FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks to the Foreign Service Institute Overseas Security Seminar
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center
Arlington, VA
May 20, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. I know you’re really upset that I came here to break the normal monotony and routine of this seminar. There will be no test, but I’m really happy to spend a few minutes with you. And Nancy, thank you very much, Madam Ambassador, for your wonderful stewardship of the FSI. You’re doing a great job, and it was a great pleasure for me to be able to join you at the graduation of the A-100 class just the other day, Elvis impersonator and all. It was fun.
I’m glad to be here with Under Secretary Pat Kennedy, who does such an extraordinary job at implementing all of our efforts with respect to our embassies, consulates, and facilities around the world, and who has been much on top of this agenda, and our chief of security for the entire State Department and AID, Greg Starr. Thank you very much for being here with us. We appreciate it enormously.
One of things that I have learned – not just in the few months I’ve been Secretary, but in the years that I was on the Foreign Relations committee – is that you can train men and women for the assignments that you’re going to take on when you leave here – and FSI does that exceedingly well, and some of you have been through that before; I know we have some senior officers here, and we have people not just FSO but from other agencies here who have been out in the field previously – but the fact is that – and I think you know this – no training here, none of us who stand up here and talk to you, can teach the special instinct that brings you all here to a life of public service and particularly to carrying America’s message and efforts, our values abroad. That really comes from you. It comes from your sense of yourself as Americans; it comes from your understanding of who we are as a country, and from the direction that we need to move in and from the challenges that face us on this globe. Your dedication to our country and your determination to make the world better – these are the singular traits of very special people who are America’s face to the world in ways that so many of our fellow citizens will never know or understand.
A little more than 100 days ago now, I was privileged, honored to become your colleague and join the State Department, and join the State Department family – which is what it is – when I took the oath of office and began my service as Secretary of State. The oath that I swore is the exact same one that you swear. It is also the same one that our Ambassadors take, and it is the same one that people in the military and others take, people who wear uniform but are on the frontlines, just as you are on the frontlines.
We all of us solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. But with that oath, I assure you – and I think you understand this – we also pledge to defend and support each other. I want you to know that every day that I am privileged to be in this position, I have no greater priority and no greater responsibility than ensuring that we do all that we can within reason and capacity to protect you.
On my very first day as Secretary, the same day that I took that oath, a suicide bomber in Ankara, Turkey, killed a local guard named Mustafa Akarsu. I’ve met his family. I spoke at a memorial service for him in which we dedicated a beautiful fountain because his name means "flowing waters." And now there are flowing waters at our Embassy forever in memory of him. Mustafa had guarded the gates of that embassy for 20 years, and on February 1st, he moved in to challenge an intruder who was just walking in the door, and that is where he gave his life. He did so bravely, acting quickly to save the lives of others.
In Kabul, not too long after that, I met Anne Smedinghoff, a brilliant, brave, confident young woman from outside of Chicago. She would have come right here to be part of this training this summer, preparing for her next difficult post. But a week and a half after she helped to organize my visit to Kabul, she was gone, taken in yet another heinous terrorist attack as she was killed while delivering books to schoolchildren.
So I am acutely aware of the very real challenge that we face and the very real risks that we take around the world. I think of them every single day. I know all of you are deeply aware of these challenges too. You can’t help but be as you think about where you may be going and what you may be asked to do. And I am enormously appreciative, and President Obama shares a deep and abiding respect for and understanding of what you undergo and the challenges you undertake. We are enormously appreciative of the fearlessness that you somehow muster as you confront these challenges.
In the shadows of the attack in Afghanistan and Ankara, and of course last year’s terrorist attack in Benghazi which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, we all understand, it is indelibly imprinted on us, how important it is to protect our people in our facilities. And that is why as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I held both classified and unclassified briefings to make sure that we understood what went wrong and to do all we could to ensure it would never happen again.
That is why as Secretary of State, I am committed to implementing every single one of the recommendations in the report of the Accountability Review Board and doing more. That report makes it clear that our work will never be done, and we can never eliminate every last risk, but we can never stop working to mitigate those risks as much as possible.
So right now, even as we sit here, Pat Kennedy and I and Greg are working to upgrade our capacities. We’re bringing on more security personnel, we’re enhancing our training. We’re putting more Marines at our high-threat diplomatic posts, and we’re making sure that their first responsibility is protecting our people, not just classified materials. We’re working more closely with the Defense Department, with our partners, linking our embassies with various military commands to make emergency extradition more central to our military mission. We’re upgrading our facilities, and we’re building new embassies and consulates. And we’re making sure that the concern about safety and security always gets the attention that it needs and deserves.
But in addition to doing what we’re doing in order to be safe abroad, we as a nation need to engage in a larger conversation about the inherent dangers of diplomacy, ever mindful that we undertake them clear-eyed and we undertake them for a reason. And we must remember this conversation that we need to engage our country in is not a new one. The dangers of diplomacy are not unique to this moment in time. Serving in our diplomatic missions didn’t become dangerous that night in Benghazi. This is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, the reason that we continue to do this work is embedded in our DNA as Americans. It is part of our patriotic, pioneering character.
The memorial wall in the lobby of the State Department – which Vice President Biden and I stood at just a few days ago as we unveiled the additional names that have been added to it – that wall in the State Department bears 244 names, including Anne’s, and Chris Stevens’s, and Sean Smith’s, Glen Doherty’s and Ty Woods’s. But I ask you to remember today, and I ask Americans to remember today, that most of those 244 gave their lives long before September 11th of 2012, or even September 11th of 2001. The first plaque on the wall in Foggy Bottom is dedicated to a man named William Palfrey, the Consul General to France, who was lost at sea when the Constitution that we swear to defend was still a decade away from even being written.
The wall honors those that we lost in Beirut and Bosnia and Baghdad, in attacks like that on our embassy in Nairobi in 1998 and on our officers in far capital cities, those we lost as they served in perilous regions even in peaceful times. And though we can’t count all of their names, the wall also honors the families and the loved ones of those who serve and sacrifice in faraway places.
As some of you may know, my father was in the Foreign Service when I was a young man. We were stationed in Berlin when I was 11 years old, in the aftermath of World War II. The streets were still piled with rubble. Troops stood on either side of the line that divided East from West. I remember seeing Hitler’s bunker protruding up from where it had been exploded. And everyone, all the soldiers, were anxiously gripping their weapons wondering whether some hostility might break out. The crossings were dangerous. And the families were often trying to escape from East to West, to a more promising life – the life that you, we, represent. It was dangerous time, and it became even more dangerous when the wall went up and people tried to get across that wall to find freedom and liberty.
So this conversation is not new. But I believe it is more important than ever today. When we think about and grieve about and honor the bravery that we see in your predecessors and in your peers, we cannot at the same time wonder why or be surprised that there is danger. If we are going to bring light to the world, we have to go where it is dark. That is the meaning of service, and that is what American diplomacy has always been about.
Which is why I want to underscore a very important part of this ongoing conversation: how to keep our people safe overseas, and how to minimize our foreign policy – maximize our foreign policy in order to strengthen America.
If you are going to represent the United States in countries to which you’re about to travel, you just need to be accessible to the people on the ground. And every time you do reach out, every time you touch a citizen in another country, every time you carry the face of American values – the values of America – whatever kind of communication you have, you are making our country stronger. You are building the future.
We need to remind our fellow Americans – we are engaged with the rest of the world because that is in our vital interest. We have to be there. Because when we’re there we get things done. We protect the future. And we’re not – as we have too often learned of late – the vacuum will be filled by those whose goals are vastly different from ours.
We put ourselves on the line because it’s in our interest to do so. Because that’s the way we protect others from attacking us, because that’s the way we make sure we that we don’t have to send our kids to war, and that’s the way we build connections with other countries so that we can work together to solve problems that can only be solved across borders, transnationally, by reaching out and joining the global community.
We have to show up in places that no one else wants to go. And when we succeed there – building a safer city, forging a stronger trade partnership, helping a child to grow up understanding what America truly stands for rather than learning from a hateful propaganda package or false ideology – when we do that, our interests are advanced, our values are upheld, and the risks that we take are worth it.
Now, skeptics might try to suggest to you that it’s not worth it. They’ll tell us, "Stay inside the embassy," or even "Stay in the cities and stay out of countries where you’re not safe." My friends, that’s no way to advance our interests. That is not what America stands for. We cannot do the work we need to do to make the world safer, to build rule of law, to build the future, by hiding. We can’t do this work by staying away. We will never overcome threats by shrinking away from them. In countries with weak rule of law and dysfunctional governments, we have an interest in helping people to build a stronger democratic institution, to take advantage of opportunity and create the futures that they choose for themselves. Indeed, those are the very places where we have the most to gain.
Every day I get reports – from Greg or from Pat or from the intelligence community – about various threats that we’re facing. And there will be times when I decide that the threat in a certain place is great enough that we need to adjust our approach and take extra precautions, at least for a while. And we do, and we have. That’s the reality. But those will be the exceptional cases. Retreating behind the wire cannot be the way that we do business.
So I’ve got news for you today and I have news to share with America: We will not pull back. We’re going to keep practicing what my father called "foreign policy outdoors," working directly with men and women around the world, from government officials and local leaders to civil society groups and ordinary people on the street. We’re going to build the people-to-people relationships that help foster trust and understanding between cultures. And we’re going to make that sort of engagement even stronger.
Chris Stevens understood that. He enjoyed and respected the people that he met, whether it was in this country or abroad. When he was just 17 years old, he went to Spain with the American Field Service, and he then lived in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco as a volunteer English teacher with the Peace Corps. In fact, one young student of his became a teacher because of English – because Chris Stevens touched that young man at a point in his life. Wherever he went, he made lasting friendships that were built on mutual respect. When Chris Stevens strolled down streets and greeted strangers with a friendly American smile, Libyans got a glimpse of the best of the United States – a decency and a respect for others regardless of race, religion, or cultural belief.
Chris was fortunate for the chance to live around the world, as I consider myself to have been, and as you are. Most people don’t have the opportunity to do what you do – spend time abroad, meeting people of another language and culture and history and sharing it with them, deeply immersed in their lives.
But today we also have digital bridges to connect different cultures – and I don’t just mean Facebook and Twitter. The State Department’s Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau runs a virtual exchange program that connects teachers and students in the United States with their counterparts in the Middle East and North Africa. These students are working together online, learning from each other about their cultures and history, and they’re forging lasting relationships.
So I’m excited to tell you that we are right now working closely with Chris Stevens’s family on a public-private virtual exchange that we’re going to call the Chris Stevens Youth Network. And we believe this can lead to the largest ever increase in people-to-people exchanges between the United States and the Middle East and North Africa. And we believe it will also dramatically increase the number and diversity of young people who have a meaningful cross-cultural experience – the same experience that Chris, and I think all of you understand is so important.
These are the kind of connections that actually led Libyans to go out into the streets of Benghazi after the attack spontaneously. Tens of thousands carrying signs, thanking the United States – they went out there not to shout terrible things about America, they went out there to mourn Chris’ death and celebrate democracy, to say "thank you" to Chris and America.
After World War II, during that time that I was growing up as a young person in Berlin and elsewhere, I watched our country invest in other people and in the future. In the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, NATO, the Fulbright Program, we watched Germany, Japan turn into powerhouse allies of the United States today. We watched countries like South Korea, which was under siege, which for years received aid from the United States, now become a donor country, giving aid to other people to follow in the example that we set. All of this has been geared towards understanding, and that’s what we have to continue to do today.
America’s interests demand that we not shrink from the world stage. We cannot retrench or retreat. We cannot do our work only from behind bricks and barbed wire. We have to be out there where people are.
In fact, we have to think creatively about expanding our tools and our capabilities so that we can address the issues that drive young people to despair and ultimately terrorism. What happened in Tahrir Square and what happened in Tunisia when a fruit vendor self-immolated himself, and when those young kids Tweeted each other and communicated via text messages – when they did that in Tahrir Square, they weren’t the result of some ideology. They weren’t the result of a religious extremist enterprise. They were young people trying to reach the future that they’ve seen here and in other parts of the world. That was a generational revolution, expressing the aspirations of people for a better future.
Diplomacy and security need do not have to be tradeoffs. President Obama has worked to strike a balance that ensures the outreach and engagement necessary to advance our policies and our interests in accordance with security measures necessitated by the threats to U.S. interests. Later this week, President Obama will discuss our counter-terrorism strategy, and he will discuss this balance which the Administration has sought to strike.
But friends, the challenges of the 21st century are just plain more complex than they were in the latter part of the last century. And the fact is that the opportunities that we face are greater than any that we have encountered in our history. I am convinced of that. You’re here at FSI because you believe the United States must continue to play a leading role. So we need to make the case for what we must do.
We need to show the American people that diplomacy and development efforts are worth investing in, because they pay such huge returns to us in jobs, in our economy, in safety, in protection of the environment, in relationships with people, and in the security of our nation. We need to hold all of our elected officials accountable for making these efforts a priority, and that includes the Congress.
