no area gains more attention than syria and iraq. isil is waging campaign of unspeakable brutality against the local population and indeed against anyone who does not share its ideology. isil is well-armed and well-financed. it is fighters are disciplined committed and battle hardened. left unchecked the group would pose a serious danger not only to syria and iraq but to the wider region and beyond concluding threats on homeland of the united states and homelands of our partners. this will be a long-term struggle. isil will not be rolled back overnight. if there is one thing we learned over the years that success against terrorism requires patience and determination. clearly our country will be dealing with terrorism in one form or another for many years to come. what makes terrorism so difficult to fight is not just the ideology that fuels it, or the tactics that enable it, the power of modern communication also plays a role. new technologies can help groups like isil coordinate operations, attract new recruits, disseminate propagan

i think we share the same goal with respect to syria, that is that the solution to syria is not going to be determined by military force. that ultimately we desire a military outcome in syria that is one of the syrian people and that outcome does not include bashar al assad. but i have not had the requirement that we take concerted effort against bashar al assad as a precondition for the turks to have any greater role in the coalition to deal with isil. >> isn't it true that turkey at this point is still allowing foreign fighters to cross its borders into syria? >> if foreign fighters get across the border, it's not because the turks allow it. i had a conversation with them yesterday. i've watched them grip the problem. it is a greater problem that me of us had imagined at the beginning. they've attempted to strengthen their border crossing protocols. we're seeking greater intelligence sharing with them in that regard. we're restructuring some elements of the coalition, specifically to focus the capabilities of nations on the issue of the movement and the dealing of foreign fighters t

how can you assure me that syria -- whoever we supported syria -- that won't fall in the wrong hands? commander austin: there's no way we can have slowly assure you that won't happen. what we do is to try to train the folks we work with and providing capability to be responsible as they use and safeguard these weapons. in the event that they are not we quit providing in the capability. >> general hotel, -- general votel, special forces groups have fought with success in iraq and afghanistan. had you see the future moving forward go general votel: it is integrated into everything we are doing. on the air guard side. some of our unique abilities will reside in some of it reserved organizations. they are absolutely and totally in agreement with everything we are doing now and will do in the future. >> thank you. mr. chairman? >> when it comes to fighting isil, i appreciate your determination and your military drive. and that is coming through. do you question the optimistic note that you have in your testimony because it seems that things are not going as positively as you suggest. you m

and, finally we will turn to syria. we get some targets there but our policy is ostensibly to arm a moderate rebels so that they may become more of a fighting force to force a stalemate in series a so that eventually we will be able to get to peace talks. and then as i understand our policy to be, we will then insist on the departure of assad. we need to discuss also whether, in our campaign to defeat basis, whether assad moscow or whether we need to make greater common cause with him as we move forward on the campaign. janine let me start with you. you're a senior fellow for defense policy at the council on foreign relations. you're a former pilot and air force officer. when you were deputy assistant secretary in the obama administration huber charged with reviewing strategic plans and military plans. as recently as august you wrote america has no policy to stop isis. you used to believe that? and can you give us some sense of what is happening on the ground today? is our policy working, and are we making progress agai

syria. it seems, since the president has ruled out ground combat forces, especially in syria, your language opens the door if the rebels come under attack by assad forces -- you have opened the door to u.s. and coalition airstrikes in assad-held territory, which puts you in touch with his air defenses. let me ask you first if you are commenting -- committing to protect the rebels against the central assad attacks. you have opened the door to u.s. and coalition airstrikes in syria in his territory. and second, on iraq -- secretary carter: can i just take that one before another subject? on that subject, that eventuality is one that we are looking at that is foreseeable because we are looking at how we would react to that eventuality. i'm not describing the conclusion. i'm acknowledging that is an eventuality that obviously follows from our objective to train and equip syrian forces and have them on the ground in syria. we have not decided yet in what manner and in what circumstances we would

a lot of work, as i said, on syria. members were involved in the distraction of chemical weapons, including the u.s., germany, norway, inland, sweden canada, with chemical weapons in syria working with ukraine on some of their issues. in looking beyond there will continue to be worked on security issues in ukraine and the bio security area we will continue to focus. one other area also getting attention, the global health security agenda. for those of you who do not know what this is, it was an effort launched last year in washington d.c. with a focus on how do we reduce threats like ebola. this group was started in february of last year prior to the attention that ebola received, but the focus of the global health security agenda led by the white house is to assess these threats and now 44 countries are working on this effort. there is also human health and animal health efforts that include law enforcement and as a result they have acquired a number of departments working on reduction programs that are now involved as

