Happening now: maintaining & securing stability - including freedom of navigation - and security key US interests in the US, @CENTCOM Commander, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie tells @MiddleEastInst
"The greatest threat to stability and security in the region is #Iran" per @CENTCOM's McKenzie "Iran actively stokes instability" in #Syria #Yemen & elsewhere
"They use both state violence & proxy violence"
Next comes #ISIS #alQaida - "they do retain the aspiration to attack the #UnitedStates & our allies" per @CENTCOM's McKenzie
Then comes great power competition from #Russia, #China
"There's actually no military component of what's known as the 'max pressure' campaign against #Iran" adds @CENTCOM's McKenzie, saying US military role is strictly deterrence
"We're in a period of what I would call contested deterrence w/#Iran" @CENTCOM's McKenzie tells @MiddleEastInst
"The Iranians have had to recalculate...they found a 'red line' and the US responded vigorously"
US not seeing state-on-state attacks from #Iran due to US strong response to attacks on US troops
"That's why we've seen a decline," per @CENTCOM's McKenzie
NEW: US starting strategic dialogue tomorrow with government of #Iraq at the ministerial level
"It is my belief that the gvt of Iraq is going to want to retain US & coalition forces" per @CENTCOM's Gen McKenzie
"Direct contact w/#Iran - there 's not much I can say about that" per @CENTCOM's McKenzie, though suggests some high-level contact may take place
"By and large, I think they know and respect our capabilities"
#ISIS maintains "global cyber presence" and cells across #Iraq #Syria
"This threat is not going to go away...even the brightest possible future is not a bloodless future" whether threat comes form ISIS or whatever replaces ISIS, per @CENTCOM's McKenzie
Big concerns about #Syria regime, #Russia forces taking on #ISIS, per @CENTCOM's Gen McKenzie, predicting both will struggle "to prevent the systemic rise of #ISIS"
#Taliban taking on #ISIS in #Afghanistan - worked in #Nangarhar province but "don't know" if that will continue in other parts of the country now, @CENTCOM's Gen Kenneth McKenzie tells @MiddleEastInst
"We're not going to get to perfection on this...there's always going to be the possibility of radicalization at a distance" @CENTCOM's McKenzie says of fighting #ISIS #alQaida
"I do worry about #China quite a bit" per @CENTCOM Cmdr Gen Kenneth McKenzie "We think about how we assure our partners that we're going to be reliable partners, that we're going to stick around"
#Russia in the @CENTCOM AOR - "Where they are it's pretty high intensity" per Gen McKenzie
But he adds, "I'm not one of those people who thinks Russia's a master chess player"
US "well-stocked to protect the force" vs #COVID19 #coronavirus in @CENTCOM AOR, per Gen McKenzie, saying that includes both US & partner forces
"It has not had a significant impact on our ability..."
#COVID19 is having an impact in some areas - "we're now very mindful of how we do outreach w/our partners" in #Iraq #Syria #Afghanistan, per @CENTCOM's McKenzie
US "worried about penetration" of #COVID19 #coronavirus in #Afghanistan, #Iraq due to prevalence of cases in #Russia #Iran
"We also invest a lot of time in making sure that right narrative is out there" per @CENTCOM's McKenzie, noting Russia & Iran disinformation campaigns
#Taliban "significantly penetrated" by #COVID19, per @CENTCOM's McKenzie
"I do think its affecting them" he adds, saying the impact on decision-making not be a good thing
#Afghanistan
#Iran has made "great sacrifices...gone to great lengths" to protects #IRGC #Quds Force, ballistic missile capabilities/programs from #COVID19, per @CENTCOM's Gen McKenzie
"They are still very capable in those areas"
US way forward in #Syria "a political decision" per @CENTCOM's Gen McKenzie, noting Bashar al-Assad like to ramp up pressure in East at some point
But for now, US focus is on supporting #SDF & countering #ISIS
"I do not know how long we will stay in Syria" per McKenzie
#SDF prisons holding 10,000 #ISIS fighters, including 2,000 #foreignfighters - "That's an issue that we need to think about as we go forward" per @CENTCOM's Gen McKenzie
.@CENTCOM also worried about #ISIS families, IDPs who are poised to become the next generation of terrorists "unless we come up with a long-term solution to deradicalization" per Gen McKenzie
"We don't have good answers to those problems yet"
"The #Taliban has to demonstrate they will be faithful partners" per @CENTCOM's Gen Kenneth McKenzie
"It is unclear to me yet" if Taliban has embraced that role, McKenzie adds
NEW: US military NOT ready to start pulling more forces out of #Afghanistan beyond the initial agreed upon drawdown
"Those conditions have not been fully met" @CENTCOM Cmdr Gen Kenneth McKenzie tells @MiddleEastInst
#Lebanon "I don't think Lebanese #Hezbollah answers immediately when #Iran calls" per @CENTCOM's Gen McKenzie, though he admits the relationship is strong
Big worry for @CENTCOM's commander - "The proliferation of small unmanned aerial platforms...one that you can go out and buy right now at Costco in the #UnitedStates
"I worry about our ability to protect against swarms of those crafts" per Gen McKenzie
re #drones
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