Comments on #Afghanistan from yesterday's #DOD presser w/@PentagonPresSec in this THREAD. 1/n
defense.gov/Newsroom/Trans…
defense.gov/Newsroom/Trans…
Q: @usairforce Acting Sec, John Roth, yesterday told Congress that for now the over-the-horizon capability to support #Afghanistan will be from the existing footprint that the USAF has in the region & I'm wondering if that means there haven't been any inroads made... 2/n
...w/potentially new locations to move US forces to provide that over-the-horizon capability?
MR. KIRBY: We already have an over-the-horizon #counterterrorism capability there & other parts of the world, & we are already using that OTH capability in #Afghanistan. 3/n
MR. KIRBY: We already have an over-the-horizon #counterterrorism capability there & other parts of the world, & we are already using that OTH capability in #Afghanistan. 3/n
...You all reported on the presence of an aircraft carrier. Well the aircraft from those carrier air wings have been conducting missions from the sea & into #Afghanistan, & as well we have existing regional bases & facilities to assist us in that kind of effort... 4/n
...& I think that's what the acting sec was speaking to, that we are already using fixed-wing assets from inside the region & out of #Afghanistan to enact this kind of capability. It doesn't mean that's the end all be all, and it doesn't mean that we aren't going to try... 5/n
...to explore other options, & we are. & #DOD is actively supporting diplomatic efforts to discuss potential options in other places in that part of the world. I don't have any specific announcements to make or agreements to announce today, but we are actively pursuing... 6/n
...additional options, but again I want to come back to the main point which is that we already know how to do over-the-horizon, and we already are enacting over-the-horizon kind of capabilities in #Afghanistan. 7/n
Q: Should we understand that we are looking at more deployment & more access to GCC countries around these areas?
MR. KIRBY: I'm not going to get into specific discussions of who our diplomats are talking to & what that might look like. We already have a robust footprint... 8/n
MR. KIRBY: I'm not going to get into specific discussions of who our diplomats are talking to & what that might look like. We already have a robust footprint... 8/n
...in the Middle East that we can rely upon & draw upon. We are relying & drawing upon to help us with this retrograde. So there are capabilities already existing in the region that are quite agile, quite nimble, quite effective... 9/n
...But in terms of what it's going to look like going forward, again, I'm not going to get ahead of a diplomatic process. 10/n
Q: Does this go hand-in-hand w/the content of the readout of the @SecDef conference w/Mohammed bin Salman last week in Saudi Arabia?
MR. KIRBY: I would not draw the line between that conversation & that readout & basing & over-the-horizon capabilities... 11/n
MR. KIRBY: I would not draw the line between that conversation & that readout & basing & over-the-horizon capabilities... 11/n
...That the readout we offered after that call was accurate for the purpose of that call. I wouldn't read more into it than that. 12/n
Q: Unfortunately #Taliban increased their attack on everyday Afghan people, dying in #Afghanistan. And @NATO general director was here. Did you discuss anything about AFG? 13/n
MR. KIRBY: We certainly did. Secretary General @jensstoltenberg was here. We issued a read out of it & in that read out talked about the fact that #Afghanistan was absolutely on the agenda when they met. @SecDef & the Secretary General reaffirmed our commitment... 14/n
...to doing what we can to help our resolute support partners as they retrograde themselves out of #Afghanistan. & so to the degree we can be supportive & helpful in that, the @SecDef made sure that the secretary general knew that... 15/n
...There was also a reaffirmation by both leaders that as the secretary general very eloquently put it. We went in together, we changed our operations together throughout the last 20 years, we adjusted together and we're going to go out together. 16/n
Q: On #Afghanistan, do you have anything on the deadly shooting yesterday of the 10 mine clearing workers in Baghlan Province, specifically that the perpetrators belong to #ISIS and that the #Taliban helped the aid workers in the aftermath of the attack? 17/n
MR. KIRBY: I don't have anything on that. If you'll allow me to, I will take the question and we'll get you a response back. 18/18
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