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Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140614

many ideas. but there is also real darkness at the heart of the vision for the next four years. if there is engagement with the sunnis, it is about creating a new class of sunnis from the tribal and political groups at low level and trying to completely reduce and eradicate the national level leadership of the sunnis. it struck me that the sunnis that wanted to support the sense of there being a sunni community who could work together, those people are the ones that the iraqi government were planning to continue persecuting. and if they were going to involve sunnis in future government, the plan was really to create a new class of sunnis that they could deal with and also control. that is an extraordinarily dark vision for the next four years. my hope is, as i recently put in a piece with the institute, that this may be a catalyst. sometimes in iraq, you have to get right to the edge of a cliff or even take a step over the edge before people do the right thing. my feeling is if the electorate had voted heavily against maliki, this would all be clear-cut, and they did not. so let's not focus on replacing the man, let's focus on changing the policies. >> are we convinced that in maliki's view, he cannot have both iranian support and american support? is there any way for maliki to think that there is a choice here? do we know that? >> i think he feels that he can have both. he knows he can have both, because he has had both for a long time. of course, we know the ironic fact of iraq is that often u.s. and iranian policy is pushed towards the same choices even if they do so for completely different motivations. so he feels like he can have both, and i would rather see far american influence. to be honest, i think it is a bit of a zero-sum game in terms of the more we do, the less of a vacuum they fill. you know from everything we have done at the institute that the iranians will always fill a vacuum and if we create this vacuum to an even greater extent than is exists today, if we gasping nodeis torgasping need forsupport righd track record in syria where they have, frankly, been rather successful and that going to be rather powerful to the maliki government. one final thing which was shocking to me personally when i was over there in march in baghdad, these are some of -- speaking to senior sunni leaders, i started to hear things that i had not heard before, such as -- do you think we should go to iran and negotiate with them? to you think -- if they are going to run everything, shouldn't we just finally make our peace with them? i heard that from some leaders i never believed i would hear that from. because they were starting to vote with their face. >> ok, thank you very much. pollack?te and dave murray, turn around. just talk. just talk. >> can we expect any support at all from any of our allies, britain and france? do the saudis have any role to play here? >> jim, what do you think? allies? >> allies -- well, we saw what happened with the brits in syria. it would be a further complication. the president has talked in his speech about this is a regional issue and he is royalty and he needs to -- he is right and coordinate with and have support from the sunni allies. jordan. turkey, jordan and particularly the gulf states and when you states youthe gulf start with saudi arabia. dide was a piece that simon in the policy watch just yesterday and the foreign policy the issue of how the saudi leadership sees this. to some degree, and i have had experience with some of the top leadership in saudi arabia and can attest to this, they see things in a very stark sunni, shia, control of the middle east way. not everybody thinks that way. the leader of jordan does not think that way. manythough he doesn't have arabs in his country. many of the sunni arabs do not think that way in iraq. so the saudi's, on the other hand, are extraordinarily worried about the al qaeda threat. you see how actively they combated in yemen, directly and indirectly, through helping us, and now they will have a major al qaeda presence on their border. province borders saudi arabia. so welcome to the war on terror. >> dave pollock? >> thank you. i wanted to just pick up on a number issue. i think aaron said that there were 7,000 to 10,000 isis fighters. is that a pretty solid estimate? is it possible that, because of this momentum, as several of you put it, that they will pick up lots of new recruits, either by intimidation or by cash bonuses or by zeal or whatever and the next few days even? thank you. >> yeah, a number of analysts believe that it is sort of in the 7,000 to 10,000 range. the majority of those are probably actually in syria. they have been governing the era. i believe probably about 5000 of those are actually inside of syria. to 3,000 have been in iraq. in the past week, they have had some prison breaks again, and that has let out a couple thousand individuals. whether these individuals are just criminals or whether they were previously in the group or whether they are just in prison for political reasons, you know, there are stories that some of them have joined up with isis. c obviously i can't confirm it, being in washington. it is definitely possible that more people will join up. plus, people do not want to get their heads lopped off. if somebody does not necessarily with the iteology, if they are being protected and not killed, you can see people joining up. >> so it is this 2000 to 5000 that is marching hundreds of kilometers and taking town after town after town? >> there are also baathists and other forces as well. it also helps that the iraqi up forts didn't stand much of a fight. >> there was a small flying columns of people from hindu and spain that were carrying the flags. >> yes, sir? right behind you. sam, go ahead. sorry. >> i am from the center for middle east policy at the brookings institution. i wanted to ask the panel, the head of a force said he runs iran's iraq policy. he no doubt is obviously probably in baghdad. i wanted to ask if the pace of these developments reveal that he may be is not as strong as he is projected to be or that this basically fluke that surprise?everybody by >> i will take the sulamani question. the larger scheme of things, as long as we weren't a iran out of iraq, which by 2004-2005, they ranluded we weren't, they an economy of force operation there because they had bigger fish to try with their internal situation with the nuclear count and, of course, for the last almost three years syria. and spreading their revolution shia areas.owi lot ofi bears a responsibility for this. a, because he was the guy who not press people who he urged to play roles to reach out population. and i was always bit surprised generally iran policiesl in its towards iraq. it has not told iraqis to stop oil production. you're making possible the sanctions against iran, which is exactly what is happening. they are very careful and reasoned and prudent in what they ask of their friends, which is not always what the american government does. so i spot that sometimes, in theng when i was government. nonetheless, the core goal of iran and iraq, as far as i understand it, apart from not having an american army poised to go across the border, is not to have iraq fall apart and jihadists from one direction and a turkish-kurdish alliance in borders.e on their that is what that guy has delivered. somebody should be asking questions about how he has handled his account. >> i know we are going to lose mike shortly, so i will ask him first about the kurdish-turkish angle of this. mike, you laid out a couple of possible routes that the kurds may go. what do you think is the most likely of these alternatives you laid out? jim, you made reference to the turkish conundrum right now because of its people being held hostage. broadly speaking, do you expect the turks to be an assertive actor in this sort of squeezing of isis, working perhaps with the united states in this effort? mike? want to go first? can we get the volume? mike? ok, well, then, jim -- >> it is very hard to fathom exactly how the turks view radical islamic groups like al qaeda, isil, essentially the salafas. we know how they view the muslim brothers, and that is as their allies. this is the top turkish government officials, not necessarily others in the turkish state. but they see those as their brothers. i think that there is an ambivalence, but it is not necessarily an enmity. here is the question -- why did they not pull their people out of mosul? half a million refugees got out of there. there were kurdish positions not just not east and west of the but in the city. between thelations ankara couldn't be better. and every embassy of any country in the world has an evacuation plan. even here in washington i bet the embassies have an evacuation plan. >> where are you going to go? [laughter] >> but it would have involved hopping in a vehicle and driving for 10 minutes into a kurdish area. they did not take that decision. somebody needs to ask why, but turkey right now is not the kind of democracy that will lend itself to a review of that. so i think that, first of all, when you have 80 hostages, that becomes as we learned in 197 -- that becomes job one. there are all kinds of options, including military action which was not off the table with desert one. by and large, they are fixated on that problem and everything else fades. the turks have lived with al nusra and isil for some time in syria. they really don't have a border with these guys in iraq, essentially the entire turkish, i would have to look at the map and look at what developments have been in the last few days, but by and large the bulk of the isder with turkey and iraq in the hands of the peshmerga. the tiny bit that runs west to syria i will bet is under the control of the peshmerga right now. therefore, they do not have an immediate problem beyond the hostage situation, and that is a big one for them. that is going to divert their attention to anything of a strategic nature until they can fix this. >> ok, thank you. yes, stanley, on the left? >> iran, according to recent reports, has boots on the ground in iraq now. according to a report today, it is making overtures to the united states to work together on this issue. should we respond to that? should we try to work with the iran? should we attach some conditions? and then, what should those conditions be? >> jim? >> if we want to maintain our vision of a unified iraq, and that is what president obama laid out, and we want to be able to deal with the kurds and the sunni arabs, we have to be very careful about any appearance of dealing with the iranians. now he would have talked to them petraeus era and met with