This is a Congress that reminds us all the time that they’re a coequal branch of the federal government, and they should because they are. But that means Congress needs to play a role on the world stage as well, not just investigating, but leading – leading on the Stevens Exchange Program, leading on the Middle East, providing the resources, and the support, and the investments to make the risks we take today worthwhile, that help us build that safer and brighter future, a more prosperous future.
Overseas, we need to keep deepening the relationships, the friendships, and forging the relationships that will benefit the American people around the world. I think there isn’t one of you sitting here who doesn’t understand these principles because that’s why you’re sitting here.
You live them abroad and you will. And here at home, we have an obligation to share them with our fellow citizens, because they need to be part of this journey, even though they may never leave their hometown to do so.
So that’s why I came here this morning, to emphasize and underscore that we are determined to stand up for our values, our interests, and our futures. Because those values and interests – justice and freedom, opportunity for all people – they have always been a beacon for people who aspire to a better life. This is what history has shown us – after World War II, during the depths of the Cold War, and that remains true today.
So we’re going to continue to be out there, not just because that defines us as Americans, but because we know that’s how you build a world that respects human rights, dignity, promotes rule of law, and ultimately fosters opportunity for those burgeoning populations of young people – more and more of them under the age of 30 – the dominant majority components of populations across the Middle East and elsewhere, all of whom need jobs and need a future. Our democracy will be strengthened when our allies are strong, and when we engage with their governments as well as with men and women in all walks of life.
So my friends, when you leave here, proud as you are to be part of this great enterprise, join us. Let’s tell this story. Let’s do so proudly. And as you never forget why you take the risks that we do, I want you to know that none of us – not Pat, not Greg, not myself – nobody charged with the responsibility will ever stop fighting for you and for the resources that you need to be able to undertake this great enterprise.
Thank you for being part of it, and thank you for being willing to share some thoughts with me this morning. Appreciate it. Thank you. (Applause.)
Sunday, May 26, 2013
HRH ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING MEETING
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
U.S. Intervention Remarks at HRH Illegal Wildlife Trafficking Meeting
Remarks
David M. Luna
Director for Anticrime Programs, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
London, United Kingdom
May 21, 2013
Your Royal Highness, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
I first want to thank Her Majesty’s Government and His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Cambridge, for their leadership in combating wildlife trafficking, and for bringing together a wide variety of perspectives in this forum. It is only through collective action that we can protect the world’s wildlife sanctuaries and help impacted communities achieve a secure and sustainable future.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted a high-level event on the issue last November, which mobilized the international community in a call to action. She noted that wildlife trafficking, like other forms of illicit trade, relies on porous borders, corrupt officials, and organized criminal networks, all of which undermine our collective security and prosperity. Secretary of State John Kerry similarly supports robust action and partnerships to combat the illegal trade in wildlife and to strengthen law enforcement cooperation across borders against illicit networks engaged in this activity.
Trafficking in wildlife is not a benign activity. It is a criminal threat that requires a criminal justice response. Time is our enemy as we work to save endangered wildlife and our world heritage.
In many parts of the world, we are witnessing the involvement of dangerous criminals in what used to be considered a conservation issue. By some conservative estimates, the illegal trade in wildlife is worth $8-10 billion each year.
Traffickers are drawn to the high profit potential and low risk of detection and prosecution.
Park rangers are frequently outmatched by well-equipped poachers; in fact many park rangers have been killed while trying to protect their parks and the wildlife that roam freely in them.
We are committed to helping our partners fight back and prevent greater insecurity and destabilization.
We have taken a comprehensive approach to this issue; not only for the purpose of conservation, but also from a security perspective that requires a strengthened law enforcement and criminal justice response.
In April 2013, the UN Crime Commission adopted a resolution introduced by the United States and Peru entitled, "Crime prevention and criminal justice responses for illicit trafficking in protected species of wild fauna and flora." This resolution advocates for a comprehensive approach to combat wildlife trafficking, notably by encouraging member states to designate wildlife trafficking as a "serious" crime, thereby unlocking the ability of governments to utilize the international cooperation tools contained within the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. We also applaud the UK as G8 host this year and welcome the efforts of the G8 Roma-Lyon Group to address wildlife trafficking.
The Department of State has been engaged on the diplomatic front to raise the profile of wildlife trafficking as a criminal concern in bilateral and multilateral fora including: APEC, ASEAN, East Asia Summit, U.S.-China Joint Liaison Group on Law Enforcement Cooperation, and the G8 Roma-Lyon Group. We are also developing innovative public-private cooperation through cooperative platforms at the OECD and the World Economic Forum to combat illicit trade including wildlife trafficking, human trafficking, counterfeit medicines, narcotics, and other emerging threats.
The Department of State has also provided regional law enforcement training targeting supply and demand regions for wildlife trafficking at the International Law Enforcement Academies in Gaborone and Bangkok.
By placing wildlife trafficking within the context of our broader goals of combating corruption, dismantling transnational organized criminal networks, and promoting the rule of law, we can leverage our respective political will and capabilities to enforce our laws, prosecute wildlife traffickers, and repel poachers before a slaughter, and punish illicit actors whose criminal intent is to pillage, profit from, and destroy our ecosystems, habitats, and communities.
We believe the experience of the regional Wildlife Enforcement Networks holds promise for a concerted effort to strengthen enforcement and prosecution. These networks – linking law enforcement and environment officials, prosecutors, and policy makers and supported by donors and NGOs – combat wildlife trafficking through training, capacity-building, and information exchange. USAID has invested $17 million since 2005 to support ASEAN-WEN’s and South Asia WEN’s efforts to combat illegal wildlife trafficking through the initial ASEAN-WEN Support Program, the current ARREST Program, and INTERPOL’s Project PREDATOR. The United States has provided more than $7 million since 2005 to support wildlife conservation in Central America and the Dominican Republic, including funding for the Central American Wildlife Enforcement Network (CAWEN). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides $10 million annually for wildlife protection throughout Africa and Asia targeting elephants, rhinos, great apes, and marine turtles. Funds are used to prevent poaching and to improve investigation and prosecution of wildlife crimes.
We continue to work to strengthen existing partnerships and build support for a global system of regional wildlife enforcement networks (WENs) to improve enforcement effectiveness, coordination, and cooperation. In March 2013, the Department of State sponsored the first meeting to convene all the existing WENs, plus countries that may create WENs in their regions, on the margins of the CITES Conference of Parties-16 held in Bangkok, Thailand. We have actively supported the development of new regional WENs in Central Africa and the Horn of Africa to share cross-border information and to conduct exchanges. Staying ahead of these illicit networks will take a global effort, with all of us working collaboratively across sectors, governments, and organizations.
The United States stands ready to work with our partners both bilaterally and multilaterally, with civil society and the private sector, to combat these threats. We must be bold, decisive, and fight networks with our own networks.
Through collective action and a multi-sector approach, we can constrict the global illegal economy, downgrade the threat posed by poachers, and help communities nurture transformative and sustainable markets, moving their economies into the investment frontiers of tomorrow and safeguarding their human capital, national assets, and natural resources.
U.S. Intervention Remarks at HRH Illegal Wildlife Trafficking Meeting
Remarks
David M. Luna
Director for Anticrime Programs, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
London, United Kingdom
May 21, 2013
Your Royal Highness, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
I first want to thank Her Majesty’s Government and His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Cambridge, for their leadership in combating wildlife trafficking, and for bringing together a wide variety of perspectives in this forum. It is only through collective action that we can protect the world’s wildlife sanctuaries and help impacted communities achieve a secure and sustainable future.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted a high-level event on the issue last November, which mobilized the international community in a call to action. She noted that wildlife trafficking, like other forms of illicit trade, relies on porous borders, corrupt officials, and organized criminal networks, all of which undermine our collective security and prosperity. Secretary of State John Kerry similarly supports robust action and partnerships to combat the illegal trade in wildlife and to strengthen law enforcement cooperation across borders against illicit networks engaged in this activity.
Trafficking in wildlife is not a benign activity. It is a criminal threat that requires a criminal justice response. Time is our enemy as we work to save endangered wildlife and our world heritage.
In many parts of the world, we are witnessing the involvement of dangerous criminals in what used to be considered a conservation issue. By some conservative estimates, the illegal trade in wildlife is worth $8-10 billion each year.
Traffickers are drawn to the high profit potential and low risk of detection and prosecution.
Park rangers are frequently outmatched by well-equipped poachers; in fact many park rangers have been killed while trying to protect their parks and the wildlife that roam freely in them.
We are committed to helping our partners fight back and prevent greater insecurity and destabilization.
We have taken a comprehensive approach to this issue; not only for the purpose of conservation, but also from a security perspective that requires a strengthened law enforcement and criminal justice response.
In April 2013, the UN Crime Commission adopted a resolution introduced by the United States and Peru entitled, "Crime prevention and criminal justice responses for illicit trafficking in protected species of wild fauna and flora." This resolution advocates for a comprehensive approach to combat wildlife trafficking, notably by encouraging member states to designate wildlife trafficking as a "serious" crime, thereby unlocking the ability of governments to utilize the international cooperation tools contained within the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. We also applaud the UK as G8 host this year and welcome the efforts of the G8 Roma-Lyon Group to address wildlife trafficking.
The Department of State has been engaged on the diplomatic front to raise the profile of wildlife trafficking as a criminal concern in bilateral and multilateral fora including: APEC, ASEAN, East Asia Summit, U.S.-China Joint Liaison Group on Law Enforcement Cooperation, and the G8 Roma-Lyon Group. We are also developing innovative public-private cooperation through cooperative platforms at the OECD and the World Economic Forum to combat illicit trade including wildlife trafficking, human trafficking, counterfeit medicines, narcotics, and other emerging threats.
The Department of State has also provided regional law enforcement training targeting supply and demand regions for wildlife trafficking at the International Law Enforcement Academies in Gaborone and Bangkok.
By placing wildlife trafficking within the context of our broader goals of combating corruption, dismantling transnational organized criminal networks, and promoting the rule of law, we can leverage our respective political will and capabilities to enforce our laws, prosecute wildlife traffickers, and repel poachers before a slaughter, and punish illicit actors whose criminal intent is to pillage, profit from, and destroy our ecosystems, habitats, and communities.
We believe the experience of the regional Wildlife Enforcement Networks holds promise for a concerted effort to strengthen enforcement and prosecution. These networks – linking law enforcement and environment officials, prosecutors, and policy makers and supported by donors and NGOs – combat wildlife trafficking through training, capacity-building, and information exchange. USAID has invested $17 million since 2005 to support ASEAN-WEN’s and South Asia WEN’s efforts to combat illegal wildlife trafficking through the initial ASEAN-WEN Support Program, the current ARREST Program, and INTERPOL’s Project PREDATOR. The United States has provided more than $7 million since 2005 to support wildlife conservation in Central America and the Dominican Republic, including funding for the Central American Wildlife Enforcement Network (CAWEN). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides $10 million annually for wildlife protection throughout Africa and Asia targeting elephants, rhinos, great apes, and marine turtles. Funds are used to prevent poaching and to improve investigation and prosecution of wildlife crimes.
We continue to work to strengthen existing partnerships and build support for a global system of regional wildlife enforcement networks (WENs) to improve enforcement effectiveness, coordination, and cooperation. In March 2013, the Department of State sponsored the first meeting to convene all the existing WENs, plus countries that may create WENs in their regions, on the margins of the CITES Conference of Parties-16 held in Bangkok, Thailand. We have actively supported the development of new regional WENs in Central Africa and the Horn of Africa to share cross-border information and to conduct exchanges. Staying ahead of these illicit networks will take a global effort, with all of us working collaboratively across sectors, governments, and organizations.
The United States stands ready to work with our partners both bilaterally and multilaterally, with civil society and the private sector, to combat these threats. We must be bold, decisive, and fight networks with our own networks.
Through collective action and a multi-sector approach, we can constrict the global illegal economy, downgrade the threat posed by poachers, and help communities nurture transformative and sustainable markets, moving their economies into the investment frontiers of tomorrow and safeguarding their human capital, national assets, and natural resources.
LMI AND FLM MEMBER STATES MEET IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Lower Mekong Initiative and Friends of the Lower Mekong Senior Officials Meetings in Brunei Darussalam
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
May 24, 2013
Senior officials from the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) member states met in separate meetings May 23 in Bandar Seri Begawan on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum Senior Officials Meeting (ARF SOM). The members of LMI are Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States. The members of FLM are Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the United States.
The meetings were co-chaired by the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs’ Acting Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Y. Yun and USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia Deputy Mission Director Carrie Thompson. These meetings provided an opportunity for senior officials to deliberate on the recommendations from the third and fourth LMI Regional Working Group meetings and to prepare for the up-coming sixth LMI and third FLM ministerial meetings, July 1, 2013.
Senior officials approved changes to the LMI Plan of Action and affirmed their commitment to closer collaboration with ASEAN through the Initiative for ASEAN Integration.
The ministerial meetings for both the Lower Mekong Initiative and the Friends of the Lower Mekong will be held July 1, 2013 in Bandar Seri Begawan on the margins of the ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial Meeting.