president, i rise today to discuss the ongoing crisis in syria. sunday march 15, marked the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the syrian civil war. since this are brutal war began, more than 3.8 million syrians have fled syria. 7.6 million have been displaced within syria and 12.2 million syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance. most tragically, more than 2,050,000 people -- 205,000 people have died as a result of the war. this past year was the deadly hest since the applicant began with 76,000 dying in 2014 alone including more than 3,500 children. one thing has remained clear over the last four years. the war tactics employed in syria by both government and opposition forces represent gross violations of human rights and fly in the face of internationally accepted rules of war. the united nations independent international commission of inquiry on syria has reported that the pro-government forces have murdered, tortured, assaulted and raped civilians in syria. antigovernment groups have also engaged in murder, execution hostage taking

the islamic state in iraq and syria. he also addressed he also addressed the agency strategy to strengthen intelligence gathering capabilities and enhance global security. charlie rose moderated the discussion. it is just over an hour. [applause] >> thank you very much, good afternoon, everyone. i also want to thank the council on foreign relations and especially richard for inviting me to be here today over the past many months ca has been in the news for a variety of reasons, most of them unrelated to the many challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of us. i would like to begin with a a snapshot of some of the international developments and trends that zero greatest concern to the cia and talk to you about how we're tackling these challenges. i thought i would take some time today to focus in particular on the importance of our work with foreign partners and enhancing global security. these relationships are founded on discretion, so we don't talk about the much but they play an essential role provide insightful an

in particular, iran, syria, afghanistan. how do we square this circle? >> i think that's a very good question. i don't think russia is behaving like a strategic partner to the european union. that's absolutely right so we should be very tough on this issue. look, where we are working together, as we are with the approach to iran, we should continue to work together. it is very important that iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon. it is very important we keep a long timeline between wherever they are now and a nuclear weapon. russia has the same interest as us in that. so it is perfectly possible to have a very tough approach over sanctions is, over the overall relationship, while when it comes to iran continuing to work in this format of the five permanent members of the security council plus germany. >> can we move to the baltics and the use of article 5? if the russians start to destablize the region through media disinformation, proxy warfare, does article 5 offer them any protection? >> i think the protection they are offered in those circumstances is th

of force against the islamic state in syria itself. if you take out your map or google it at home, you will see that isis controls part of syria, part of iraq. it envelops both borders. and, therefore, we have to have a policy that is effective in syria as well as in iraq. i have said a lot of nice things, and i meant them. but i don't think he has been strong enough on the serious side. host: we were just showing our viewers, that yesterday iraqi's announced that they want the lead role in driving prices from moul. a democratic caller, you're up. caller: yes, good morning. i remember when president obama was running, he also said that i am not against was, but i am against dumb wars. i believe in diplomacy, and i believe everything, ambassador, that you said is true, is right. as far as saudi's are concerned, i could care less about them. saudi's were pilots on 9/11. and i want to know something off. i saw the speech and i looked at the tv and the jews were outside -- and some of them said go back to israel. i saw that on one channel.

we need to support the elements in syria dedicated to moving assad and his folks out. but there has to be some kind of political pathway to achieve that. charlie: do you think russia wants to be a part of that? director brennan: i think russia is looking at the problems created by a situation in syria. there are a lot of russian nationals that of travel to chechnya and other areas. i think they realize that assad is problematic. none of us want to see the collapse of the government in damascus. what we do want is for there to be a future in damascus to bring into power eight representative government that will address the grievances, a multi-confessional country that really deserves a government that represents the people are. -- the people there. charlie: do you fear what might replace an assad government? director brennan: i think that is a legitimate concern. the last thing we want to do -- it is important to bolster those forces within the syrian opposition that are not extremists. charlie: do you worry about iran and iraq in terms of what happens if iranians would