baghdad.atives in ever it is not totally an on-off situation with the iranians, but it is pretty close to it. the other thing is you're going to have a hard time but i can see some of the looks in this audience, i imagine the rest of the american public -- you will have a hard time selling any kind of bold military operation, which is a hard sell in this town and in this country right now anyway if it involves, you know, making an alliance with the iranians of all people. so my recommendation would be they are iranian boots on the ground and always have been. we have sometimes grabbed the iranian boots on the ground. they are going to continue to be boots on the ground here and there. it is like scorpions all over the place, too. you just have to deal with a threat, something unpleasant that is out there. but the idea of a u.s. condominium to save iraq from being overrun by sunni warriors, that would be a hard sell in riyadh and a hard sell in washington, i think. >> mike, are you with us? let's proceed. any further questions? i will close with this last question. i know it is not fair, but why not? jim, a week from now, do you expect the use of american force in iraq? >> yes. before i elaborate, i want to say the scorpion analogy was not to the iranian population or ethnic group, it was to the irgc guys. they have earned it. but in terms of that question, i think almost certainly, unless isis somehow is stopped in its tracks by an iraqi army that showned little ability to do that other than in samarra. i think the situation will get sufficiently desperate, that we will have military action. >> friends, thank you very much for joining us here today at the washington institute. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> the house returns next week to leadership elections and work on federal spending bills. is a look at the house agenda. >> billy house is the national journal congressional leadership correspondent. republicans will hold elections nexttions necks hurt thursday. are there any other hall to kevin mccarthy? >> a late entry, representative labrador from idaho has decided he wants to challenge for the host in the leadership. be makingarthy will pitches on wednesday morning in a closed door session, kind of them.ates for and on thursday the full conference, 233 members will vote on that and the house whip's position if mccarthy moves up to the number two post. >> how about the race for house majority whip? who are the candidates running for that? now, three candidates. the current chief deputy whip, roscum from illinois. by steve scalise. a group of 177 conservative ofbers which gives him kind a heavy lift in the race. marshall marvin sety stetson from indiana. >> the house and senate are scheduled to debate spending bills next week. which ones are they? you expect congress to get all 12 spending bills passed fiscal year? the >> looking more and more doubtful. on july 4 and come back prosecutor a few weeks and take the august break and then september.t of on tuesday the senate will debut spending bills on the floor for time.rst then tension is throw bills wrapped into one. mini-bus and sort of the version of transportation developmenturban bill and science criminal justice bill. they may have a third bill but that is not certain yet. oft would be their debut bills. in the house this woke they are planning on doing -- next week, planning on doing the defense spending bill. that would be their fifth bill. are a little ahead. as time ticks away it looks like neither chamber is going to complete all bills. we willle probably see as the year of the fiscal approaches is some sort of hurry or continuingill resolution for those that haven't finished. g.m. c.e.o. will be back to testify wednesday and she g.m.be test foyeing on the ignition switch recall. she was there in april before this same committee. to heart do they want from her now? >> i guess they want to hear why going a little better over there. and you know, she came in with going toation she was fix things and instead things puttering a bit. i think they will want to know detail whats she has planned going on from now. >> you write about other esche somehows congress will be the releasencluding of sergeant bergdahl and the investigation. what is the status of those investigations on capitol hill? >> the status is they will be long-running and never-ending you the16 to tell truth. the benghazi investigation is specialthe focus of a committee create. members in interviewing this week is seen as a long-running effort on their republicans'se part anyway messaging another i'm and shot at the administration for ill-conceived foreign policy. are whether wee should make deals like this with terrorists and low temperature release of five taliban members guantanamo sort of a cam el's nose under the tent that hopesama administration to shut down that cuba-based prison all together. billy house @et house in session. for your time today. >> i enjoyed it, thank you. discussion about u.s. border security. then, president obama tucks talks about u.s. options in iraq followed by a pentagon briefing with admiral kirby. tomorrow, live coverage of the iowa state republican party convention in des moines with bobby jindal,ding rand paul and rick santorum at 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. also comment on the event as it and twitter.cebook >> when i started covering congress, you had people like senator russell long, wilbur rostenkowski, howard vapor, people who were giants in their own way. a couple of those guys got themselves into trouble. but overall these were people they were all- very intelligent. they knew how to craft legislation. deal and how to do a they all worked with whoever the president was. whether it was their party or the other party. was politics, but at the end of the tay they usually-- day they found a way to come together and make decisions for the good of the country. you just don't see that anymore. first of all, i think the quality of members of congress and senate in terms of their intelligence and their diminished.as i mean there are still great shouldn't mal ibm, there are wonderful members on both sides. think there are is minority. people are triben by the and their own self-survival and i think the hardest work they do is raising money. not learning the issues. not crafting deals. making speeches and positioning themselves to get reelected. >> journalist and investigative reporter leah myers is leaving d.c. behind. at8:00. why sunday knit >> the new head of the customs protection has pledged a more transparent and open border patrol agency. forking at the senate strategic and international studies, he call the recent unaccompanied children attempting to enter at the u.s. humanitarianer a crisis. this discussion is an hour. morning, everyone. welcome to csis. i'm kathleen hicks. run the international security program here. it is my pleasure to be todayucing our speaker and our discussant along with him. first, of course, is the honorable bill kerlikowski here as the economieser of the customs and -- commissioner of protection.border he has an extensive history within the law enforcement and now runs the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country. hiswe are looking ford to remarks this morning. customs and border protection of late,in the news and he is going to have some good questions put forth to him our discussant adam iles who managing director at the chair top group and has had plenty of his own experience years on homeland security. to me turn it over kerlikowski and let him give his remarks. >> it is a great pleasure to be back at csis. especially o be in the beautiful facility. i think well over a year ago i had the opportunity to deliver remarks on another noncontroversial topic, drug csis. at so to be back and have another ascontroversial topic such immigration, border security, et delight. just a te tee thank you again and let me bed things.t with a few i had -- let me go ahead and start with a few things. day 100 days as commissioner. questions i will be able to dodge some if they are particularly difficult. perfect time to talk about an evolving vision thecbp and talk about pressing concerns that we fisa and also where o -- that we face and where our agency is headed. let me first talk about the workforce because i think that is actually the premier part. soon to have 62,000 employees and 42 -- in 40 countries. range and diversity of people and skillsets and as many you know from the federal employee survey we don't do particularly well when it comes morale in the department. is so working on that particularly critical for me. commissioner to be i'm the first commissioner to be confirmed by the senate in now over five years and i think it's helpful when you have gone through the confirmation process. the previous commissioners who were incredible people, i have the greatest respect and admiration for all of them. they did a tremendous job. they certainly have the full support of the administration. but i think it's also critical that you have the support of the senate and these issues. during the five years i served president obama as his drug policy advisor, i had that opportunity to work closely with people on the hill. communication, having the support of the administration, having the support of members of congress i think is helpful to this large and diverse workforce. for most of the history, our workforce on the border was very much divided and very independent among federal agencies. borders, air operations, ports of entry were all served by ifferent federal agencies. since 2003 and since the 9/11 commission and the founding of the department of homeland security, we have had one unified border agency. that has allowed us to really work and try to craft a comprehensive border strategy to not only secure those borders but also to support our economy. many of you know that we have this dual mission with the facilitation of lawful trade and travel and the security of the borders. they are not mutually exclusive. let me give you some idea of the breadth and depth of the people that the people at cbp do on a daily basis. they process one million assengers and pedestrians, 67,000 truck, rail and sea containers. a y make 1,000 apprehensions day. they arrest 22 wanted criminals, seize about 12,000 unds of narcotics, about $300,000 in undeclared currency. almost $5 million worth of product that violates intellectual property rights. in addition, 400 40 agricultural pests at the u.s. ports of entry, 4379 -- i'm being good by giving these numbers -- 4003 hundred 79 -- 4,379 agricultural materials, that require quarantine to protect our agricultural industry. if you want to in nor about beetles later, i will be happy to discuss those in depth. to carry out that