Lower Mekong Initiative and Friends of the Lower Mekong Senior Officials Meetings in Brunei Darussalam
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
May 24, 2013
Senior officials from the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) member states met in separate meetings May 23 in Bandar Seri Begawan on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum Senior Officials Meeting (ARF SOM). The members of LMI are Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States. The members of FLM are Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the United States.
The meetings were co-chaired by the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs’ Acting Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Y. Yun and USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia Deputy Mission Director Carrie Thompson. These meetings provided an opportunity for senior officials to deliberate on the recommendations from the third and fourth LMI Regional Working Group meetings and to prepare for the up-coming sixth LMI and third FLM ministerial meetings, July 1, 2013.
Senior officials approved changes to the LMI Plan of Action and affirmed their commitment to closer collaboration with ASEAN through the Initiative for ASEAN Integration.
The ministerial meetings for both the Lower Mekong Initiative and the Friends of the Lower Mekong will be held July 1, 2013 in Bandar Seri Begawan on the margins of the ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial Meeting.
FIFTH WIDBAND GLABAL SATCOM SATELLITE LAUNCHED FROM CAPE CANAVERAL
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| Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (May 24, 2013) – In the second launch in just nine days for the U.S. Air Force, United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched a Delta IV rocket carrying the fifth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS-5) satellite at 8:27 p.m. EDT today from Space Launch Complex-37. Wideband Global SATCOM provides anytime, anywhere communication for the warfighter through broadcast, multicast, and point to point connections. WGS is the only military satellite communications system that can support simultaneous X and Ka band communications. Photo by Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance |
Fifth Wideband Global SATCOM Satellite Launched
5/25/2013 - LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, El Segundo, California -- The U.S. Air Force's fifth Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft (WGS-5) was successfully launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV launch vehicle at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on May 24, the first step in its journey to expand satellite communications services to the warfighter.
Over the next several months, the satellite will undergo orbit-raising activities to reach geosynchronous orbit and on-orbit testing to verify nominal performance and prepare the satellite for operational use. Ultimately, the satellite will be controlled by the U.S. Air Force's 3rd Space Operations Squadron at Schriever Air Force Base Colo. WGS-5 should enter operations by the end of 2013.
"WGS continues to meet user requirements and provides the highest capacity of any DoD communications satellite," said Mr. Luke Scab, chief Wideband SATCOM division, MILSATCOM Systems directorate. "WGS is a vital piece of the MILSATCOM enterprise consisting of WGS, Defense Satellite Communications System, Advanced Extremely High Frequency System, Minstar, and terminals providing diversified communications services to soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen around the world. This continued success is due to the hard work and dedication from the combined government and industry team."
The Space and Missile Systems Center, located at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the U.S. Air Force's center of acquisition excellence for acquiring and developing military space systems including Global Positioning System, military satellite communications, defense meteorological satellites, space launch and range systems, satellite control network, space based infrared systems, and space situational awareness capabilities.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
FORMER MARINE DESCRIBES LOSS OF SONES ON 9/11
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Former Marine, Fire Captain Describes Loss of Sons on 9/11
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service
BROOKLYN, N.Y., May 21, 2013 - Former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant and retired New York City fire captain John Vigiano is all too familiar with what he calls bad days.
Speaking after the Armed Forces Wounded Warrior Mural Dedication Ceremony at the William McKinley Intermediate School here, the soft-spoken, silver-haired veterans' advocate discussed his experiences as military member, first responder and grieving father.
Having spent nearly four decades as a firefighter in Brooklyn, he seldom considered his life-saving responsibilities as work so much as a passion.
"Thirty-six years ... I think I went to work five days, maybe six," Vigiano said. "The rest of it was just great."
Other days, he remembered, were not so great.
"Those were days of pretty significant losses," Vigiano said. "When a fireman dies in your hands, you never forget that. It's not a good day. The first time you find someone burned to death, it's not a good day."
But nothing, he said, could ever prepare him for the events of Sept. 11, 2001 –- the morning that both of his sons, John Jr. and Joe, perished in the line of duty while saving lives as the World Trade Center collapsed.
"9/11 will take me to the grave; both my sons were killed that day," he said, his head lowered. "You go to bed saying, 'I hope I don't dream about it again, but you do.'"
John Jr. followed in his father's footsteps as a New York City firefighter, while his younger brother, Joe, served as a detective in the New York Police Department. That particular morning, Vigiano was home watching the tragedy unfold with the rest of the world.
"The police department took my wife and me down to headquarters that afternoon and I stayed there until they closed the site," Vigiano said. "Everyday from 6:30 in the morning to midnight, I'd walk the pile."
At his wife's request, he did not dig.
"She said, 'if anything happens to you, I have nobody,'" he recalled. "So I just stood in the back and when a body was recovered, I'd go down and say a prayer and go back."
His voice trembling, Vigiano said rescue teams found Joe's remains, but they never found John Jr.
The elder Vigiano said his young granddaughter grew to comprehend that the spirit of her father lives on.
"That's taken a lot to try and explain to her that his soul is still with us – that the body doesn't mean anything," Vigiano said.
Still, John and his wife of 50 years, Jan, pray for the day they find the bit of DNA that can finally bring them some closure.
"My wife and I bond together and we had 34 and 36 great years," Vigiano said of his sons' respective lives and, ironically, John Jr's badge number, 3436.
"The last words that I spoke to my sons: 'I love you' and they said 'I love you. It don't get better than that."
Former Marine, Fire Captain Describes Loss of Sons on 9/11
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service
BROOKLYN, N.Y., May 21, 2013 - Former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant and retired New York City fire captain John Vigiano is all too familiar with what he calls bad days.
Speaking after the Armed Forces Wounded Warrior Mural Dedication Ceremony at the William McKinley Intermediate School here, the soft-spoken, silver-haired veterans' advocate discussed his experiences as military member, first responder and grieving father.
Having spent nearly four decades as a firefighter in Brooklyn, he seldom considered his life-saving responsibilities as work so much as a passion.
"Thirty-six years ... I think I went to work five days, maybe six," Vigiano said. "The rest of it was just great."
Other days, he remembered, were not so great.
"Those were days of pretty significant losses," Vigiano said. "When a fireman dies in your hands, you never forget that. It's not a good day. The first time you find someone burned to death, it's not a good day."
But nothing, he said, could ever prepare him for the events of Sept. 11, 2001 –- the morning that both of his sons, John Jr. and Joe, perished in the line of duty while saving lives as the World Trade Center collapsed.
"9/11 will take me to the grave; both my sons were killed that day," he said, his head lowered. "You go to bed saying, 'I hope I don't dream about it again, but you do.'"
John Jr. followed in his father's footsteps as a New York City firefighter, while his younger brother, Joe, served as a detective in the New York Police Department. That particular morning, Vigiano was home watching the tragedy unfold with the rest of the world.
"The police department took my wife and me down to headquarters that afternoon and I stayed there until they closed the site," Vigiano said. "Everyday from 6:30 in the morning to midnight, I'd walk the pile."
At his wife's request, he did not dig.
"She said, 'if anything happens to you, I have nobody,'" he recalled. "So I just stood in the back and when a body was recovered, I'd go down and say a prayer and go back."
His voice trembling, Vigiano said rescue teams found Joe's remains, but they never found John Jr.
The elder Vigiano said his young granddaughter grew to comprehend that the spirit of her father lives on.
"That's taken a lot to try and explain to her that his soul is still with us – that the body doesn't mean anything," Vigiano said.
Still, John and his wife of 50 years, Jan, pray for the day they find the bit of DNA that can finally bring them some closure.
"My wife and I bond together and we had 34 and 36 great years," Vigiano said of his sons' respective lives and, ironically, John Jr's badge number, 3436.
"The last words that I spoke to my sons: 'I love you' and they said 'I love you. It don't get better than that."
VP BIDEN SAYS COAST GUARD SECURITY ROLE GROWING
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Biden: Coast Guard Has Growing Role in Nation's Security
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 22, 2013 - Vice President Joe Biden told the U.S. Coast Guard Academy's graduating class today they are entering a world of new threats, some that didn't even exist when they were born, and that the service's changing mission means they are not joining "your father's Coast Guard."
"No graduating class gets to choose the time into which they graduate, and you're graduating into a world that is rapidly changing," Biden told the nearly 300 men and women about to be commissioned in New London, Conn., "from challenges and missions to changing climates."
Biden noted the Coast Guard has become fully integrated into the U.S. military, playing an increasingly complex role in national security, given the types of post-Cold War threats America now faces.
"New stateless actors have stepped into the breach with the desire to smuggle weapons of terror into American ports in the belly of cargo containers to do our people great harm," he said.
Human trafficking and piracy on the high seas are occurring at rates no one would have imagined 50 years ago, the vice president said, posing growing challenges to free trade and commerce.
"More than at any time in history, every nation's economic power and viability [are] tied to the global economy and dependent on the safe passage of goods on the seas," he added.
Another responsibility for the 2013 graduating class will be increasing operations in the Arctic. Biden said the melting of the polar ice caps triggered by global warming will likely open up new international shipping routes.
"You'll operate icebreakers that allow ships to navigate waters that would otherwise be impassable from the Great Lakes in the Northeast to new passages in the Arctic," he said.
BidenHe also highlighted Coast Guard achievements, especially the dangerous missions the service is routinely called on to carry out, from helping victims of Hurricane Sandy last year to humanitarian missions further from home.
"Your shipmates have saved 3,650 lives last year alone, risking their lives," he noted.
From natural disasters to rescues at sea, Biden said, "there are tens of thousands of grateful men and women and children from all parts of the world who will tell anyone who will listen that the most welcome sight they've ever seen are those racing stripes coming toward them or the sound of that orange Coast Guard helicopter above them, lowering a bucket with a man or woman inside to save their lives.
"In this changing world, we are going to be increasingly dependent on you," he said.
Biden: Coast Guard Has Growing Role in Nation's Security
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 22, 2013 - Vice President Joe Biden told the U.S. Coast Guard Academy's graduating class today they are entering a world of new threats, some that didn't even exist when they were born, and that the service's changing mission means they are not joining "your father's Coast Guard."
"No graduating class gets to choose the time into which they graduate, and you're graduating into a world that is rapidly changing," Biden told the nearly 300 men and women about to be commissioned in New London, Conn., "from challenges and missions to changing climates."
Biden noted the Coast Guard has become fully integrated into the U.S. military, playing an increasingly complex role in national security, given the types of post-Cold War threats America now faces.
"New stateless actors have stepped into the breach with the desire to smuggle weapons of terror into American ports in the belly of cargo containers to do our people great harm," he said.
Human trafficking and piracy on the high seas are occurring at rates no one would have imagined 50 years ago, the vice president said, posing growing challenges to free trade and commerce.
"More than at any time in history, every nation's economic power and viability [are] tied to the global economy and dependent on the safe passage of goods on the seas," he added.
Another responsibility for the 2013 graduating class will be increasing operations in the Arctic. Biden said the melting of the polar ice caps triggered by global warming will likely open up new international shipping routes.
"You'll operate icebreakers that allow ships to navigate waters that would otherwise be impassable from the Great Lakes in the Northeast to new passages in the Arctic," he said.
BidenHe also highlighted Coast Guard achievements, especially the dangerous missions the service is routinely called on to carry out, from helping victims of Hurricane Sandy last year to humanitarian missions further from home.
"Your shipmates have saved 3,650 lives last year alone, risking their lives," he noted.
From natural disasters to rescues at sea, Biden said, "there are tens of thousands of grateful men and women and children from all parts of the world who will tell anyone who will listen that the most welcome sight they've ever seen are those racing stripes coming toward them or the sound of that orange Coast Guard helicopter above them, lowering a bucket with a man or woman inside to save their lives.
"In this changing world, we are going to be increasingly dependent on you," he said.
CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS BEGINS MEMORIAL WEEKEND WITH TAPS
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMET OF DEFENSE
Dempsey Kicks off Memorial Day Weekend with TAPS Families
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2013 - The nation's highest-ranking military officer told his audience today at the Crystal City Marriott here that as "The Star-Spangled Banner" plays across the United States this Memorial Day weekend, it will be uniquely their song.
"You're the ones that sacrificed so we can play that national anthem," he said.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, Deedee Dempsey, spent time today with the estimated 2,200 participants gathered here this weekend for the annual Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp. TAPS is an organization for families of service members who died in combat, by suicide, in training or from sudden illness.
"It must be something extraordinary for you to listen to the national anthem, because no one has had the experience of being handed a folded flag," the chairman said. "You have. And those of us who haven't experienced that don't know, really, what that -- I can't even conceive of what it must be like."
Dempsey told the adult audience he addressed today -- he also spoke separately to the children -- that he and Deedee build their Memorial Day weekend calendar around the seminar "because I find you to be an incredibly inspirational group."
Hundreds of red-T-shirted men and women gathered in the hotel's ballroom to listen to the general. The red T-shirts are for TAPS members, but some also had "peer mentor" or "volunteer" written on the back. White T-shirts, for staff members, dotted the room. Outside, the TAPS children assembled for their own time with the chairman.
