to Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, who becomes the 17th commander of alliance forces, following in the footsteps of General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower and Army Gen. Matthew Ridgway.
Stavridis was the first U.S. Navy officer to hold the position. The flags, he said "are a beautiful, powerful symbol of how we sail together."
The 28 NATO flags, joined by the flags of 22 partner nations, also fly in Afghanistan, and "they represent why we will succeed in Afghanistan," Stavridis said.
"I will miss being part of a 50-nation coalition taking on jobs like Afghanistan," the admiral said.
NATO has made extraordinary progress in Afghanistan, Stavridis said. "We have collectively built an Afghan security force of 350,000, ... and they will take control of their country completely on General Breedlove's watch," he added.
In the next few months, Afghan soldiers and police will protect more than 90 percent of the Afghan population, the admiral noted, citing a few more facts to highlight the progress. Afghan life expectancy has risen from 42 years old to 62 over the past decade. More than 9 million children are attending school, including 3.5 million girls. Afghans use 17 million cell phones, and there are dozens of radio and television stations broadcasting in the country. More than 70 percent of the population has access to health care.
"These are signs of progress that are undeniable," he said. "Challenges remain, but I believe we will succeed in Afghanistan because of the larger coalition."
The admiral said he looks at the alliance effort in Libya with quiet satisfaction, because the alliance saved tens of thousands of lives by its timely intervention in the skies over the nation. Aircraft, aircrew and ships from NATO and partners such as Sweden, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates worked together to protect life in Libya, he added.
Along with the European Union, Stavridis said, NATO has made great progress in Kosovo. The alliance has withdrawn many of its troops, and the admiral said he believes there finally "may be peace in the Balkans."
Looking ahead, Stavridis said he sees great challenges in Afghanistan and the need to protect NATO ally Turkey from the civil war in Syria spilling over its borders. NATO still needs to train together to be able to work together, he said, and this will be a problem as troops deploy out of Afghanistan and financial pressures cause governments to look for easy ways to cut defense budgets.
Finally, the alliance needs to continue to build a stronger strategic partnership with Russia, Stavridis said.
"NATO matters to the world," he added. "NATO brings security. NATO is a force for good in the world. I've been proud to be a part of it for four years."
Stavridis Highlights NATO's Progress as 'Force for Good'
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
MONS, Belgium, May 13, 2013 - As the flags of NATO's 28 nations cracked in the wind during a change of command ceremony here today, the alliance's outgoing and incoming supreme allied commanders noted the symbolism.
Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis passed the flag of Allied Command Operations to Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, who becomes the 17th commander of alliance forces, following in the footsteps of General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower and Army Gen. Matthew Ridgway.
Stavridis was the first U.S. Navy officer to hold the position. The flags, he said "are a beautiful, powerful symbol of how we sail together."
The 28 NATO flags, joined by the flags of 22 partner nations, also fly in Afghanistan, and "they represent why we will succeed in Afghanistan," Stavridis said.
"I will miss being part of a 50-nation coalition taking on jobs like Afghanistan," the admiral said.
NATO has made extraordinary progress in Afghanistan, Stavridis said. "We have collectively built an Afghan security force of 350,000, ... and they will take control of their country completely on General Breedlove's watch," he added.
In the next few months, Afghan soldiers and police will protect more than 90 percent of the Afghan population, the admiral noted, citing a few more facts to highlight the progress. Afghan life expectancy has risen from 42 years old to 62 over the past decade. More than 9 million children are attending school, including 3.5 million girls. Afghans use 17 million cell phones, and there are dozens of radio and television stations broadcasting in the country. More than 70 percent of the population has access to health care.
"These are signs of progress that are undeniable," he said. "Challenges remain, but I believe we will succeed in Afghanistan because of the larger coalition."
The admiral said he looks at the alliance effort in Libya with quiet satisfaction, because the alliance saved tens of thousands of lives by its timely intervention in the skies over the nation. Aircraft, aircrew and ships from NATO and partners such as Sweden, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates worked together to protect life in Libya, he added.