mission, they have become the largest law enforcement agency in the united states. we rely on our employees for our success. even when you look at our budget, the vast majority of our budget is in our salaries and personnel costs. in order to fulfill that mission, it is absolutely vital that we do everything we can to upport that workforce. there are many ideas to enhance the workforce that involve recognition, support but also a strong mention from every leader within cbp to that workforce that peoples health, taking care their families, making sure that those things are premier are the critical and important things. we are doing lots of experimentation in expanding telecommuting, changing the environment within the organization. but i think when that message comes across from all of the leaders, many of whom are seated in front of me today, that message comes across from all of the leaders about the importance and the value that they place in employees that i think translates well. the better that workforce does, the more efficient they are, the less sick time and on and on but many of you know this. we are hoping that we are going to be able to improve the way we show on that federal employee workforce survey. this is also an important issue with secretary johnson and also with their deputy secretary. when we work with this vision, we will improve the productivity and we will be better capable of carrying out our mission. carrying out our mission involves sharing information and creating community. partnerships and information sharing are the heart of all that we do. first 100 days, i have worked very hard to travel across the country and many places around the world to visit with our employees and listen to them and have town halls. also to enforce through relationships the important international relationships particularly with places like mexico. our counterparts in law enforcement, customs, immigration, security and foreign affairs and in peru, i joined the directors general of customs of the western hems fear to consider regional risk management strategy. we do a better job here in the united states government on interagency collaboration and in turn we have to do a better job on international collaboration. i did the same thing in spain, meeting with members of the world customs organization. at this is not only to promote the lawful trade and travel but also to make sure that the supply chain is secure and not vulnerable to crime and corruption. in the middle east, i spoke with our arab leaders about building the capacity for more secure trade and travel. the unified border management system that is being replicated around the world is modeled on the good work that has been done by cbp here in the united states. it's a truly collaborative pproach. when i listened to all of these counterparts whether it was in customs or border security forces, more and more, you hear the talk from them that it's not just about the collection of revenue. it's not just about the trade and facilitation which is often at the heart of customs organizations in other countries who don't have the dual responsibility that we have. security concerns were absolutely preeminent. they brought up increasing concerns about security. we have models and things that we can offer to other countries to help improve that. we have to work with our industrial partners. we have an extensive interagency collaborative network. in washington, we have lots of interagency meetings and everyone understands and appreciates the value of those relationships. as a result, cbp and his partners have prevented potentially dangerous individuals from coming into his country. those are often cases we are not allowed to talk about publicly but i have seen it time and time again. we have private sector partnerships so it's not just the interagency and is not just our international partnerships. when you think about our networking and sharing of information with government agencies, we have to include the industry as part of hat. an example would be the acas system. the air cargo advanced screening program. it's the screening system that after the air traffic world wide was disrupted in 2010 with the printer cartridges from yemen, things changed dramatically and people stepped up to the plate from the private sector along with the government to develop a system that is risk-based and makes so much more sense in protecting the country. we needed to receive data in advance on air cargo and the industry stepped up. fedex, dhl, ups and others expressed all of the air cargo that they handle globally. when we put the problem on the table, what was discovered is those private sector partners worked with us to come up with solution. i think acast is an excellent example. automated passport control would be another one. the more information that cbp customs and border protection officer has a port of entry, the more information they have where they don't have to spend time doing data entry and typing into the computer. if they have that information, because someone has already scanned their passport through that kiosk, then that's more information or more time they can devote to processing people and to moving legitimate travelers through the system, but perhaps then spending more where additional scrutiny is needed. the automated passport controls are important. you have read extensively about the syrian foreign fighter issue. we are engaged with that with the interagency. it has been no secret and the remarks that director comey and others have made about concerns. the concerns were recently raised in belgium and france. they were highlighted in this particular threat and it's important that we are a part of hat. the need for illuminating this and working more closely with our foreign partners is not only helpful to our safety and security here in the united states but certainly, more helpful to the security of our partner nations. the employee morale, i want to get back to that with more depth. it's important, because so much of what we do is also based upon those resources. we have huge, significant mprovements in technology, training, etc. but so much of what we do is labor intensive. when you look at all the technology and many of you travel extensively and go through the ports -- i hope you are a global entry member, by the way -- it is so fascinating to see all of the technology that is so helpful. it is also so fascinating to see and experience a knowledgeable cbpo that is there recognizing the importance of their mission to protect this country, but also having the skills to be able to identify. every single day when i mentioned those significant seizures of cash narcotics and others, the prohibiting of people who should not come to the united states, a lot of that is based upon the work and skill set that those people have. the more we do to improve their training and development and recognizing their performance and thanking them, the better off we all are. we are going to expand our ability within cbp with a large organization to let people know about career path opportunities and perhaps additional training and where we can also be a partner with the interagencies and let people have an opportunity to work in other locations and learn other things. i have never been more impressed with the workforce han i have been withcbp. -- with cbp. when this job was being talked about within the white house and i was asked about it, in case i knew anybody, i raise my hand and said what about me? i had that opportunity because i have had the chance over the years serving the president to work on something called the southwest border counter narcotics strategy. the first time i worked on those, i was able to spend a lot of time with cbp and a lot of time on the southwest border meeting with them. i said i knew this was a place i wanted to go. not that i was anxious to leave the white house, but i was anxious to also get into operations. let me talk about something that has been in the news a lot, the unaccompanied children. the number of children the cbp is encountering on the southwest border has increased by 92% over last year. i'm talking in the fiscal year numbers. many of them are girls. many more are under the age of 13. it has created a humanitarian crisis. secretary johnson on may 12 determined that this would be a level 4 condition of readiness within homeland security which is a determination that the situation has exceeded the pacity of cbp and ice and we eded additional d.h.s. resources. he chose the deputy chief of the united states border patrol to be the dhs federal coordinator. it tells you the importance that he places on these individuals that are on the front lines, but also the recognition that they were going to work closely with their counterparts. making sure that these children are taken care of is a huge manage. act. i have been down there a number of times. i would tell you that those border patrols are doing yeoman's work. they are doing and a credible job. also the bringing together of the inter-agencies, having coast guard corpsmen deal with these kids mail home, most of whom, have never been treated by a doctor or a clinician until they come -- have been encountered by us. fema has done a tremendous job. they know disasters and they know about coordination and they know about engaging the interagency and they know about working closely with state and local. administrator fugate and the men and women of fema have done a great job on this. as you know from secretary johnson's remarks yesterday, he takes his very personally and it's very high on his radar screen, as it is among every member of the obama administration. this group is all working together to ensure that these children are transferred out of our border patrol facilities quickly and they go to health and human services and that they can provide from the moment we encounter them, from the moment we encounter them -- with nutrition, education, medical care, etc. and then we expand that later through h.h.s. and others, to include housing, to include mental health care, etc. many of these kids have been tremendously traumatized. the vast majority are from central america. they are fleeing hardships and economic conditions. they are fleeing violence within their own countries, and many are also seeking reunification with their families. while these children await the immigration proceedings that they are then under, h.h.s. is working with these children and relatives to place them here in the united states into onger-term facilities. cbp and many others i've talked about in so many and so many volunteers, the texas baptist men's association, many, many other n.g.o.'s that are involved in helping to provide food, clean clothing, shower facilities, etc. it is a