Each child was accompanied by a blue-T-shirted mentor. Mentors, according to TAPS guidelines, must be current service members or recent veterans and must have lost someone close to them.
The chairman said that while the sense of community in TAPS makes the seminar an event he and Deedee look forward to, it's also a sad occasion.
"You're here because you've suffered some incredible sadness and loss in your life," the chairman said. He added that unfortunately, the organization is likely to continue growing "for a while."
"Just before I came over here I signed nine letters of condolence to nine families who are recent members of your community," he said. "And I hope that at some point, when they're ready, they'll join you."
People who have lost a loved one need to be able to talk to others who understand some of what they've been through, Dempsey said.
"And that's you," he said. "I appreciate the fact that you're willing to come here, not just to get something, but to give something. That's really what makes this such a powerful gathering of men and women -- and children, actually."
The five-day event began May 22 with training and preparation, and culminates this weekend with activities including camps for younger and older children and workshops on topics from art therapy to "turning hurt into hope," for adults. The seminar also includes a run/walk, balloon release, sunset parade, Pentagon tour, baseball game and other activities. TAPS staffers pair children one-on-one with a mentor -– 500 for this seminar -- who will stay with them throughout the events.
Amy Neiberger-Miller, who handles the organization's publicity, explained the organization often seeks to pair children with a service member or veteran who has completed the organization's mentor training and has a similar occupation to the child's lost parent.
"If a child's father was a helicopter pilot, then we can match them with a mentor who is also [one], who can tell them what it's like to fly," she said. "Many come back here year after year, from very far away, to be here and support these children."
Dempsey left the ballroom full of adults, and soon after he went next door to another ballroom, where children of all ages and their mentors sat on the carpeted floor waiting for him. Among those still entering the room before the general arrived, much piggybacking and tickling could be observed.
Army Sgt. James Cunningham, now in the individual ready reserve and about to leave service, sat next to a 7- or 8-year-old boy he introduced as "Ro-ro." The two whispered and laughed and looked at a smartphone screen together while waiting for the chairman.
When Ro-ro wasn't paying attention, Cunningham quietly confided that while in the active Army, he had lost a friend to suicide, and later another to a suicide bomber.
"It goes on and on, unfortunately," he said.
The chairman sang "The Unicorn Song" at the top of the program for the younger children, and a version of Train's "[Not a] Drive By" for the older ones. Dempsey's version of the chorus to "Drive By" included:
"Oh I swear to you
We'll be there for you
This is not a drive-by
Just between us, nothing comes between us ..."
Several of the children took part in a question-and-answer period. Many chose to tell the chairman about the parent they had lost, mostly in Afghanistan.
One boy said, "He was at war once in Afghanistan. He really liked to play games with me and my brother ... then he had to go back to Afghanistan, and he died. I don't know how he died."
Dempsey left the children laughing, ready to keep singing. Minutes earlier, before he left the adult session, he had a final message for everyone in a red T-shirt.
The chairman said, "I promise you that despite all the complexities of life in Washington these days, and all the uncertainty about the future of our budget, and all the things that make headlines and make for good 24/7 news, that we will remember what's most important about our nation. And that is the care for soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, our veterans, and those who have lost their life in the service of our country and their families."
Dempsey Kicks off Memorial Day Weekend with TAPS Families
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2013 - The nation's highest-ranking military officer told his audience today at the Crystal City Marriott here that as "The Star-Spangled Banner" plays across the United States this Memorial Day weekend, it will be uniquely their song.
"You're the ones that sacrificed so we can play that national anthem," he said.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, Deedee Dempsey, spent time today with the estimated 2,200 participants gathered here this weekend for the annual Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp. TAPS is an organization for families of service members who died in combat, by suicide, in training or from sudden illness.
"It must be something extraordinary for you to listen to the national anthem, because no one has had the experience of being handed a folded flag," the chairman said. "You have. And those of us who haven't experienced that don't know, really, what that -- I can't even conceive of what it must be like."
Dempsey told the adult audience he addressed today -- he also spoke separately to the children -- that he and Deedee build their Memorial Day weekend calendar around the seminar "because I find you to be an incredibly inspirational group."
Hundreds of red-T-shirted men and women gathered in the hotel's ballroom to listen to the general. The red T-shirts are for TAPS members, but some also had "peer mentor" or "volunteer" written on the back. White T-shirts, for staff members, dotted the room. Outside, the TAPS children assembled for their own time with the chairman.
Each child was accompanied by a blue-T-shirted mentor. Mentors, according to TAPS guidelines, must be current service members or recent veterans and must have lost someone close to them.
The chairman said that while the sense of community in TAPS makes the seminar an event he and Deedee look forward to, it's also a sad occasion.
"You're here because you've suffered some incredible sadness and loss in your life," the chairman said. He added that unfortunately, the organization is likely to continue growing "for a while."
"Just before I came over here I signed nine letters of condolence to nine families who are recent members of your community," he said. "And I hope that at some point, when they're ready, they'll join you."
People who have lost a loved one need to be able to talk to others who understand some of what they've been through, Dempsey said.
"And that's you," he said. "I appreciate the fact that you're willing to come here, not just to get something, but to give something. That's really what makes this such a powerful gathering of men and women -- and children, actually."
The five-day event began May 22 with training and preparation, and culminates this weekend with activities including camps for younger and older children and workshops on topics from art therapy to "turning hurt into hope," for adults. The seminar also includes a run/walk, balloon release, sunset parade, Pentagon tour, baseball game and other activities. TAPS staffers pair children one-on-one with a mentor -– 500 for this seminar -- who will stay with them throughout the events.
Amy Neiberger-Miller, who handles the organization's publicity, explained the organization often seeks to pair children with a service member or veteran who has completed the organization's mentor training and has a similar occupation to the child's lost parent.
"If a child's father was a helicopter pilot, then we can match them with a mentor who is also [one], who can tell them what it's like to fly," she said. "Many come back here year after year, from very far away, to be here and support these children."
Dempsey left the ballroom full of adults, and soon after he went next door to another ballroom, where children of all ages and their mentors sat on the carpeted floor waiting for him. Among those still entering the room before the general arrived, much piggybacking and tickling could be observed.
Army Sgt. James Cunningham, now in the individual ready reserve and about to leave service, sat next to a 7- or 8-year-old boy he introduced as "Ro-ro." The two whispered and laughed and looked at a smartphone screen together while waiting for the chairman.
When Ro-ro wasn't paying attention, Cunningham quietly confided that while in the active Army, he had lost a friend to suicide, and later another to a suicide bomber.
"It goes on and on, unfortunately," he said.
The chairman sang "The Unicorn Song" at the top of the program for the younger children, and a version of Train's "[Not a] Drive By" for the older ones. Dempsey's version of the chorus to "Drive By" included:
"Oh I swear to you
We'll be there for you
This is not a drive-by
Just between us, nothing comes between us ..."
Several of the children took part in a question-and-answer period. Many chose to tell the chairman about the parent they had lost, mostly in Afghanistan.
One boy said, "He was at war once in Afghanistan. He really liked to play games with me and my brother ... then he had to go back to Afghanistan, and he died. I don't know how he died."
Dempsey left the children laughing, ready to keep singing. Minutes earlier, before he left the adult session, he had a final message for everyone in a red T-shirt.
The chairman said, "I promise you that despite all the complexities of life in Washington these days, and all the uncertainty about the future of our budget, and all the things that make headlines and make for good 24/7 news, that we will remember what's most important about our nation. And that is the care for soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, our veterans, and those who have lost their life in the service of our country and their families."
CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS HELP WITH CARE PACKEGES MADE FOR TROOPS
 |
| USO President Sloan D. Gibson, left, discusses the contents of a care package with U.S. Rep. Bill Posey of Florida and Sesame Street's Cookie Monster during a biannual USO care package service project event on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., May 22, 2013. DOD photo by Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr. |
Congressional Leaders Help USO Build Care Packages for Troops
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2013 - Congressional leaders pitched in on Capitol Hill yesterday to load care packages for service members abroad.
At the USO's biannual care package service project event -- a joint effort with Sesame Workshop -- volunteers placed phone cards, writing utensils, popcorn, tissue and other useful items into 2,000 individual packages for troops.
"Even though our presence may be winding down in Afghanistan, these packages are going to mean an awful lot to our troops who are serving in harm's way," said USO President Sloan D. Gibson. "We're sending a clear message to our troops that are serving our country overseas, [and] we appreciate everyone who has volunteered to be here today to help us."
Gibson expressed his gratitude to the Sesame Workshop, which has partnered with the USO since 2008 and has entertained 368,000 military family members in more than 630 shows at 143 bases in 33 states and 11 countries.
"And they've traveled over 125,000 miles during that period of time," he added. "We're really proud of that partnership."
Lynn Chwatsky, vice president for outreach initiatives and partners for the Sesame Workshop, also shared her appreciation for the opportunity to continue helping America's families.
"This partnership with the USO has truly allowed us to deliver on our mission of helping all children in need, [and] to help all children grow and achieve their highest potential," she said.
Whether it's helping children learn their alphabet and their numbers, showing them how to maintain a healthy lifestyle or helping them through some challenges in their lives, Sesame is there for them, Chwatsky noted.
"And we're committed to our military families -- we have been since 2006, with our Military Families Initiative," she said. "What this amazing partnership with the USO allows us to do is reach these families directly."
Chwatsky said the care packages would deliver some "love, joy and hope" to service members, and let them know "their friends in the USO and Sesame are there for them."
Gibson also welcomed the newest USO congressional caucus co-chairman, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who retired as a command sergeant major in the Army National Guard and was one of many congressional leaders who stopped by to load care packages.
"Thank you to each of you, the volunteers that are here," Walz said. "I can't express my gratitude [enough,] on behalf of the people of southern Minnesota and across this country. Thanks for bringing a little bit of comfort to our warriors who are down range, and just as importantly, to their families. When you're on the receiving end of these packages like [our troops] have been, it really means a lot."
Congressional volunteers also included U.S. Reps. Buck McKeon of California, Bill Posey of Florida and Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, as well as U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and many congressional staffers.
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARKS AT BEN GURION INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Press Availability in Tel Aviv, Israel
Press Availability
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Ben Gurion International Airport
Tel Aviv, Israel
May 24, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Thanks very much, folks. Appreciate your patience. It’s really been terrific to be back here in Israel, and also to be able to pay a visit to the Palestinian territories. Enjoyed a shawarma and a small walk on the streets, which was fun.
I had very productive meetings with leaders in Israel and in the Palestinian Authority. As everyone knows, Israel remains our closest ally and a partner in the region, and we will continue to work together in order to enhance regional security and stability. And we will also continue to work with the Palestinian Authority in order to help them to be able to reach and meet their aspirations.
I believe that President Obama’s trip here earlier in the year opened up a window of opportunity, and it showed that there are strong constituencies for peace both in the West Bank, in the Palestinian territories, as well as in Israel. The polls overwhelmingly showed – perhaps 68, 72 percent of the people of Israel believed in a two-state solution. Peace is actually possible, notwithstanding the doubts that some people have because of past disappointments.
So the bulk of my discussions while I was here were therefore focused on how to move forward to try to achieve the negotiations that are necessary to bring about a just and lasting peace and security. I will continue my close engagement with both the Israeli and the Palestinian leaders going forward as needed in an effort to try to bridge any divide or to try to find the framework by which negotiations could begin.
I am convinced that the people on both sides of this conflict want it to end, but there are obviously different views about how to get there or who takes the first step or what the successive measures are in order to be able to get there. And so that’s what we have to deal with here. Israelis have a clear priority, which we understand and support, with respect to the issue of security, and they need and deserve that security. Palestinians have a priority concern with respect to knowing that they can secure an independent, sovereign, and prosperous state with clear lines as defined previously by them and others along the 1967 lines with swaps and recognizing changes that have taken place on the ground, as President Obama stated in his vision in 2011.
There is one way to make any of these visions a reality, and that is through direct negotiations. Ultimately it is the Israeli and the Palestinian people who will both decide the outcome or even the possibility of getting to those negotiations, and it is ultimately the people of Israel and Palestinians who will achieve the greatest benefits from a peace, and it is they who must make their voices heard.
Leaving this conflict unresolved for decades has deprived generations of security, and it has deprived people of the recognition that they deserve. And it is clear that – despite the sense of status quo, which for many is acceptable, it is clear that, in the long run, that status quo is not really sustainable. We all know that the longer it takes to bring about a peaceful end to this conflict the more and more difficult it will become to do so.
So I made clear in my discussions that the parties should be focused on making progress towards the direct negotiation, and each side needs to work to build trust and each side needs to refrain from any provocative rhetoric or actions that take us backwards. Ultimately, ending this conflict will take leadership on both sides. And as we look to restart negotiations, we look forward to working with the Israeli Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his new government, as well as the Palestinian Authority under the leadership of President Abbas.
Achieving a lasting peace is also in the interests of all the communities in this region, all of the countries in the region. Just last month in Washington, the Arab League representatives stood up and reiterated their support for ending this conflict, and they moved voluntarily to adjust the initiative to reflect where we are today with the realities on the ground.