Along with the European Union, Stavridis said, NATO has made great progress in Kosovo. The alliance has withdrawn many of its troops, and the admiral said he believes there finally "may be peace in the Balkans."
Looking ahead, Stavridis said he sees great challenges in Afghanistan and the need to protect NATO ally Turkey from the civil war in Syria spilling over its borders. NATO still needs to train together to be able to work together, he said, and this will be a problem as troops deploy out of Afghanistan and financial pressures cause governments to look for easy ways to cut defense budgets.
Finally, the alliance needs to continue to build a stronger strategic partnership with Russia, Stavridis said.
"NATO matters to the world," he added. "NATO brings security. NATO is a force for good in the world. I've been proud to be a part of it for four years."
REMARKS BY U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES IN SOUTH KOREA
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Remarks to Press at Incheon International Airport
Remarks
Glyn Davies
Special Representative for North Korea Policy
Incheon, South Korea
May 13, 2013
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Hello, everybody. It is great to be here in Seoul. This is, I think, my fifth or sixth trip since starting this job at the end of 2011. I am looking forward very much to meetings with the new government -- in particular a session with my good friend Ambassador Lim Sung Nam -- but I will also go to the Ministry of Unification and to the Blue House to meet with colleagues there. And of course I will have a chance to talk to my very good friend and colleague Ambassador Sung Kim, and we will go to USFK and talk to General Thurman. So, it is great to be here. Any questions from anybody?
QUESTION: Mr. Davies, North Korea seems to find a way to ease the tension on the Korean Peninsula these days. How do you evaluate the current situation on North Korea?
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Well, sometimes North Korea creates the impression that they are easing tension because they cease doing provocative and dangerous and destabilizing things. But I do not think that is the same as easing tension. I think easing tension and making diplomatic progress will come when North Korea begins to live up to its obligations and to meet its expectations and gets back on the path of diplomacy and denuclearization. And that is really why I am here in South Korea, to talk to the ROK government about how best to send the right signals to North Korea so that it understands that it should get away from this kind of endless cycle of provocations, followed by periods of silence, followed by more provocations. What we need to do is to get back on a positive path toward diplomacy and toward real progress, and that starts with North Korea taking steps to demonstrate that it is serious about living up to its obligations.
QUESTION: Mr. Davies, the Bank of China publicly announced last week that it closed the account of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank. With regard to China’s decision, how do you assess China’s movement?
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Well, I think that is a very interesting and potentially important development that the steps are being taken by a number of Chinese banks. You know, this is my first stop. I go on from here in a couple of days to Beijing. And then after several days there, I will go to Tokyo, so I am spending the whole week in North Asia.
But I plan when I am in Beijing to talk to Chinese officials about the steps they have taken and see if there are not more ways that we can send very strong, united signals to North Korea that it is time to really return to the path of denuclearization and begin to take steps to demonstrate that they are serious about their intent to get back to diplomacy. So I find it a very interesting and very hopeful sign. And when I get to Beijing we will find out more from the Chinese about what it is it all means.
QUESTION: So do you believe it is a sign of a shift in China’s policy stance on North Korea?
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Well, I think the Chinese attitude toward North Korea – I mean, I cannot speak for Beijing, I am not a Chinese diplomat – but from the American perspective it looks as if their thinking continues to evolve in Beijing. It is a new government in China, and they, of course, have their own set of interests in North Korea. They have a unique relationship with North Korea as its largest trading partner and political ties. So we will see what it means and we will see whether this signifies any kind of a real shift in how the Chinese are operating. But I find it quite interesting, it is hopeful, and I cannot wait to learn more from Wu Dawei and colleagues in Beijing.
QUESTION: When President Obama and President Park met last week, there seems to be a little difference between the ROK and the U.S. in terms of attitude toward Japan. So are you going to attempt to narrow the gap here in Korea?
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Well the point is North Korea is such an important issue. We have this shared interest, a similar, strong interest in all of us in the five-party process, the five-party partners, in trying to find a way to clarify for North Korea the choices that it faces.