tremendous operation. we are working hard to loss of -- to launch the public affairs campaign in these other countries to talk about one, not only the dangers that these kids face by being placed in the hands of coyotes who are involved in smuggling them. not only those dangers, but also the dangers they face in other ways. also the clear recognition that regardless of what is being considered now in congress, for a comprehensive immigration review, they would not be entitled to a path to citizenship as a result of ntering the country now. cbp along with law enforcement agencies has surged criminal investigators to break the backs of smuggling organizations involved in this, often times for larger amounts of money and oftentimes they could care less about the safety of those children in their care. we are working hard to make sure those people are apprehended and the department of justice is working hard to make sure they are prosecutors. -- are prosecuted. we have responded to the needs of these children. our border patrol agent zeb -- agents have brought in, and our cbpo's at the ports of entry, also where kids can walk up a bridge and turn themselves in. they've brought in their own clothing. they've done so many other things that is beyond any skill set that they have, and certainly something they didn't sign up for. use of force is another issue. so i'll change topics dramatically. the use of force, particularly by the border patrol, has received a lot of attention in the media. cbp has been criticized about its lack of transparency about our policies and procedures. about two weeks ago we began to change that. chief fisher began working very hard to make sure that the policy changes and the training changes that are needed -- because you can't just issue a piece of paper that all of this was being done, too. so we're working within c.b.p. and c.b.p.'s leadership to be more transparent, to be more open, to improve policy, to improve training, and i think you'll see more to come in that particular area. let me say that c.b.p. has succeeded in unimaginable ways to improve our technology, our innovation, our vision. we know that people want to come to the united states. even though we hear quite often about the wait times at airports or the wait times at seaports, people want to come to this country. and over the last four years, every year we have seen travel and trade increase. they want to do business in this country. they want to trade in this country. this is a safe country and cbp helps very much to make it that way. that is why people want to come here. also because, in many ways, you can do business in this country without having to be overly concerned about corruption and payoffs. when i think about the work that cbp does to protect intellectual property rights and make sure that everything they do with the borders, to make sure this is a safe and secure country and to make sure that trade and travel can flourish in a lawful and legitimate way, is a huge difference. those are just a few small things of an organization and workforce that i am extremely proud of and i could not be more honored than to have been nominated and confirmed and now leading that organization. adam, i think i'm ready. >> thank you all. [applause] >> i'm going to moderate the discussion by starting off with a couple of questions of my own. and then i will look to the audience to follow-up with questions. i would ask folks to raise your hand when i call on you and identify yourself and your affiliation before stating the question. first of all, thanks so much for the remarks you made in depth and breadth. i want to touch on a couple of opics. you talked about the tremendous increase in unaccompanied minors being apprehended on the southwest border. you talked about the humanitarian response effort and touched a little bit on what the government is doing. to try to deter these journeys from taking place in the first place. i wonder if you can talk more about whether you're seeing any impact from those deterrence-related activities and how you're going to be monitoring that and thinking about whether additional measures are required. >> some of you are familiar with the department of state and the department of homeland security prior programs to get essages out. a few years ago, they were concentrating more on mexico but certainly in the central american countries, that's where our concentration is now. to say that it is an incredibly dangerous thing -- it's dangerous to attempt in the summer months to come into this country and to traverse really ugged locations. every single day i get reports from the border patrol and our air and marine operations on rescues of people. dehydration, etc. you cannot carry enough water physically to get across any of that terrain. we also need to make sure in this new round of messaging that it's not only the danger to themselves, placing children in the hands of coyotes is incredibly difficult. there has been a lot of discussion and looking at our facilities have been -- which actually, although not as much now, but have been overwhelmed by the number of people. i guess we need to show the same level of concern by many organizations about the danger these kids were in before they ever encountered somebody from the border patrol or customs and border protection who is a safe and secure individual for them. the last part of that message has to be that this is not a athway to citizenship. >> what kind of an impact as this surge having on the underlying enforcement interdiction mission along the southwest border? >> it has taken away resources within the border patrol to concentrate on caring for these individuals that would normally be doing other enforcement duties. we have to look at alleviating that. chief fisher and others have taken on temporary detail, 115 border patrol agent from other sections where they were less busy and i don't know any place on the border where they are not busy but where they were a little less busy and surge them into this area. the sooner they can get back to doing those other duties, i hink the better. >> you talked about the use of force policy and the modification. can you talk about how it is being received in the field? >> the message i have tried to make sure of is that to the people scrutinizing the use of force by any law enforcement agency but particularly the border patrol right now, is that a written policy is great for a start but it has to be backed up with training. we made changes in the training curriculum. we have made changes in the physical layout of the border patrol academy so that they have more of a real life situation for training without the use of force. has to be reinforced for supervision and people have to be held accountable if force is used improperly. i don't know any law enforcement officer that opposes these ideas. the message i have given and all of the town halls with the border patrol is that there is no apprehension of an individual, there is no seizure of any amount of narcotics and there is no vehicle pursuit that is worth being injured over. e will have another day. law-enforcement officers across he country recognize this. we do a very good job. e will work very hard but we have to temper that attempts to apprehend with recognizing the risk not only to ourselves or to these agents but the risk to others. >> let me turn it over to the audience. please identify yourself and your affiliation, i would appreciate it. >> iq for your remarks -- thank you for your remarks today. i am with northrop, and -- northrop grumman. i wonder if you might discuss what collaboration there has been with mexico for working on its southern border. what collaboration has there been with canada for the northern border? >> the mexican southern border with guatemala -- any changes or improvements that could be made there would certainly be a benefit not only to the government of mexico, the country of mexico, but would certainly be of benefit to the united states. many of these young people because of the changes in security along the border are not able to enter the united states or are being kept and -- kept in what would be called stash houses. that has a direct impact on mexico. the united states knows something about the technology and training and skill set needed for border security. we continue to offer and work with the government of mexico to help them with that issue. that is important. in canada, when i was at the office of national drug control policy, we wrote the northern border strategy. a very different 4,000-mile border that is easily accessed. what i would say about both of these things is that it is not about the sheer number of people or the amount of technology. it's about intelligence and information sharing and focusing your finite resources on the risk. >> the lady in the pink shirt in the back? >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen. i am rosemary i am with conflicts and violence prevention from kenya. i'm just here in washington, d.c. thank you so much for your presentation. looking at the border security, i wanted to ask if you can talk something about africa. this problem of the border is everywhere. we can see it in zimbabwe, somalia. how do we develop an nternational policy with immigration, security and customs? because this will prevent terrorism. they can go to another country, take another passport, get to another country, then it's all confusion. how would you look at that and how can we collaborate in africa and all over the world? because the problem is all over the world. thank you. >> one thing i would offer is a customs and border protection has personnel and attaches and -- in 22 country. we have personnel in about 40 countries. we have advanced training centers and others and working with our partners at the department of state, we are very happy and have done it many times in many countries. we are happy to share our lessons learned. frankly, it is not the united states coming in and saying that this is the way you must do it and this is the way it hould be done. we are pretty happy to say that here are the mistakes we have made, perhaps you can benefit from those mistakes. we are better at this now and when we leave those partnerships and when we leave from those training sessions which we do quite often, we are more knowledgeable and we have almost always walked away from those sessions having learned more than perhaps we have imparted by we have developed relationships. we would be happy to follow-up with you later and. help in any way we can >> in the front row here. the lady in purple. >> thank you. you talked about air cargo as well as newport technology. how do you feel about the 9/11 commission 100% scanning policy and the pushback? there is new technology out there that is effective and passive. it can detect contraband so how do you feel about that and the pushback? >> many people in the audience know that the law requires 100% scanning and provides the secretary of homeland security with the ability every two years to say whether or not that can be achieved. 