In addition, I will say that in every conversation I have had in the trips the President has asked me to make over the course of the last months – whether in China or Japan, or throughout Europe or throughout the Gulf, or visitors who have come to see me as recently as last week, the day before – the day I left to come here, the Foreign Minister of Brazil, Antonio Patriota, or the Foreign Minister of New Zealand, Mr. McCully – all said – they almost began their conversations with discussion of the need for and the potential of peace within the Middle East. This is a global concern for a lot of different reasons.
I was very encouraged by the statement from the Arab League delegation that said that a future agreement ought to be based on a two-state solution along the ’67 lines with comparable and mutually agreed upon swaps. The United States remains deeply committed to the goal of two states living side-by-side in peace and security, and it is only through direct negotiations that the Israelis and the Palestinians can address the permanent status issues and achieve the peace that both deserve – a peace with two states for two peoples with a sovereign and viable, independent Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security with a Palestinian homeland and a homeland for the Jewish people. That remains our goal.
I know that in some corridors, I know there are those who are skeptical, and some even because of prolonged skepticism might even call themselves cynical. And there are legitimate reasons for that. There have been years of disappointments. It’s our hope that by being methodical, being careful, being patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can find a path that will ultimately lead to peace. I emphasize it will not be because the United States makes it happen or some other country does – this is a peace that must be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians and their elected leadership. That is what we’re working towards.
I thank Prime Minister Netanyahu for his warm and generous welcome while here, his hospitality. I thank him for his efforts and I thank President Abbas for his warm hospitality and for his efforts. And I call on both of them in the next days to demonstrate the leadership that I believe the people in the Palestinian territories and in Israel hope for.
Thank you. I’d be happy to answer any questions.
MS. PSAKI: The Secretary – sorry.
SECRETARY KERRY: Or any questions. I guess I’m --
MS. PSAKI: Okay. The Secretary will take five questions this afternoon. The first will be from Arshad Mohammed of Reuters.
SECRETARY KERRY: Arshad, you’re on.
QUESTION: In Rome two weeks ago, you’ve said you believe both the Israelis and the Palestinians, both sides, were serious about the possibility of resuming peace negotiations. Last week, Israeli court documents showed that the government plans to retroactively legalize their previously illegal outposts.
SECRETARY KERRY: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: Is that the act of a government that is serious about peace talks? Have you asked the Israeli Government for a full public settlement freeze to head into talks? And can you point to actions on either side that demonstrate – that show seriousness?
SECRETARY KERRY: I’m not going to comment on what was asked for, not asked for, what was – any of the sort of private conversations I’ve had with the leaders except to say this: That issue was raised appropriately, and we did discuss the status of settlements overall and the need for both sides to take steps that indicate a willingness to try to move forward.
Now, the United States position with respect to settlements is clear, and it has not changed. We believe they should stop. That is a position that has been consistent not just by the United States but by the international community. And it is also clear that when actions are taken – whether by court or otherwise – it is our view that those actions can be deemed by some to be provocative, and they are not necessarily constructive with respect to the process. So it is our hope that there will be a minimal effort there.
Now, some of this is, frankly, beyond the control, and I understand that. There are some private and individual permits granted some time ago, and in terms of the legality, there is no capacity to move on them. But in other ways, certainly the government has an ability to be able to make a difference here in the next months. It’s my hope that they will, but I’m not going to go into any specific discussion of sort of what steps they may or may not take or where we are.
As I’ve said, we are trying to get to talks without pre-conditions. We do not want to get stuck in a place where we are arguing about a particular substantive issue that is actually part of a final settlement, and that argument takes you so long that you never get to the negotiations that bring about the final settlement. So the key here, in my judgment, is to show patience on both sides. There will be things that each side may choose to do that may create problems for the other side or change the politics. That’s pretty normal out here in this part of the world. Our hope is that everybody will stay focused on the prize, focused on the goal, and that is to negotiate in full faith on the broad basis that ends the anxiety and the tension over some of these other issues, because you’ve actually solved them by reaching a settlement on the broader components of the conflict itself.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will come from Christine Renawi.
QUESTION: Yeah. I’m from Palestine TV and (inaudible) news agency. Yeah, about Israel declared recently that it’s in the process of legitimatizing the four settlement outposts in the Palestinian territories. What’s your position towards that? And finally, what are the prospects of the peace process on the light of your meetings with Netanyahu and Mr. President Abbas?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, as I just said, our position on settlements and outposts and on the legalization is that we are opposed to it. We believe that that is not appropriate, and, in fact, is not constructive in the context of our efforts to move forward. But it should not be something, as I just said, that prevents us from being able to get to negotiations, because if you can negotiate borders, and if you negotiate security and get to a final settlement, you have resolved the issue of settlements themselves. That’s the way you resolve the issue, is by deciding what is in the Palestinian state and what are the rules there and what is Israel and what are the rules there. And the sooner we get to that, the sooner the question of settlements is resolved.
With respect to where we are in the process, I’m not going to comment, except to say that we have reached – I’ve been here now a number of times. Both sides know what the choices are. Both sides know what is needed in order to try to move forward. And it’s really time for the governments to make their decisions. Are they prepared? This is not something, as I said, that we can decide. This is something that the leaders of Israel and the leaders of the Palestinian Authority have to decide. And we’re getting towards a time now where hard decisions need to be made.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will come from Michael Gordon of The New York Times.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, Palestinian officials have said that June 7th is the date by which they hope to see discernible progress in the peace process. They say that you’ve asked them to suspend their efforts to join international organizations or take steps that would reinforce their claim to statehood prior to that. What do you hope to accomplish in June? Is that month a target date for you? And if there is no progress in that month, what restraint will you ask for of each side?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I’m not going to get into specific dates, Michael. I don’t think setting one date or another unilaterally and arbitrarily necessarily advances things. But I will say this: President Obama, when he was here, made it very clear to all of the folks that he talked with – he made it clear to the Palestinians, he made it clear to the Israeli leadership – that he was going to give this a certain period of time, a few months is the term that he phrased it in, and then he was going to take stock of where we are to try to determine whether or not the parties are serious about coming back to the table and negotiating. He was here March 23rd. We are now May 23rd; that’s two months. And we’re moving into June.
So we are obviously moving in to a point where, as I just said, we are reaching the time where leaders need to make hard decisions. And I think that speaks for itself.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will come from Mala Barty from Israeli Channel 10.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is there any readiness from the Israeli side to go for confidence-building measures such as settlement freeze in the territories prior to the resumption of negotiation? If not, is there a readiness from the Palestinian side to go back to the table without getting these steps from the Israelis prior to the resumption? And in a more important sense, we know there are gaps. But you were here a month ago, and you’re saying the time is running out. And we understand that you will plan to come back here next Monday, but you somehow not (inaudible) regarding what happened in the last day.
SECRETARY KERRY: Yeah.
QUESTION: But what’s necessary to – now to happen in order for you to come back for next round of talk? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me begin by saying that time is running is out is sort of the wrong phraseology, if you don’t mind my saying so. It – the question is whether or not people are going to make the hard choices with respect to getting back to negotiations, and the timeframe within which the President said he wanted to have a sense of that is obviously coming due. But no, I think that it’s important for us to not create some sort of artificial standard. If it’s a week, two weeks, something like that, I think we need to allow folks to make their decisions within a reasonable framework in the next days ahead.
I don’t know what this thing about Monday is. I think we had a day where I might have been able to come back if I needed to, but I don’t think I do need to. And so I’m going to be speaking at the World Economic Forum; I’ll have a little more to say there about this process. But then I’m going to go on to other meetings and other business that I have as Secretary of State, while others obviously consider the choices that they know now are clear and the ways that we have offered to think about how we might proceed forward. So in that regard, those are the hard choices that need to be made.
MS. PSAKI: The final question will be from Jo Biddle of AFP.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I actually want to turn to Iran. This week, the Guardian Council authored a list of 80 candidates who are permitted to stand in the June 14th presidential elections. After initially barring all 30 women candidates, they’ve also ruled out several moderates, including former-President Rafsanjani and only allowed a hand-picked that served so loyal to the Supreme Leader to stand. While it isn’t – obviously not up to the U.S. to choose who should stand in the Iranian elections, does this hand-picked slate of candidates represent a fair and free choice for all the people of Iran across a broad spectrum of Iranian society? And how concerned are you that the leadership which emerges from the vote will actually toughen Iran’s stand on its nuclear program? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I can’t think of anybody in the world looking at Iran’s election who wouldn’t be amazed by a process by which an unelected Guardian Council, which is unaccountable to the Iranian people, has actually disqualified hundreds of candidates, potential candidates, according to very vague criteria, which the Iranian people are not privileged to know or judge by. The council narrowed a list of almost 700 potential candidates down to the sort of officials of their choice based solely on who represents the regime’s interests, obviously, rather than who might represent some different point of view among the Iranian people. That is hardly an election by standards which most people in most countries judge free, fair, open, accessible, accountable elections. The lack of transparency obviously makes it highly unlikely that that slate of candidates is either going to represent the broad will of the Iranian people or represent a change of any legitimate kind.
So in addition to that, there are some troubling signs that Iranian Government is now taking steps to slow down or even cut off internet access, which is the process by which people can take part in the sharing of information and the exchange of ideas in an election. So ultimately, the Iranian people will be prevented not only from choosing someone who might have reflected their point of view, but also taking part in a way that is essential to any kind of legitimate democracy.
So we’ll have to see what develops, but it’s our hope still that the Supreme Leader and the Iranian leadership will come to the table in a serious way with a serious offer in order to prove that their nuclear program, which they profess is peaceful, is indeed peaceful. And I would reiterate – and I’ve said this before, and now it is almost a month or so even later – the clock is clearly ticking. And even today there are reports from the IAEA of its dissatisfaction with its access, and we know of the continued efforts of Iranian development of its program.
So this is an issue which is very, very much on our radar screen. We think about it and look at it every single day, take stock of it on a regular basis, and our hope is, for the sake of the region, the world, the Iranian people, ourselves, that we can have a peaceful resolution. But it is going to have to be demonstrated much more affirmatively than it has been to date that Iran is interested in that kind of a solution and that they are, indeed, prepared to prove that their program is peaceful.
I will repeat what I’ve said previously: Notwithstanding my criticism that I just made of the election process, the President of the United States has from day one said that he is open to trying to work towards a relationship with Iran that sees them rejoin the community of nations, lift sanctions, move to participation in international organizations, and assume a role like other nations that is responsible and accountable to the rule of law that we live by in the international community. That is the preferred hope of the American people and I think people in the world.
The Iranian leadership needs to make its decisions whether or not it wants to go down that road or the alternative. And the alternative is obviously one that none of us are looking for or want to contemplate. But the President has made it clear it is not one that he shies away from, if that is the only option that is left to him.
Thank you all very much. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Press Availability in Tel Aviv, Israel
Press Availability
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Ben Gurion International Airport
Tel Aviv, Israel
May 24, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Thanks very much, folks. Appreciate your patience. It’s really been terrific to be back here in Israel, and also to be able to pay a visit to the Palestinian territories. Enjoyed a shawarma and a small walk on the streets, which was fun.
I had very productive meetings with leaders in Israel and in the Palestinian Authority. As everyone knows, Israel remains our closest ally and a partner in the region, and we will continue to work together in order to enhance regional security and stability. And we will also continue to work with the Palestinian Authority in order to help them to be able to reach and meet their aspirations.
I believe that President Obama’s trip here earlier in the year opened up a window of opportunity, and it showed that there are strong constituencies for peace both in the West Bank, in the Palestinian territories, as well as in Israel. The polls overwhelmingly showed – perhaps 68, 72 percent of the people of Israel believed in a two-state solution. Peace is actually possible, notwithstanding the doubts that some people have because of past disappointments.
So the bulk of my discussions while I was here were therefore focused on how to move forward to try to achieve the negotiations that are necessary to bring about a just and lasting peace and security. I will continue my close engagement with both the Israeli and the Palestinian leaders going forward as needed in an effort to try to bridge any divide or to try to find the framework by which negotiations could begin.
I am convinced that the people on both sides of this conflict want it to end, but there are obviously different views about how to get there or who takes the first step or what the successive measures are in order to be able to get there. And so that’s what we have to deal with here. Israelis have a clear priority, which we understand and support, with respect to the issue of security, and they need and deserve that security. Palestinians have a priority concern with respect to knowing that they can secure an independent, sovereign, and prosperous state with clear lines as defined previously by them and others along the 1967 lines with swaps and recognizing changes that have taken place on the ground, as President Obama stated in his vision in 2011.
There is one way to make any of these visions a reality, and that is through direct negotiations. Ultimately it is the Israeli and the Palestinian people who will both decide the outcome or even the possibility of getting to those negotiations, and it is ultimately the people of Israel and Palestinians who will achieve the greatest benefits from a peace, and it is they who must make their voices heard.