So, I think North Korea is too important an issue really to get drawn into some of these other ongoing questions that are out there. That particular issue is not one that I work on, this issue of regional relationships so much. But again, from the North Korea perspective, we think it is very important that we continue to find ways to work together. The five parties, certainly the three allies, should find ways to work together on it because we all have the same interest in seeing progress made and seeing progress in particular on denuclearization.
I have to get into Seoul now and have some meetings, if that is OK with you, so thank you very much.
Remarks to Press at Incheon International Airport
Remarks
Glyn Davies
Special Representative for North Korea Policy
Incheon, South Korea
May 13, 2013
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Hello, everybody. It is great to be here in Seoul. This is, I think, my fifth or sixth trip since starting this job at the end of 2011. I am looking forward very much to meetings with the new government -- in particular a session with my good friend Ambassador Lim Sung Nam -- but I will also go to the Ministry of Unification and to the Blue House to meet with colleagues there. And of course I will have a chance to talk to my very good friend and colleague Ambassador Sung Kim, and we will go to USFK and talk to General Thurman. So, it is great to be here. Any questions from anybody?
QUESTION: Mr. Davies, North Korea seems to find a way to ease the tension on the Korean Peninsula these days. How do you evaluate the current situation on North Korea?
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Well, sometimes North Korea creates the impression that they are easing tension because they cease doing provocative and dangerous and destabilizing things. But I do not think that is the same as easing tension. I think easing tension and making diplomatic progress will come when North Korea begins to live up to its obligations and to meet its expectations and gets back on the path of diplomacy and denuclearization. And that is really why I am here in South Korea, to talk to the ROK government about how best to send the right signals to North Korea so that it understands that it should get away from this kind of endless cycle of provocations, followed by periods of silence, followed by more provocations. What we need to do is to get back on a positive path toward diplomacy and toward real progress, and that starts with North Korea taking steps to demonstrate that it is serious about living up to its obligations.
QUESTION: Mr. Davies, the Bank of China publicly announced last week that it closed the account of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank. With regard to China’s decision, how do you assess China’s movement?
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Well, I think that is a very interesting and potentially important development that the steps are being taken by a number of Chinese banks. You know, this is my first stop. I go on from here in a couple of days to Beijing. And then after several days there, I will go to Tokyo, so I am spending the whole week in North Asia.
But I plan when I am in Beijing to talk to Chinese officials about the steps they have taken and see if there are not more ways that we can send very strong, united signals to North Korea that it is time to really return to the path of denuclearization and begin to take steps to demonstrate that they are serious about their intent to get back to diplomacy. So I find it a very interesting and very hopeful sign. And when I get to Beijing we will find out more from the Chinese about what it is it all means.
QUESTION: So do you believe it is a sign of a shift in China’s policy stance on North Korea?
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Well, I think the Chinese attitude toward North Korea – I mean, I cannot speak for Beijing, I am not a Chinese diplomat – but from the American perspective it looks as if their thinking continues to evolve in Beijing. It is a new government in China, and they, of course, have their own set of interests in North Korea. They have a unique relationship with North Korea as its largest trading partner and political ties. So we will see what it means and we will see whether this signifies any kind of a real shift in how the Chinese are operating. But I find it quite interesting, it is hopeful, and I cannot wait to learn more from Wu Dawei and colleagues in Beijing.
QUESTION: When President Obama and President Park met last week, there seems to be a little difference between the ROK and the U.S. in terms of attitude toward Japan. So are you going to attempt to narrow the gap here in Korea?
AMBASSADOR DAVIES: Well the point is North Korea is such an important issue. We have this shared interest, a similar, strong interest in all of us in the five-party process, the five-party partners, in trying to find a way to clarify for North Korea the choices that it faces.
So, I think North Korea is too important an issue really to get drawn into some of these other ongoing questions that are out there. That particular issue is not one that I work on, this issue of regional relationships so much. But again, from the North Korea perspective, we think it is very important that we continue to find ways to work together. The five parties, certainly the three allies, should find ways to work together on it because we all have the same interest in seeing progress made and seeing progress in particular on denuclearization.
I have to get into Seoul now and have some meetings, if that is OK with you, so thank you very much.
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