100% scanning based upon the technology that had existed in the past would have left cargo and trade stacked up either in the air or stacked up in ships quite a ways out from our ports. technology has changed pretty dramatically and we are exploring a variety of ways to continue to look at this. as you know, radiation monitoring exists with everything coming into the united states or almost everything. there are a variety of risk-based approach is that we are using. but we also try to make sure we have not just at the border, the security screening but then further inland. it's a kind of layered defense that we can take. i think we are very hopeful that we can continue to look at the technology that is available to continue to move toward that scanning. >> the gentleman in the blue shirt. >> thank you. you previously mentioned it's not about the sheer number of people on the border or the technology but it's about information sharing. can you elaborate more about how you can become more effective with information shared? >> we have to develop those trusted relationships with other law enforcement organizations and those organizations such as interpol or others can be particularly helpful. we have also done a better job and continue to move in this direction with something called pre-clearance, pushing the borders out and expanding the borders beyond their borders. when we look to being able to clear people coming into the united states and entering through customs 3000 miles away like in abu dhabi, it makes an awful lot of sense of those of the kind of things we want to be able to continue to work with. my law enforcement colleagues around the world, we have very much come to the conclusion that we are all in this together. the more that we can support and work with each other, the better off we all are. >> the gentleman in the yellow shirt in the back. >> good morning and thank you. border security measures have pushed a lot of migrants over the years to go through the more city focused -- less city focused areas. where's the highest concentration coming through? >> it is the rio grande valley. it is the shortest distance traveling from central american countries through mexico. it is clearly in that particular area that we have seen the largest number of kids. apprehensions along the border had been decreasing. this is a particularly difficult situation because of the terrain in that area but also because these are children. apprehensions is probably the wrong word. and captures is a much better word. these are kids that are saying they want us to take care of them. >> they are less focused on being caught by border patrol? >> i'm sorry? >> they're almost openly putting themselves out there? >> very much so. it is not through great detective work. >> the gentleman in the jacket. >> i just arrived from paris. thank you for the global entry. [laughter] it's very effective. my question is -- on the process and the children going across the border, some of them, as you mentioned, are coming in for reunification of the family. i was born in morocco. i went through the system and i understand how long it takes. can it take less time for these children or the paper process through the embassies to make it a little bit easier or faster? it can take years to get the paperwork done properly or legally. >> your point is excellent. the legitimate lawful way to enter the country going for the embassy and the system is certainly something the department of state is well aware of. we also know that given the numbers of people that wish to come to this country and remain in this country is an overwhelming amount. i think the question is better answered by the department of state but i'm glad you raised that issue. >> the lady in the third row. >> thank you for speaking today. in a recent csis event on the posture of the national guard, it has been said that more guardsmen might be used on the southwest border. can you comment if that is going to happen? there are already partnerships in place. who else might be utilized? >> i was part of the administration when the surge of national guard come i think about 1200 guardsmen were deployed a few years ago, when secretary gates and secretary napolitano were involved. i don't know of any plans involving the national guard now but i know that customs and border protection has had a long and rich and fruitful history with the guard, particularly in the areas of intelligence and analytics, gathering information, etc. we have no better partner than the department of defense and secretary hagel. he and the relationship that secretary johnson has is tremendous. the amount of technology that is being returned as a result of the drawdown in afghanistan is very helpful and a lot of that technology can very much be used by us on the border. we have seen a transition very quickly to that. there are some very good relationships going on and improvements there, thanks. >> the lady in the tan jacket four rows back? >> you mentioned the transition of equipment -- we are a vehicle manufacturer. we were just informed this week that dhs has requested 350. we talked to the border previously and felt they did not need armored vehicles. is the intent of these to go to border patrols or are you aware of that request? >> i would like to pretend that i know the answer to that. actually, i'm very much unaware of it and i'm certainly happy to look into it and try to get back to you. >> the gentleman five rows back. >> at the press conference yesterday you acknowledge complaints that have been made about order patrol officers. you said those complaints would be investigated. can you give a timeframe for those investigations and can you say when the names of the officers involved in those complaints will be made public? >> sure, i think i have pretty much demonstrated my commitment to having complaints investigated, my commitment to making the information as a result of those investigations known. i would tell you in reading a few of the complaints that the lack of specificity particularly when, where, what station, let alone the names of individuals is extremely troubling. the vagueness of the complaints is very concerning. that means it will take longer and we will have to look at that. the other part that i would mention to you is that i am extremely troubled by the difference -- i am extremely troubled by the fact that i've been down there a lots and spent a lot of time and i have seen these agents doing incredible things, taking care of these kids who were in a dangerous situation. i have watched them do every thing from change diapers to heat formula. they don't have very good skills in some of these things. having to tilt of my own, i know something about diapers but many of these are single young men who were not particularly good at that. they are really getting better. i have watched them bringing in their own clothing. i saw the pictures of a birthday cake for an 11-year-old who had never had a birthday cake. i have not quite seen the kinds of complaints i am hearing about. i'm a bit troubled because these men and women need our support. i don't have a timeframe only because the complaints are so vague and lack specificity so that it will take a while to drill down into what is being talked about. >> the gentleman -- with the red tie in the back. >> you had mentioned earlier about the apprehension of potentially dangerous individuals entering the country. could you detail or touch on the process which must be undertaken to either bar a foreign national or bring them to the attention of cbp or dhs? >> we have interagency agreements, interagency relationships so that information about individuals in the united states who may be prohibited or barred whether it is on the no-fly list or other databases, that they, by law, would not receive admittance to the united states. we work with these other agencies. we are actually the gateway or entry point, the enforcer often times of those regulations. >> the lady in the front row here. >> thank you. you said that many of the kids are girls and many are under the age of 12. many is a vague term. we are hearing that the vast majority are young males under the age of 18 but between 14-18. can you give more specific statistics? if they don't have family here which already is kind of strange because the family are here illegally -- if our mission is to put kids who come in a illegally with the parents who are illegal, that's one thing. what if they have no family? they just come in and they are under 18 and we consider them minors. what happens to them then? will they be deported? >> the issue specifically around the numbers has been a bit difficult. we have a number of border patrol stations where these encounters occur. we have a number of doors of entry. at times, we have definitional issues of family units as opposed to individuals. we have lots of information but what the secretary and i and others have stressed so clearly is we recognize that this is an overwhelming number of young people in need of care and in need of protection. that includes many under the age of 18 but the vast majority of these kids -- needing our services, needing our support. i would tell you that health and human services is doing an admirable job under the circumstances to take these children within 72 hours so they can either be reunited with their family member or placed in foster care. i would not comment on the deportation issue. >> the gentleman in the front. >> wonderful presentation but my question is this -- the president has done such a wonderful job in trying to push for immigration reform. one of the ways in which he has been blocked politically by people who are in congress, against immigration reform, has been against raising false questions they say they want to be for immigration reform when the border is properly secured. is there somebody in the administration with whom you would be in contact with who can explain this or is chartered to explain this to the american people. not everybody can come and listen to your wonderful presentation. that's really my question. there are spokespeople for climate change issue but what about immigration? >> i think the person most knowledgeable and has been the spokesperson for the administration on the immigration issue is the head of the domestic policy council, cecilia munoz who is incredibly knowledgeable about so many details. the border security issue is important. often times, when we talk about border security