Leaving this conflict unresolved for decades has deprived generations of security, and it has deprived people of the recognition that they deserve. And it is clear that – despite the sense of status quo, which for many is acceptable, it is clear that, in the long run, that status quo is not really sustainable. We all know that the longer it takes to bring about a peaceful end to this conflict the more and more difficult it will become to do so.
So I made clear in my discussions that the parties should be focused on making progress towards the direct negotiation, and each side needs to work to build trust and each side needs to refrain from any provocative rhetoric or actions that take us backwards. Ultimately, ending this conflict will take leadership on both sides. And as we look to restart negotiations, we look forward to working with the Israeli Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his new government, as well as the Palestinian Authority under the leadership of President Abbas.
Achieving a lasting peace is also in the interests of all the communities in this region, all of the countries in the region. Just last month in Washington, the Arab League representatives stood up and reiterated their support for ending this conflict, and they moved voluntarily to adjust the initiative to reflect where we are today with the realities on the ground.
In addition, I will say that in every conversation I have had in the trips the President has asked me to make over the course of the last months – whether in China or Japan, or throughout Europe or throughout the Gulf, or visitors who have come to see me as recently as last week, the day before – the day I left to come here, the Foreign Minister of Brazil, Antonio Patriota, or the Foreign Minister of New Zealand, Mr. McCully – all said – they almost began their conversations with discussion of the need for and the potential of peace within the Middle East. This is a global concern for a lot of different reasons.
I was very encouraged by the statement from the Arab League delegation that said that a future agreement ought to be based on a two-state solution along the ’67 lines with comparable and mutually agreed upon swaps. The United States remains deeply committed to the goal of two states living side-by-side in peace and security, and it is only through direct negotiations that the Israelis and the Palestinians can address the permanent status issues and achieve the peace that both deserve – a peace with two states for two peoples with a sovereign and viable, independent Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security with a Palestinian homeland and a homeland for the Jewish people. That remains our goal.
I know that in some corridors, I know there are those who are skeptical, and some even because of prolonged skepticism might even call themselves cynical. And there are legitimate reasons for that. There have been years of disappointments. It’s our hope that by being methodical, being careful, being patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can find a path that will ultimately lead to peace. I emphasize it will not be because the United States makes it happen or some other country does – this is a peace that must be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians and their elected leadership. That is what we’re working towards.
I thank Prime Minister Netanyahu for his warm and generous welcome while here, his hospitality. I thank him for his efforts and I thank President Abbas for his warm hospitality and for his efforts. And I call on both of them in the next days to demonstrate the leadership that I believe the people in the Palestinian territories and in Israel hope for.
Thank you. I’d be happy to answer any questions.
MS. PSAKI: The Secretary – sorry.
SECRETARY KERRY: Or any questions. I guess I’m --
MS. PSAKI: Okay. The Secretary will take five questions this afternoon. The first will be from Arshad Mohammed of Reuters.
SECRETARY KERRY: Arshad, you’re on.
QUESTION: In Rome two weeks ago, you’ve said you believe both the Israelis and the Palestinians, both sides, were serious about the possibility of resuming peace negotiations. Last week, Israeli court documents showed that the government plans to retroactively legalize their previously illegal outposts.
SECRETARY KERRY: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: Is that the act of a government that is serious about peace talks? Have you asked the Israeli Government for a full public settlement freeze to head into talks? And can you point to actions on either side that demonstrate – that show seriousness?
SECRETARY KERRY: I’m not going to comment on what was asked for, not asked for, what was – any of the sort of private conversations I’ve had with the leaders except to say this: That issue was raised appropriately, and we did discuss the status of settlements overall and the need for both sides to take steps that indicate a willingness to try to move forward.
Now, the United States position with respect to settlements is clear, and it has not changed. We believe they should stop. That is a position that has been consistent not just by the United States but by the international community. And it is also clear that when actions are taken – whether by court or otherwise – it is our view that those actions can be deemed by some to be provocative, and they are not necessarily constructive with respect to the process. So it is our hope that there will be a minimal effort there.
Now, some of this is, frankly, beyond the control, and I understand that. There are some private and individual permits granted some time ago, and in terms of the legality, there is no capacity to move on them. But in other ways, certainly the government has an ability to be able to make a difference here in the next months. It’s my hope that they will, but I’m not going to go into any specific discussion of sort of what steps they may or may not take or where we are.
As I’ve said, we are trying to get to talks without pre-conditions. We do not want to get stuck in a place where we are arguing about a particular substantive issue that is actually part of a final settlement, and that argument takes you so long that you never get to the negotiations that bring about the final settlement. So the key here, in my judgment, is to show patience on both sides. There will be things that each side may choose to do that may create problems for the other side or change the politics. That’s pretty normal out here in this part of the world. Our hope is that everybody will stay focused on the prize, focused on the goal, and that is to negotiate in full faith on the broad basis that ends the anxiety and the tension over some of these other issues, because you’ve actually solved them by reaching a settlement on the broader components of the conflict itself.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will come from Christine Renawi.
QUESTION: Yeah. I’m from Palestine TV and (inaudible) news agency. Yeah, about Israel declared recently that it’s in the process of legitimatizing the four settlement outposts in the Palestinian territories. What’s your position towards that? And finally, what are the prospects of the peace process on the light of your meetings with Netanyahu and Mr. President Abbas?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, as I just said, our position on settlements and outposts and on the legalization is that we are opposed to it. We believe that that is not appropriate, and, in fact, is not constructive in the context of our efforts to move forward. But it should not be something, as I just said, that prevents us from being able to get to negotiations, because if you can negotiate borders, and if you negotiate security and get to a final settlement, you have resolved the issue of settlements themselves. That’s the way you resolve the issue, is by deciding what is in the Palestinian state and what are the rules there and what is Israel and what are the rules there. And the sooner we get to that, the sooner the question of settlements is resolved.
With respect to where we are in the process, I’m not going to comment, except to say that we have reached – I’ve been here now a number of times. Both sides know what the choices are. Both sides know what is needed in order to try to move forward. And it’s really time for the governments to make their decisions. Are they prepared? This is not something, as I said, that we can decide. This is something that the leaders of Israel and the leaders of the Palestinian Authority have to decide. And we’re getting towards a time now where hard decisions need to be made.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will come from Michael Gordon of The New York Times.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, Palestinian officials have said that June 7th is the date by which they hope to see discernible progress in the peace process. They say that you’ve asked them to suspend their efforts to join international organizations or take steps that would reinforce their claim to statehood prior to that. What do you hope to accomplish in June? Is that month a target date for you? And if there is no progress in that month, what restraint will you ask for of each side?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I’m not going to get into specific dates, Michael. I don’t think setting one date or another unilaterally and arbitrarily necessarily advances things. But I will say this: President Obama, when he was here, made it very clear to all of the folks that he talked with – he made it clear to the Palestinians, he made it clear to the Israeli leadership – that he was going to give this a certain period of time, a few months is the term that he phrased it in, and then he was going to take stock of where we are to try to determine whether or not the parties are serious about coming back to the table and negotiating. He was here March 23rd. We are now May 23rd; that’s two months. And we’re moving into June.
So we are obviously moving in to a point where, as I just said, we are reaching the time where leaders need to make hard decisions. And I think that speaks for itself.
MS. PSAKI: The next question will come from Mala Barty from Israeli Channel 10.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is there any readiness from the Israeli side to go for confidence-building measures such as settlement freeze in the territories prior to the resumption of negotiation? If not, is there a readiness from the Palestinian side to go back to the table without getting these steps from the Israelis prior to the resumption? And in a more important sense, we know there are gaps. But you were here a month ago, and you’re saying the time is running out. And we understand that you will plan to come back here next Monday, but you somehow not (inaudible) regarding what happened in the last day.
SECRETARY KERRY: Yeah.
QUESTION: But what’s necessary to – now to happen in order for you to come back for next round of talk? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let me begin by saying that time is running is out is sort of the wrong phraseology, if you don’t mind my saying so. It – the question is whether or not people are going to make the hard choices with respect to getting back to negotiations, and the timeframe within which the President said he wanted to have a sense of that is obviously coming due. But no, I think that it’s important for us to not create some sort of artificial standard. If it’s a week, two weeks, something like that, I think we need to allow folks to make their decisions within a reasonable framework in the next days ahead.
I don’t know what this thing about Monday is. I think we had a day where I might have been able to come back if I needed to, but I don’t think I do need to. And so I’m going to be speaking at the World Economic Forum; I’ll have a little more to say there about this process. But then I’m going to go on to other meetings and other business that I have as Secretary of State, while others obviously consider the choices that they know now are clear and the ways that we have offered to think about how we might proceed forward. So in that regard, those are the hard choices that need to be made.
MS. PSAKI: The final question will be from Jo Biddle of AFP.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I actually want to turn to Iran. This week, the Guardian Council authored a list of 80 candidates who are permitted to stand in the June 14th presidential elections. After initially barring all 30 women candidates, they’ve also ruled out several moderates, including former-President Rafsanjani and only allowed a hand-picked that served so loyal to the Supreme Leader to stand. While it isn’t – obviously not up to the U.S. to choose who should stand in the Iranian elections, does this hand-picked slate of candidates represent a fair and free choice for all the people of Iran across a broad spectrum of Iranian society? And how concerned are you that the leadership which emerges from the vote will actually toughen Iran’s stand on its nuclear program? Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I can’t think of anybody in the world looking at Iran’s election who wouldn’t be amazed by a process by which an unelected Guardian Council, which is unaccountable to the Iranian people, has actually disqualified hundreds of candidates, potential candidates, according to very vague criteria, which the Iranian people are not privileged to know or judge by. The council narrowed a list of almost 700 potential candidates down to the sort of officials of their choice based solely on who represents the regime’s interests, obviously, rather than who might represent some different point of view among the Iranian people. That is hardly an election by standards which most people in most countries judge free, fair, open, accessible, accountable elections. The lack of transparency obviously makes it highly unlikely that that slate of candidates is either going to represent the broad will of the Iranian people or represent a change of any legitimate kind.
So in addition to that, there are some troubling signs that Iranian Government is now taking steps to slow down or even cut off internet access, which is the process by which people can take part in the sharing of information and the exchange of ideas in an election. So ultimately, the Iranian people will be prevented not only from choosing someone who might have reflected their point of view, but also taking part in a way that is essential to any kind of legitimate democracy.
So we’ll have to see what develops, but it’s our hope still that the Supreme Leader and the Iranian leadership will come to the table in a serious way with a serious offer in order to prove that their nuclear program, which they profess is peaceful, is indeed peaceful. And I would reiterate – and I’ve said this before, and now it is almost a month or so even later – the clock is clearly ticking. And even today there are reports from the IAEA of its dissatisfaction with its access, and we know of the continued efforts of Iranian development of its program.
So this is an issue which is very, very much on our radar screen. We think about it and look at it every single day, take stock of it on a regular basis, and our hope is, for the sake of the region, the world, the Iranian people, ourselves, that we can have a peaceful resolution. But it is going to have to be demonstrated much more affirmatively than it has been to date that Iran is interested in that kind of a solution and that they are, indeed, prepared to prove that their program is peaceful.
I will repeat what I’ve said previously: Notwithstanding my criticism that I just made of the election process, the President of the United States has from day one said that he is open to trying to work towards a relationship with Iran that sees them rejoin the community of nations, lift sanctions, move to participation in international organizations, and assume a role like other nations that is responsible and accountable to the rule of law that we live by in the international community. That is the preferred hope of the American people and I think people in the world.
The Iranian leadership needs to make its decisions whether or not it wants to go down that road or the alternative. And the alternative is obviously one that none of us are looking for or want to contemplate. But the President has made it clear it is not one that he shies away from, if that is the only option that is left to him.
Thank you all very much. Appreciate it. Thank you.
ISAF NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN FOR MAY 24, 2013
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| U.S. Army Spcs. Andrew Landish and Tyrel Fishe prepare to launch a mortar in the Hesarak village of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, May 14, 2013. Landish and Fishe are assigned to 101st Airborne Division's Company A, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment. They communicate by radio with ground forces to coordinate precision attacks on emery forces. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Vang Seng Thao |
Combined Force Arrests Taliban Facilitator in Kandahar
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 24, 2013 - An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban facilitator and two other insurgents during an operation in the Dand district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province today, military officials reported.
The facilitator is a vital member of improvised explosive device networks in Kandahar City. He procures and distributes IED-making materials, weapons and other military equipment for use in attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.
In other Afghanistan news today:
-- Combined forces confirmed yesterday's arrest of a Taliban facilitator in the Baghlan-e Jadid district of Baghlan province. The facilitator exercises command and control over a group of fighters responsible for attacks on Afghan and coalition forces. He also uses his residence as a storage facility for military equipment and coordinates the acquisition of weapons for use in insurgent activities.
-- Combined forces confirmed the death of two senior Haqqani leaders, Qari Azzam and Mukhlis, during a May 21 operation in the Zurmat district of Paktiya province. Azzam, also known as Maulawi Sahib, served as an intelligence operative responsible for providing information to senior Haqqani leadership about attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He was also involved in coordinating mine and IED emplacement in the local area, providing military equipment to insurgents and organizing kidnappings in order to extort money. Mukhlis, also known as Wazir, planned and participated in attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He also interfaced directly with senior Haqqani leadership to relay strategic guidance to insurgent fighters.