and metrics, it's often discussed as an eye of the beholder quality. there are more resources, more technology, more time, efforts and focus devoted for border security over these last few numbers of years than at any time in history. i think we all have to recognize that we have finite resources and that we are going to continue to work very hard. the men and women of cbp will continue to work hard to uphold that responsibility. >> the gentleman in the gray suit. >> you were talking about manpower and technology and border patrol, could you discuss what roles the systems have begun to play and where that goes in the future? >> the technology systems already in place? was that --? i think the things that are most helpful that i have seen and listening to people on the border would be things like the tethered arrow steps, the technology -- we have unmanned aircraft also along the southern border. we have remote video systems. they can be deployed that are also, the infrared systems that are a part of that also. all of those things i think are value added to the people that are working on the border. >> we've got time for two more questions. >> nice to see you again. i was astounded by your comment that the increase in the number of children in this category from last year, i think you said 92%? that is an unbelievable statistic. i don't know what the numbers are present but normally, if you see an increase of this nature, it's due to some factor, it's not just things as normal. since the economy the draw we had in the past, is there an effort to identify what specifically you the right interviewing these children or else where, what exactly is the spark here? is there an individual or groups of people? is there a cabal working to take advantage of something? the real problem is going to be what started this and how can we deal with that issue? >> no one in the administration particularly the secretary has tried to couch this about the reason why in terms of other than what we are seeing and what we are hearing area this increase did not happen overnight. it said about 48,000 right now. that has already doubled the number from last fiscal year and fiscal year over that which was an increase. nothing quite extent we are seeing this year. we have seen surveys from the united states conference of catholic bishops, we have seen other surveys at igo that's of the issues. there has always been a pull factor for people coming into the united states. as we know, honduras has the highest homicide rate of any country in the world. gang violence, other kinds of violence within those countries like el salvador are quite a concern. the quest for an education, the quest for a better economy, the quest for safety and security are there and so is family reunification a part of all that. that's why we are trying to address in our comprehensive message to be broadcast, the fact that it is not only dangerous but the fact that this will not lead to a path to citizenship. >> last question lady in black. >> what is your take on implementing biometric exit given your work on the southwest border and given technology now like smartphones and biometric software? >> the biometric exit issue is important and it has a lot of value. we look at how we can decrease wait times in the united states for people entering the country. our continuing study of biometrics is important. at the end of this month, they will be opening an experimentation center on biometric technologies. we will continue to reach for that. it's not just the biometrics that would be helpful. we know they have to be put into an infrastructure. our airports are really not designed for biometric exit. all that has to be put into an infrastructure and would also have to be able to aware -- to be aware of privacy in the personally identifiable information. it's a pretty complex set of things. we are exploring with the number of people and a number of very smart people in a very open way with members of congressional staff biometric exit programs and technology. >> thank you for your time. not many people appreciate what a complex mission you have. you talk about processing a million travelers a day. part of that is trying to find very few high risk travelers in the midst of the great number of mostly legitimate travel. one of the things you have been doing for number of years as being the interface between governments and stakeholders in the private sector. of the community in general is buried in that gap and getting greater visibility than the challenges that is facing the country. thank you for partnering with csis to provide the picture and the topics. >> thank you all very much. [applause] >> several perspectives on the situation in iraq. hear first from president obama and then a pentagon briefing with john kirby. after that, discussion posted by the washington institute. on newsmakers, house democratic caucus chair xavier becerra. he talks about house majority leader your cant -- eric co antor's departure from leadership and immigration legislation. and at sunday at 10 a.m. they will show it again at 6 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> one of the things people don't always recognize is that during the war of 1812, it was fought from 1812 until after 1814. --was really about the america reestablishing its read -- its independence against the british. this was our second american revolution. this flag is the object for pennedrancis scott key the words which became our national anthem. imaged in 1995 that the flag was made to look whole and restored. there was a whole bottom section that was reconstructed. when the flag was moved into this space, there was a delivered -- deliberate decision not to do that again. what we wanted was for the flag to become a metaphor for the country. it is torn but it still survived and the message is really the survival of both the country and the flag. we are not trying to make it look pretty. we're trying to make it look like it adored its history and can celebrate its history. the 200thar marks anniversary of the british naval bombardment of fort mchenry during the war of 1812. learn more about the flag francis kottke wrote about while we tour the smithsonian to the star-spangled banner exhibit .m. andnight at 6 p 10 p.m. eastern this weekend on c-span3. >> president obama says the united states will not be sending troops to iraq but he is out his national security team to prepare other options. the president spoke and took questions at the white house before he left for north dakota and california. >> good morning, everybody. wanted to take some time to give you a quick update about the situation in iraq. yesterday, i convened a meeting with my national security council to discuss the situation there and this morning i received an update from my team. over the last several days we've seen significant gains made by isil, a terrorist organization that operates in both iraq and in syria. in the face of a terrorist offensive, iraqi security forces have proven unable to defend a number of cities which has allowed the terrorists to overrun part of iraq's territory and this poses a danger to iraq and its people, and, given the nature of these terrorists, it could pose a threat eventually to american interests, as well. this threat is not brand new. over the last year, we have been steadily ramping up our security assistance to the iraqi government with increased training, equipping and intelligence. now, iraq needs additional support to break the momentum of extremist groups and bolster the capabilities of iraqi security forces. we will not be sending u.s. troops back into combat in iraq but i have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support iraq security forces and i'll be reviewing those options in the days ahead. i do want to be clear, though, this is not solely or even primarily a military challenge. over the past decade, american troops have made extraordinary sacrifices to give iraqis an opportunity to claim their own future. unfortunately, iraqi leaders have been unable to overcome, too often, the mistrust and sectarian differences that has long been simmering there and that's created vulnerabilities within the iraqi government as well as their security forces so any action that we may take to provide assistance to iraqi security forces has to be joined by a serious and sincere effort by iraq's leaders to set aside sectarian differences, to promote stability and account for the legitimate interests of all of iraq's communities and continue to build the capacity of an effective security force. we can't do it for them. and in the absence of this type of political effort, short-term military action, including any assistance we might provide, won't succeed so this should be a wake-up call. iraq leaders have to demonstrate a willingness to make hard decisions and compromises on behalf of the iraqi people in order to bring the country together. in that effort, they will have the support of the united states and our friends and our allies. iraq's neighbors also have some responsibilities to support this process. nobody has an interest in seeing terrorists gain a foothold inside of iraq and nobody will benefit from seeing iraq descend into chaos so the united states will do our part but understand that ultimately it's up to the iraqis as a sovereign nation to solve their problems. indeed, across the region, we have redoubled our efforts to help build more capable counterterrorism forces so that groups like isil can't establish safe haven and we'll continue our effort through the support of the moderate opposition in syria, our support for iraq and its security forces and our partnership with other countries across the region. we're also going to pursue intensive diplomacy throughout this period both inside iraq and across the region because there's never going to be stability in iraq and the broader region unless there are political processes that allow people to solve differences peacefully without resorting to war or relying on the military. our top priority will be remain being vigilant to any threats to our personnel serving overseas. we will consult closely with congress as we make determinations about the appropriate action and will keep the american people fully informed as we make decisions about the way forward. i'll take questions. >> recent u.s. history there, are you reluctant to get involved with iraq? >> i think we should look at the situation carefully. we have an interest in making sure that a group like isil, which is a vicious organization and has been able to take advantage of the chaos in syria, that they don't get a broader foothold. i think there are dangers of fierce sectarian fighting if, for example, the terrorist organizations try to overrun sacred shia sites which could trigger shia-sunni conflicts that could be very hard to stamp out so we have enormous interests there and obviously our troops and the american people and the american taxpayers made huge investments and sacrifices in order to give iraqis the opportunity to chart a better course, a better destiny. but ultimately they're going to have to seize it. as i said before, we are not going to be able to do it for them and given the very difficult history that we've seen in iraq, i think that any objective observer would recognize that in the absence of accommodation among the various factions inside of iraq, various military actions by the united states, by any outside nation, are not going to solve those problems over the long term and deliver the stability that we need. anybody else? >> mr. president, is the syrian civil war spilling over the iraq border? >> i think that's been happening for some time. isil has been able to gain a foothold in syria. that's part of the reason why we have been so concerned about it. that's part of the reason why we have been supporting the syrian opposition there but it's a challenging problem. in iraq, the iraqi government, which was initially resistant to some of our offers of help, has come around now to recognize that cooperation with us on some of these issues can be useful. obviously that's not the case in syria where president assad has no interest in seeing us involved there and where some of the governments that are supporting aside have been able to block, for example, u.n. efforts even at humanitarian aid but this is a regional problem and it is going to be a long-term problem. and what we're going to have to do is combine selective actions by our military to make sure that we're going after terrorists who could harm our personnel overseas or eventually hit the homeland. we're going to have to combine that with what is a very challenging international effort to try to rebuild countries and communities that have been shattered by sectarian war. and that's not an easy task. >> what are they willing to do -- >> we're in contact with them now. we'll have a better sense by the end of the weekend after those consultations and we will be getting a better sense from them of how they might support an effort to bring -- bring about the kind of political unity inside of iraq that bolsters security forces. the united states has poured a lot of money into these iraqi security forces and we devoted a lot of training to iraqi security forces. the fact that they are not willing to stand and fight and defend their posts against admittedly hardened terrorists but not terrorists who are overwhelming in numbers, indicates that there's a problem with morale, there's a problem in terms of commitment, and ultimately that's rooted in the political problems that have plagued the country for a very long time. last question. last one. >> thank you. can you talk a little bit about u.s. concern of the disruption -- potential disruption of oil supplies? >> so far, at least, we have not seen major disruptions in oil supplies. obviously, if, in fact, isil was able to obtain control over major output, significant refineries, that could be a source of concern. as you might expect, world oil markets react to any kind of instability in the middle east. one of our goals should be to make sure that in cooperation with other countries in the region, not only are we creating a backstop in terms of what's happening inside of iraq, but if there do end up being disruptions inside of iraq, that some of the other producers in the gulf be able to pick up the slack so that will be part of the consultations taking place during the course of this week. to give people a sense of timing here, although events on the ground in iraq have been happening very quickly, our ability to plan, whether it's military action or work with the iraqi government on some of these political issues, is going to take several days so people should not anticipate that this is something that is going to happen overnight. we want to make sure that we have good eyes on the situation there. we want to make sure that we've gathered all the intelligence that's necessary so that if, in fact, i do direct and order any actions there that they're targeted, they're precise and they're going to have an effect and as i indicated before and i want to make sure everybody understands this message, the united states is not simply going to involve itself in a military action in the absence of a political plan by the iraqis that gives us some assurance that they're prepared to work together. we're not going to allow ourselves to be dragged back into a situation in which, while we're there, we're keeping a lid on things and after enormous sacrifices by us, as soon as we're not there, suddenly people end up acting in ways that are not conducive to the long-term stability and prosperity of the country. thank you very much, everybody. >> some republican reaction now. house speaker john boehner says it is long past time for the president to lay out a plan to how we can reverse the momentum and spread of terrorism and iraq and a region that is critical to u.s. national interests. ed royce, the house for the committee's chair says that this is a region in chaos. the president needs to be acting urgently, not reviewing options in the days ahead. buck mckeon of california says the white house is a history of considering all options while choosing not. ne. i will not support a one-shot strike that looks good for the cameras but has no enduring a effect. defense department press theetary john kirby says u.s. is disappointed that iraqi security forces were unable to hold back into feet the islamic state of a rack in syria -- iraq and syria. he said he is preparing options for the president to consider. this is about 40 minutes. >> good afternoon, everybody. let me start with a brief update on iraq. secretary hagel continues to monitor the situation there as do defense and military leaders here at the pentagon. over the last 38 hours, the secretary has met a number of times with senior military leaders to discuss events on the ground and prepare options for the president's consideration. i won't detail those options but i can tell you they cover a wide range of military capabilities and will be designed, the president says, to help break the momentum of isil's progress and bolster iraqi security forces but clearly any decision to employ these options rests solely with the commander-in-chief. i think it's important to remember that for several months now we have been be working in close coordination with the state department to augment the capabilities of iraqi security forces. our focus has been on increasing their capacity to defend themselves and their people and remain responsible for taking on the threats over the long term. in march, we delivered 100 hellfire missiles on an expedited time table bringing the total to some 300. that's in addition to millions of rounds of small arms fire, tank ammunition, helicopter fired rockets. late last year we delivered additional armed scout helicopters to the iraqi armed forces and a few weeks ago we notified congress of an additional billion dollars in foreign military sales. secretary believes it is imperative that iraq and its neighbors have strong security forces to meet evolving threats and the violence spilling over from syria's borders. we are fully committed to that effort but in keeping with that effort we continue to provide counterterrorism support. that support has included i.s.r. capabilities and we have intensified this i.s.r. support in recent days at the request of the iraqi government. i also think it's important to remember that we have some 35,000 u.s. military personnel in the middle east region. our forces there work closely each and every day with our partners to defend against external aggression and terrorist networks that threaten america and its allies. before i take your questions, i want to say a few words about secretary hagel's meeting this morning with prime minister of australia, tony abbott. they discussed the forced posture agreement that he and the president announced yesterday, a 25-year agreement that will provide an enduring framework for the initiatives our governments embarked in november 2011, including rotational presence of marine corps and air force assets as well as partnerships on space and cyber. we're deeply grateful for our partnership with the australian defense force. secretary hagel looks forward to discussing further defense cooperation at the annual australia united states military consultations later in year in australia. with that, i'll take questions. >> can you provide maybe a little bit more detail, do you know if the bush has gotten into the gulf, is heading for the gulf at this point or generally can you say when he's expected to get there and can you give any broad assessment of the isil, numbers or capabilities, that the u.s. believes they may or may not have? >> on your first question, i have nothing to announce with respect to force movements and the central command area of responsibility, the aircraft carrier bush and her strike group remain in the region and ready for any tasking that general austin cares to give them but as we speak right now, there's no aircraft carriers moving into the persian gulf. on your other question, i did use that verb -- on your other question, look, i mean, we have been watching events in iraq for some time and watching isis, isil's movements and developments, capabilities. clearly, they're well resourced and what we're seeing is a not unsophisticated degree of cooperation and organization on their part and of course momentum and the president spoke to that earlier today about the need in the near term to help iraq break that momentum. as for their capability, these are -- this is an armed militant extremist group and we do know that as iraqi security forces have pulled back or left and vacated areas and bases, we have reason to believe that isil have benefited from that with respect to some captured equipment and systems but we don't have a really perfect sense on exactly what they've got or -- and their capabilities of using what they've got but we've seen the video. you see that they're driving some of these vehicles, they're in possession of some of this stuff but i'd be loathe to tell you we have a solid sense what have they've got. >> numbers? >> numbers? i mean, look, this isn't -- this isn't an army, like a nation state army. so i think any estimate of numbers would be imperfect but i clearly -- i think it's in the thousands. and we know and we've said for quite some time that they continue to -- they gain substance and reinforcements from foreign fighters from syria, as well, but i think if you were to