And yesterday, Provincial Response Company Logar, enabled by coalition forces, seized a large cache of explosives-making materials during a cordon-and-search mission in the Pul-e Alam district of Logar province. The cache consisted of one IED, 374 pounds of ammonium nitrate and 110 pounds of phosphorous fertilizer. All seized materials were destroyed on location.
Friday, May 24, 2013
PRESIDENT OBAMA SPEAKS ON COUNTERTERRORISM POLICY
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Obama Delineates Counterterrorism Policy
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2013 - President Barack Obama spoke today on U.S. counterterrorism policy and looked at how the United States can defend itself from terrorism, yet remain true to core beliefs.
The president's speech at the National Defense University on Fort Lesley J. McNair here took a broad view of counterterrorism efforts. Obama reviewed what has taken place since September 11, 2001, and how the counterterrorism effort has changed.
In 2001, Al-Qaida was the threat. It was that organization, led by Osama bin Laden, that planned and executed the attacks that killed 3,000 people on 9/11. "Now the core of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on a path to defeat," the president said.
The United States has relentlessly pursued al-Qaida's senior leadership and the threat of a 9/11-scale attack is greatly reduced, he said.
At the same time the threat has morphed. Al-Qaida affiliates – notably those in North Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula – remain threats to the American homeland. Threats have grown following the unrest in the Arab world, although those are mostly local or regionally based.
Finally, there is a threat from homegrown extremists like those who are alleged to be responsible for the bombing in Boston.
Attacks like those from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, like those against our embassy in Benghazi and like those in Boston represent the future of the threats we face from terrorism, the president said.
"We must recognize, however, that the threat has shifted and evolved from the one that came to our shores on 9/11," he said. "With a decade of experience to draw from, now is the time to ask ourselves hard questions – about the nature of today's threats, and how we should confront them."
Since 9/11, the United States has spent well over a trillion dollars on war. "Our service members and their families have sacrificed far more on our behalf," he said. "Nearly 7,000 Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice. Many more have left a part of themselves on the battlefield, or brought the shadows of battle back home. From our use of drones to the detention of terrorist suspects, the decisions we are making will define the type of nation – and world – that we leave to our children."
No one can promise the total defeat of terror. There will always be people misguided enough to resort to attacks on society, the president said. "What we can do – what we must do – is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend," Obama said. "To define that strategy, we must make decisions based not on fear, but hard-earned wisdom."
The threats do not arise in a vacuum, the president said. There is the belief in many parts of the world that Islam is in conflict with the United States and the West, and that violence against Western targets is justified in pursuit of a larger cause. "Of course, this ideology is based on a lie, for the United States is not at war with Islam; and this ideology is rejected by the vast majority of Muslims, who are the most frequent victims of terrorist acts," Obama said.
The ideology persists, however, and all parts of the U.S. government must work to counter it, he said.
The United States must continue to defeat al-Qaida and its associated forces, the president said. In Afghanistan, U.S. forces will follow the NATO plan and continue training Afghan security forces up to the end of NATO combat operations there at the end of next year, Obama said.
"Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless 'global war on terror' – but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America," he said. Most of these will be done in partnership with other nations, he said, specifically mentioning Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
The United States will continue to cooperate with other nations and share counterterrorism intelligence with these nations, he emphasized, butwill not be afraid to work alone when the situation calls for it.
Al-Qaida looks for ungoverned areas to set up and plan, he noted. "In some of these places ... the state has only the most tenuous reach into the territory," Obama said. "In other cases, the state lacks the capacity or will to take action."
In cases when using American troops in these places isn't possible and lethal action is needed, he said, "The United States has taken lethal, targeted action against al-Qaida and its associated forces, including with remotely piloted aircraft commonly referred to as drones."
The technology raises profound questions about targeting, civilian casualties and the risks of creating new enemies, he said, but Obama maintained the strikes strikes have been effective and are legal nationally and internationally. "Simply put, these strikes have saved lives," he said.
Beyond Afghanistan, the United States only targets al-Qaida and its associated forces, the president said.
"America does not make strikes when we have the ability to capture individual terrorists - our preference is always to detain, interrogate, and prosecute them," Obama said. "America cannot take strikes wherever we choose – our actions are bound by consultations with partners, and respect for state sovereignty. America does not take strikes to punish individuals – we act against terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people, and when there are no other governments capable of effectively addressing the threat. And before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured – the highest standard we can set."
The president insists on strong oversight of all lethal action. "After I took office, my administration began briefing all strikes outside of Iraq and Afghanistan to the appropriate committees of Congress," he said. "Let me repeat that – not only did Congress authorize the use of force, it is briefed on every strike that America takes."
The use of force must be part of a larger discussion about a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy, he said, adding that. force alone cannot make America safe.
"We cannot use force everywhere that a radical ideology takes root; and in the absence of a strategy that reduces the well-spring of extremism, a perpetual war – through drones or Special Forces or troop deployments – will prove self-defeating, and alter our country in troubling ways," the president said.
Obama Delineates Counterterrorism Policy
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2013 - President Barack Obama spoke today on U.S. counterterrorism policy and looked at how the United States can defend itself from terrorism, yet remain true to core beliefs.
The president's speech at the National Defense University on Fort Lesley J. McNair here took a broad view of counterterrorism efforts. Obama reviewed what has taken place since September 11, 2001, and how the counterterrorism effort has changed.
In 2001, Al-Qaida was the threat. It was that organization, led by Osama bin Laden, that planned and executed the attacks that killed 3,000 people on 9/11. "Now the core of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on a path to defeat," the president said.
The United States has relentlessly pursued al-Qaida's senior leadership and the threat of a 9/11-scale attack is greatly reduced, he said.
At the same time the threat has morphed. Al-Qaida affiliates – notably those in North Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula – remain threats to the American homeland. Threats have grown following the unrest in the Arab world, although those are mostly local or regionally based.
Finally, there is a threat from homegrown extremists like those who are alleged to be responsible for the bombing in Boston.
Attacks like those from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, like those against our embassy in Benghazi and like those in Boston represent the future of the threats we face from terrorism, the president said.
"We must recognize, however, that the threat has shifted and evolved from the one that came to our shores on 9/11," he said. "With a decade of experience to draw from, now is the time to ask ourselves hard questions – about the nature of today's threats, and how we should confront them."
Since 9/11, the United States has spent well over a trillion dollars on war. "Our service members and their families have sacrificed far more on our behalf," he said. "Nearly 7,000 Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice. Many more have left a part of themselves on the battlefield, or brought the shadows of battle back home. From our use of drones to the detention of terrorist suspects, the decisions we are making will define the type of nation – and world – that we leave to our children."
No one can promise the total defeat of terror. There will always be people misguided enough to resort to attacks on society, the president said. "What we can do – what we must do – is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend," Obama said. "To define that strategy, we must make decisions based not on fear, but hard-earned wisdom."
The threats do not arise in a vacuum, the president said. There is the belief in many parts of the world that Islam is in conflict with the United States and the West, and that violence against Western targets is justified in pursuit of a larger cause. "Of course, this ideology is based on a lie, for the United States is not at war with Islam; and this ideology is rejected by the vast majority of Muslims, who are the most frequent victims of terrorist acts," Obama said.
The ideology persists, however, and all parts of the U.S. government must work to counter it, he said.
The United States must continue to defeat al-Qaida and its associated forces, the president said. In Afghanistan, U.S. forces will follow the NATO plan and continue training Afghan security forces up to the end of NATO combat operations there at the end of next year, Obama said.
"Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless 'global war on terror' – but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America," he said. Most of these will be done in partnership with other nations, he said, specifically mentioning Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
The United States will continue to cooperate with other nations and share counterterrorism intelligence with these nations, he emphasized, butwill not be afraid to work alone when the situation calls for it.
Al-Qaida looks for ungoverned areas to set up and plan, he noted. "In some of these places ... the state has only the most tenuous reach into the territory," Obama said. "In other cases, the state lacks the capacity or will to take action."
In cases when using American troops in these places isn't possible and lethal action is needed, he said, "The United States has taken lethal, targeted action against al-Qaida and its associated forces, including with remotely piloted aircraft commonly referred to as drones."
The technology raises profound questions about targeting, civilian casualties and the risks of creating new enemies, he said, but Obama maintained the strikes strikes have been effective and are legal nationally and internationally. "Simply put, these strikes have saved lives," he said.
Beyond Afghanistan, the United States only targets al-Qaida and its associated forces, the president said.
"America does not make strikes when we have the ability to capture individual terrorists - our preference is always to detain, interrogate, and prosecute them," Obama said. "America cannot take strikes wherever we choose – our actions are bound by consultations with partners, and respect for state sovereignty. America does not take strikes to punish individuals – we act against terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people, and when there are no other governments capable of effectively addressing the threat. And before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured – the highest standard we can set."
The president insists on strong oversight of all lethal action. "After I took office, my administration began briefing all strikes outside of Iraq and Afghanistan to the appropriate committees of Congress," he said. "Let me repeat that – not only did Congress authorize the use of force, it is briefed on every strike that America takes."
The use of force must be part of a larger discussion about a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy, he said, adding that. force alone cannot make America safe.
"We cannot use force everywhere that a radical ideology takes root; and in the absence of a strategy that reduces the well-spring of extremism, a perpetual war – through drones or Special Forces or troop deployments – will prove self-defeating, and alter our country in troubling ways," the president said.
U.S. STATEMENT ON INSTABILITY IN LEBANON
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Situation in Lebanon
Press Statement
Patrick Ventrell
Acting Deputy Spokesperson
Washington, DC
May 24, 2013
The United States is deeply concerned about the situation in Lebanon. The latest clashes in the northern city of Tripoli, in which at least 23 people have been killed, constitute a stark reminder that the conflict in Syria poses an increasingly dangerous threat to Lebanon’s stability and security.
The United States fully supports Lebanon’s security, stability, and sovereignty and welcomes efforts by Lebanon’s leaders to take all necessary steps to put an end to the violence in Tripoli. We strongly support the Lebanese Armed Forces’ and Internal Security Forces’ efforts to stop the fighting in Tripoli and fully restore calm across the country. We call on all parties to do their part to restore calm, act with restraint, and respect Lebanon’s stability and security.
The United States supports the principles of the 2012 Baabda Declaration and Lebanon’s dissociation policy with respect to the crisis in Syria. We call on all parties in the region to avoid any actions that would exacerbate that crisis, increase the propensity for spillover violence, and negatively affect civilian populations. Hizballah leaders’ decision to escalate the group’s role in the fighting in Syria violates and undermines Lebanon’s dissociation policy and risks dragging Lebanon into a foreign conflict, to the detriment of the interests of the Lebanese people.
Situation in Lebanon
Press Statement
Patrick Ventrell
Acting Deputy Spokesperson
Washington, DC
May 24, 2013
The United States is deeply concerned about the situation in Lebanon. The latest clashes in the northern city of Tripoli, in which at least 23 people have been killed, constitute a stark reminder that the conflict in Syria poses an increasingly dangerous threat to Lebanon’s stability and security.
The United States fully supports Lebanon’s security, stability, and sovereignty and welcomes efforts by Lebanon’s leaders to take all necessary steps to put an end to the violence in Tripoli. We strongly support the Lebanese Armed Forces’ and Internal Security Forces’ efforts to stop the fighting in Tripoli and fully restore calm across the country. We call on all parties to do their part to restore calm, act with restraint, and respect Lebanon’s stability and security.
The United States supports the principles of the 2012 Baabda Declaration and Lebanon’s dissociation policy with respect to the crisis in Syria. We call on all parties in the region to avoid any actions that would exacerbate that crisis, increase the propensity for spillover violence, and negatively affect civilian populations. Hizballah leaders’ decision to escalate the group’s role in the fighting in Syria violates and undermines Lebanon’s dissociation policy and risks dragging Lebanon into a foreign conflict, to the detriment of the interests of the Lebanese people.
AG HOLDER MEETS WITH RUSSIAN INTERIOR MINISTER VLADIMIR KOLOKOLTSEY
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Attorney General Eric Holder Meets with Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsey
May 22nd, 2013
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder met today with Minister of Interior (MVD) of the Russian Federation Vladimir Alexandrovich Kolokoltsev. During the meeting, Attorney General Holder thanked Minister Kolokoltsev for the assistance by the Russian government relating to the investigation into the terror attack in Boston. They also discussed law enforcement cooperation between the two countries in areas including counterterrorism, transnational organized crime and child pornography. Both Holder and Kolokolstev agreed to continue to strengthen their law enforcement partnership against these shared challenges.
PRESIDENT OBAMA WANTS TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO DETENTION FACILITY
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Obama Vows to Close Guantanamo Detention Facility
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2013 - President Barack Obama today vowed to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying the prison has become a symbol of an America that flouts the law.
Obama spoke at the National Defense University at Fort Lesley J. McNair here. His discussion on the Gitmo facility was part of a larger discussion on counterterrorism policy.
The original premise for opening the detention center at Guantanamo was that detainees would not be able to challenge their detention, he noted during his remarks, but added the Supreme Court found that unconstitutional five years ago.
"In the meantime, Gitmo has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law," the president said. "Our allies won't cooperate with us if they think a terrorist will end up at Gitmo. During a time of budget cuts, we spend $150 million each year to imprison 166 people –almost $1 million per prisoner. And the Department of Defense estimates that we must spend another $200 million to keep Gitmo open at a time when we are cutting investments in education and research here at home."
Obama has tried to close the facility and transferred 67 detainees to other countries before Congress stopped the process, he noted. "These restrictions make no sense," he said.
Obama said he believes these detainees can be held in U.S. prisons and prosecuted in U.S. courts. "No person has ever escaped from one of our super-max or military prisons in the United States," he said. "Our courts have convicted hundreds of people for terrorism-related offenses, including some who are more dangerous than most Gitmo detainees."
The president called on Congress to lift the restrictions on detainee transfers from the facility.
"I have tasked the Department of Defense to designate a site in the United States where we can hold military commissions," he said. "I am appointing a new, senior envoy at the State Department and Defense Department whose sole responsibility will be to achieve the transfer of detainees to third countries. I am lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen, so we can review them on a case-by-case basis. To the greatest extent possible, we will transfer detainees who have been cleared to go to other countries. Where appropriate, we will bring terrorists to justice in our courts and military justice system. And we will insist that judicial review be available for every detainee."
There will still be detainees who have participated in attacks on Americans who cannot be prosecuted due to tainted evidence, Obama noted. "But once we commit to a process of closing Gitmo, I am confident that this legacy problem can be resolved, consistent with our commitment to the rule of law," he said.
The president was interrupted several times by a heckler who yelled that the president should close the facility now. He said her voice needed to be heard.
Obama asked if Guantanamo is the kind of legacy America wants or deserves. "Is that who we are? Is that something that our founders foresaw? Is that the America we want to leave to our children?" he asked. "Our sense of justice is stronger than that."
Obama Vows to Close Guantanamo Detention Facility
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2013 - President Barack Obama today vowed to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying the prison has become a symbol of an America that flouts the law.
Obama spoke at the National Defense University at Fort Lesley J. McNair here. His discussion on the Gitmo facility was part of a larger discussion on counterterrorism policy.
The original premise for opening the detention center at Guantanamo was that detainees would not be able to challenge their detention, he noted during his remarks, but added the Supreme Court found that unconstitutional five years ago.
"In the meantime, Gitmo has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law," the president said. "Our allies won't cooperate with us if they think a terrorist will end up at Gitmo. During a time of budget cuts, we spend $150 million each year to imprison 166 people –almost $1 million per prisoner. And the Department of Defense estimates that we must spend another $200 million to keep Gitmo open at a time when we are cutting investments in education and research here at home."
Obama has tried to close the facility and transferred 67 detainees to other countries before Congress stopped the process, he noted. "These restrictions make no sense," he said.
Obama said he believes these detainees can be held in U.S. prisons and prosecuted in U.S. courts. "No person has ever escaped from one of our super-max or military prisons in the United States," he said. "Our courts have convicted hundreds of people for terrorism-related offenses, including some who are more dangerous than most Gitmo detainees."
The president called on Congress to lift the restrictions on detainee transfers from the facility.
"I have tasked the Department of Defense to designate a site in the United States where we can hold military commissions," he said. "I am appointing a new, senior envoy at the State Department and Defense Department whose sole responsibility will be to achieve the transfer of detainees to third countries. I am lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen, so we can review them on a case-by-case basis. To the greatest extent possible, we will transfer detainees who have been cleared to go to other countries. Where appropriate, we will bring terrorists to justice in our courts and military justice system. And we will insist that judicial review be available for every detainee."
There will still be detainees who have participated in attacks on Americans who cannot be prosecuted due to tainted evidence, Obama noted. "But once we commit to a process of closing Gitmo, I am confident that this legacy problem can be resolved, consistent with our commitment to the rule of law," he said.
The president was interrupted several times by a heckler who yelled that the president should close the facility now. He said her voice needed to be heard.
Obama asked if Guantanamo is the kind of legacy America wants or deserves. "Is that who we are? Is that something that our founders foresaw? Is that the America we want to leave to our children?" he asked. "Our sense of justice is stronger than that."
ISAF NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN FOR MAY 23, 2013
 |
| U.S. Marines conduct a combat logistics patrol to Forward Operating Base Shukvani in Helmand province, Afghanistan, May 19, 2013. The Marines, assigned to Rolling Thunder 2, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, conducted the logistics patrol to deliver supplies in support of Regimental Combat Team 7 and base realignment and closure operations. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Anthony L. Ortiz |
Afghan, Coalition Forces Arrest Insurgents in Baghlan Province
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 23, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force in Baghlan province's Baghlan-e Jadid district arrested six insurgents today during a search for a Taliban facilitator, military officials reported.
The facilitator controls a group responsible for attacks on Afghan and coalition forces, stores insurgents' equipment in his home and coordinates the acquisition of weapons.
Also today, a combined force in Helmand province's Nahr-e Saraj district arrested an insurgent during a search for a Taliban leader who directs and executes attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He also procures and distributes bomb-making materials to insurgents and serves as an intelligence operative for senior Taliban leadership.
In Afghanistan operations yesterday:
-- A combined force in Paktia province's Sayyid Karam district killed three insurgents during a search for a senior Haqqani network leader involved with improvised explosive device attacks. He also coordinates insurgent movements and attacks, provides information to senior Haqqani leaders and facilitates the movement of IEDs, weapons and money into the area.
-- Provincial Response Company Logar, enabled by coalition forces, seized and destroyed an IED and almost 500 pounds of ingredients for homemade explosives in Logar province's Pul-e Alam district.
In May 21 operations:
-- Afghan soldiers, along with uniformed and local police, destroyed 20 IEDs during a checkpoint emplacement operation in Helmand province's Nahr-e-Saraj district.
-- Two senior Haqqani network leaders were killed during an operation in Paktia province's Zurmat district. One, an intelligence operative, also was involved in coordinating mine and IED placements, providing equipment to insurgents and organizing kidnappings for ransom. The other deceased insurgent leader planned and participated in attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, and relayed strategic guidance to insurgents from senior Haqqani leaders.
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Statement from Secretary Kerry on President Obama's Speech
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 23, 2013
Today President Obama laid out a clear vision to help ensure that we are meeting the ever-evolving threats to our national security at home and abroad. The struggle against extremism has evolved enormously in the nearly 12 years since 9/11 and so too must our defenses, but the danger is not new.
We fly our flag high because we are a symbol of hope to people everywhere, but that too has been a target for those who know only hate. The memorial wall in the lobby of the State Department is a sober, solemn, and daily reminder of our duty to protect the people who have taken up the mantle of promoting peace in sometimes-dangerous lands. On my first day as Secretary, a suicide bomber attacked our embassy in Ankara killing a local guard, and of course, last September we lost Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other brave Americans who were forcing light in the darkness. But still, for our mission to succeed, we cannot retreat behind higher walls.
Diplomacy and security are not at cross purposes. Our flag must continue to fly because we show up in the places where others won’t go. We will not back down in the face of violent extremism – because perseverance is in our diplomatic DNA. Building people to people relationships is in our national interest because it means we can solve problems before they turn into ‘boots on the ground’ crises. As we build trust, it will be necessary to make clear our criteria for deploying drones overseas and to finish the work of closing the Guantanamo detention center. These are vital objectives in showing the world that we are who we say we are.
Statement from Secretary Kerry on President Obama's Speech
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
May 23, 2013
Today President Obama laid out a clear vision to help ensure that we are meeting the ever-evolving threats to our national security at home and abroad. The struggle against extremism has evolved enormously in the nearly 12 years since 9/11 and so too must our defenses, but the danger is not new.
We fly our flag high because we are a symbol of hope to people everywhere, but that too has been a target for those who know only hate. The memorial wall in the lobby of the State Department is a sober, solemn, and daily reminder of our duty to protect the people who have taken up the mantle of promoting peace in sometimes-dangerous lands. On my first day as Secretary, a suicide bomber attacked our embassy in Ankara killing a local guard, and of course, last September we lost Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other brave Americans who were forcing light in the darkness. But still, for our mission to succeed, we cannot retreat behind higher walls.
Diplomacy and security are not at cross purposes. Our flag must continue to fly because we show up in the places where others won’t go. We will not back down in the face of violent extremism – because perseverance is in our diplomatic DNA. Building people to people relationships is in our national interest because it means we can solve problems before they turn into ‘boots on the ground’ crises. As we build trust, it will be necessary to make clear our criteria for deploying drones overseas and to finish the work of closing the Guantanamo detention center. These are vital objectives in showing the world that we are who we say we are.
HUNTER INDICTED FOR ILLEGALLY SELLING ELEPHANT TUSKS
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
African Trophy Hunter Indicted for Violating Endangered Species Act and Lacey Act
Charles Kokesh was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pensacola, Florida, for violating the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act by selling two African elephant tusks and for making false accounts of wildlife related to that sale, the Justice Department announced today.
The three count indictment returned yesterday alleges that Kokesh legally imported a sport-hunted African elephant trophy mount from Namibia, but thereafter illegally sold the two tusks, from New Mexico to a buyer in Florida. The sale price was approximately $8,100, to be paid in a combination of currency and guns. After the sale, Kokesh allegedly falsely described that sale, in an email to personnel at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as a shipment to an appraiser in anticipation of a donation to a non-profit entity. Kokesh similarly falsely accounted for the location and disposition of the tusks in subsequent correspondence. Each false account and record is charged under the Lacey Act.
African elephants are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Both the United States and Namibia are signatories to CITES. African elephant populations in Namibia are listed in Appendix II of CITES, which includes species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction now, but may become so unless trade in specimens of such species is strictly regulated. Since 2000, the Namibian African elephant listing has specified that the species cannot be used for commercial purposes.
The United States implements CITES through the Endangered Species Act and regulations issued thereunder. To implement the CITES prohibition against commercial use of African elephant specimens, regulations issued under the Endangered Species Act proscribe the commercial use, including sale, of sport-hunted African elephant trophies, even if the trophies are legally hunted and imported.
According to a recent report produced by CITES and partner organizations, entitled "Elephants in the Dust –The African Elephant Crisis," populations of elephants in Africa are under severe threat as the illegal trade in ivory grows – with the number of elephants killed doubling and the amount of ivory seized tripling over the last decade. An estimated 17,000 elephants were illegally killed in 2011 to feed the illegal trade.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
The maximum penalty for the charged violation of the Endangered Species Act is up to six months in prison and a $25,000 fine. The maximum penalty for making a false statement is up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
African Trophy Hunter Indicted for Violating Endangered Species Act and Lacey Act
Charles Kokesh was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pensacola, Florida, for violating the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act by selling two African elephant tusks and for making false accounts of wildlife related to that sale, the Justice Department announced today.
The three count indictment returned yesterday alleges that Kokesh legally imported a sport-hunted African elephant trophy mount from Namibia, but thereafter illegally sold the two tusks, from New Mexico to a buyer in Florida. The sale price was approximately $8,100, to be paid in a combination of currency and guns. After the sale, Kokesh allegedly falsely described that sale, in an email to personnel at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as a shipment to an appraiser in anticipation of a donation to a non-profit entity. Kokesh similarly falsely accounted for the location and disposition of the tusks in subsequent correspondence. Each false account and record is charged under the Lacey Act.
African elephants are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Both the United States and Namibia are signatories to CITES. African elephant populations in Namibia are listed in Appendix II of CITES, which includes species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction now, but may become so unless trade in specimens of such species is strictly regulated. Since 2000, the Namibian African elephant listing has specified that the species cannot be used for commercial purposes.
The United States implements CITES through the Endangered Species Act and regulations issued thereunder. To implement the CITES prohibition against commercial use of African elephant specimens, regulations issued under the Endangered Species Act proscribe the commercial use, including sale, of sport-hunted African elephant trophies, even if the trophies are legally hunted and imported.
According to a recent report produced by CITES and partner organizations, entitled "Elephants in the Dust –The African Elephant Crisis," populations of elephants in Africa are under severe threat as the illegal trade in ivory grows – with the number of elephants killed doubling and the amount of ivory seized tripling over the last decade. An estimated 17,000 elephants were illegally killed in 2011 to feed the illegal trade.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
The maximum penalty for the charged violation of the Endangered Species Act is up to six months in prison and a $25,000 fine. The maximum penalty for making a false statement is up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
NASA'S MODIS IMAGE OF MOORE, OKLAHOMA TORNADO
FROM: NASA
Strong Storms Over Oklahoma
This image of the storm system that generated the F-4 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma was taken by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard one of the Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites. The image was captured on May 20, 2013, at 19:40 UTC (2:40 p.m. CDT) as the tornado began its deadly swath.
Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team
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