characterize it in the thousands, i think that's accurate but again -- [inaudible question] i just would say stay with thousands. i'd be hesitant to give you a hard number on this. hang on just a second. let me finish the answer. it's not the kind of force that is easy to put down numerically and to count. this is not an organized nation state army. but, i think if you left it at thousands, you'd be fine. justin? >> what plan could you draw up? what realistically are you looking to do if you're not clear on what they have, where they are, what they're commanding -- >> justin, what i said was, we don't have a perfect indication of the captured equipment that they have. but we have been be watching, as i said at the outset of my answer, we certainly have been watching their growth and development and their activities inside iraq. it's not that we haven't been mindful of the threat that they pose or what they're capable of doing. and i'm just simply not going to detail options that -- that secretary hagel and the leadership here in the pentagon are proposing. >> but you're confident that you have good options to take them out if you were told to do so? >> our job is to provide the commander-in-chief options. we are doing that. as we have been in so many other places in the world, we're confident that -- that we will be able to provide the commander-in-chief options to be as flexible as he should choose to want to be. joe? >> given the lack of intelligence that the united states has on the ground in iraq, i don't know if you agree with this -- are you confident that these options that the pentagon leaders are working on to provide to the president can give the iraqi government the opportunity to retake what they have lost, like the city of mosul and other cities? >> joe, your question gets to objective and i'm just going to point back to what the commander-in-chief just said a little bit ago, that there's a near-term objective here to help iraq break this momentum and again, we're going to provide options that -- that try to meet the commander-in-chief's intent in that regard and i'm just simply not going to go into much greater detail than that but i think it's important to also make it clear that over the long term, this is, as i said it on tuesday, this is -- this is -- this is the sovereign state of iraq. they have security forces. this is ultimately a threat and a challenge that the government of iraq and iraqi security force have got to be able to rise to meet. >> in the same context, are you aware that the iranian revolutionary guards have sent special forces inside iraq and if they did so, what's the pentagon reaction on that? >> i've seen the press reporting on that, joe, but i have nothing to confirm that there are iranian special forces inside iraq and i'm not going to get into hypotheticals. the only thing i would say and it's been said before is that we encourage all of iraq's neighbors, including iran, to play a constructive role in -- you know, in iraq, clearly, and given the challenges they're facing but also in the region. missy. >> the president said that it was not under consideration to send u.s. troops back into combat in iraq. does that imply that it would be or is it under consideration or would it be under consideration to send american soldiers or d.o.d. civilians to do other things in iraq like advising i.s.r. support, either under d.o.d. authority or u.s. oncr authority? >> we already have in iraq and have since 2011 a small number -- again, i'm not going to get into hypotheticals about what options may or may not be sent over for the president to consider. i think he was pretty clear about -- today, what he didn't want to do and, you know, our job again is to provide him options to consider and we're doing that but i'm not going to speculate about what they are, barb. >> you mentioned at the beginning that you've increased i.s.r. in recent days at the request of the iraqi government. can you add to that, in recent days, so in response to this crisis? when did they request? can you tell us any more about what you're doing and to follow up on justin's question, if you don't -- if the pentagon can't even confirm that there are iranian fighters on the ground, what is the quality of the intelligence? how can you give the president realistic options if there's so many holes in the intelligence? >> i didn't say there were holes in intelligence, barb. so let's go back and unpack this a little bit. we have at the request of the iraqi government, we have for some time now been providing some i.s.r. support. as i said, it's not like we haven't seen isis's development inside the country. in recent days, this week, if you need to put a time on it, this week, we got additional requests from the iraqi government for additional, more intensified i.s.r. support and we're providing that. [inaudible question] no, i cannot. we typically don't talk about the methods through which we conduct i.s.r. missing and we certainly don't talk about intelligence matters publicly and also, let's not forget the larger point which is we have been sharing information with the iraqi government and the iraqi security forces since we left the country in large numbers and down to what we've had there since 2011 so this idea of an information sharing arrangement is not new. but, yes, it's intensified this week, in conjunction with the activities. >> and the lack of precise on-the-ground intelligence, if you can't confirm -- if this department can't confirm -- even confirm that there are iranian forces in iraq, how can you credibly give the president viable options when you don't have a full intelligence picture? >> intelligence is never perfect. it's not a perfect science. it never has been, it never will be. it's an important capability, it's one that we continue to develop with the iraqi security forces and i'm -- as i said to justin's question -- i'm comfortable and confident and so is the secretary that the options that the military will provide the president will be robust enough for the commander-in-chief to make the decisions he needs to make. >> don't you think it's important to know if there are iranians there? >> barb, we're working on this as hard and as fast as we can with our partners in iraq. and as i said, i don't have anything to confirm iranian special forces inside iraq but we've also been clear, not just this week, but we have been consistently clear that iran needs to be a responsible partner in the region and we continue be to urge them to do that. yeah? >> so you said you want iran to be responsible and prior to this answer you said they should play a constructive role. can you first outline what a constructive role could be -- >> they can stop supporting extremist networks, right? that's one thing. >> involvement by iran be constructive or not in that situation now? >> look, i'm not going to write an action plan for the iranian government to play in the region. we have been clear about what our expectations are for iran and i think i certainly have been clear here today that we want all of iraq's partners to play a constructive role as they face this very real challenge but iraq and iran are sovereign states. the degree to which they talk to one another and make decisions, that is between the leaders of those two sovereign states but this is a very real threat inside iraq. it's certainly a threat in the region and again, i think this is a time for everybody to make sober, deliberate, measured decisions. >> based on your assessment of the situation in iraq, do you envision any scenario where the u.s. can provide some kind of assistance to the iraqi government without getting directly involved in a military way to break this momentum you've been talking about? >> that's what -- that's what -- that's why the president has asked for options and he's reviewing options. but again, i'd remind you, it's not like -- the premise of the question is that we just walked away from iraq, and we didn't. there has been, since 2011, a small number of u.s. military personnel working in the embassy to help continue to advise and assist iraqi security forces but i also think it's important for people to remember that the iraqi security forces work for the government of iraq and there's a limit to how far advice and assistance can go in the course of three years. some of what we've seen in the -- some of what we've seen from iraqi security forces in some parts of the country speak to deeper challenges inside the iraqi government to include political differences. i'll remind you of something we said in 2011, the best safeguard to a return to violence is continued commitment of iraqi leaders to resolve their differences through politics and i think some of what we're seeing now with i.s.f., iraqi security force problems, stem from ongoing political challenges that remain inside iraq. [inaudible] say that again? >> are these forces capable at this moment to break that momentum you've been speaking about? >> i think the president made clear that in the near term he wants to have options available -- in the near term -- to help break this momentum. so to clearly have us help them in the near term break this momentum. we -- and i'm not going to be cute about it, we're certainly disappointed by the performance of some iraqi security force units with respect to the challenges they have faced in the last few days but over the long term, these are threats and challenges that the iraqi government and the iraqi security forces have to meet for themselves and for the iraqi people. >> you've been sharing so much information or information with the iraqi government since 2011, all the training that's gone into building up the iraqi force, the equipment sold to iraq to help them perform their duties. how surprised were you or were you not at all surprised at the way the forces performed so poorly when push came to shove and they were confronted with a real threat? >> as i said before, we're certainly disappointed in the performance of some of these units and i think it's fair to say that -- that we didn't expect for them -- for those units to not have stood up to the threat. we didn't -- i don't think -- we certainly didn't expect that level of performance. but again, the president said over the near term we're going to look for ways to help them break the momentum and then we'll do that. >> do you have any concern that perhaps some of the iraqi commanders may have been feeding information to isil or undermining the performance of the units? >> i've not seen any information in that regard, no. >> admiral, as we know, the original iraqi army under saddam hussein was disbanded soon after the u.s. invasion of march 2003. a new army was totally reconstituted and trained over

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