senator corker: i know we have talked about syria. this is a term even the administration has begun to utilize themselves. we are in a containment mode. we are not taking aggressive steps to turn the tide there. we are involved in some aerial attacks. it is more of a containment mode. we have a train and equip program right now. i wonder if you could talk to us about two major decisions. if we are going to try to equip folks in other countries that are being trained against isis -- there has been an alleged other program that is against assad himself. if we are going to have a program that is going to deal with isis, i would assume we would consider it only moral that if we are going to train them and bring them in what we would supply air power and other support to protect them, especially from assad's barrel i know that senator graham may have asked the question about whether we have the legal authority. i would like to ask you, does it provide the legal authority for our military to protect those that we are training in other place

more than 1600 of them in iraq and nearly 1300 in syria. we've taken out isil fighters, many of its commanders, infrastructure, support to its terror infrastructure and facilities including 20 training camps and over 200 oil and gas facilities. since the coalition campaign began, isil has lost more than a quarter of the populated territories it has held in iraq. because we lack the same kind of partners on the ground in syria the situation there is more challenging and complex. still we're working closely with regional partners to establish sites for training and equiping vetted moderate syrian opposition elements in order to train approximately 5000 troops per year over the next three years. syrian opposition groups to counter isil continue to make strategic gains. expanding west and east from kobani and retaking territory from isil. coalition airstrikes against isil in syrian territory continue to degrade isil's sanctuary and limit its freedom of movement and military capabilities as well as its capacity to resupply its efforts in iraq. i

>> when you say a stay in syria, we are not in syria. >> i mean our military support for taking out isil and strengthening the moderate syrians. >> we are committed to strengthening the moderate syrians, we are committed to other activities that are specifically focused on the assad regime, but this authorization and the efforts to deal with isil are focused on degrading and destroying isil. that particular military activity, should that goal be accomplished, would then cease and desist. but the effort to support the moderate opposition will continue. obviously, if isis is eliminated and the moderate opposition has gained capacity as a consequence of that particular fight, they're going to be strengthened in their other activities, and we have made that argument openly and publicly. >> how long, in your opinion general, do you think is will take for assad to be removed? given his current state? general dempsey: two very different questions. the diplomatic line of effort is the primary line of effort right now. i have not been asked to apply the military line of effort to remove assad. i

>> in syria, that is a very good question. i offer the following -- he n eeds to come to the table in order to discuss his own receding from the scene in syria. for that to occur, he needs to see the right combination of the doom of the strategy that he has set his country's course on and also, i believe, pressure from russia and iran. both of whom are supporting him and the need to withdraw their support event because of what he has done to his country. when he sees that combination it seems to me that may cause them to recede. no doubt on our point of view which is he has done things to his people by this time that put them outside the pail. he has to go. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, mr. chairman and secretary carter, good to see you again. congratulations. general dempsey, thank you for your service. i want to go back to a theme that we have discussed during your confirmation hearing and that is this broader theme of leveling with the american people on our threats. i would call it a pretty general bipartisan c

. -- isil in syria. my best military advice is as we introduce forces we have trained and equipped, we should provide support. we should provide logistics. we should provide intel support as well. i think that gives the best opportunity for success. senator lee: do you think assad forces in syria will attempt to attack some of the opposition members we have trained and equipped? if so, what level of military involvement should we expect from american forces? general austin: i think there is a likelihood that could happen. they are focused on eiffel. that is the first task at hand. if they are attacked, we should protect them. >> that is not what we are focused on now. ask them to focus on it initially. >> do you think the success of the groups we are supporting, do you think that will require a new structure in damascus? general austin: i think eventually forces will need to plug-in some type of structure for sure. again, that's not what the military typically does. this is a whole government approach. s

number two, we talked about isis in syria and iraq. you have jordan. even if you change the rules, it will take a year or two. the jordanians owe those aircraft, a fix to this, has taken some of the aircraft that we have now that are in warehouses letting the jordanians fly testimony. and basically have the contractors do this. i just want to run that by you. >> thank you. that is one of the actually many forms of assistance to the jordanians and other coalition partners that we're looking at. the logic that you described and the possibility that you described is a real one. to get back to your testing thing, i think that's a very good point, also. technology can transform the way we do tests. >> there are many requests coming in. and you're right, your letter is being addressed that the department is state right now. >> the last thing, i'm going to have a piece of legislation due to all of the hostages that we had taken in iraq and afghanistan. it's on an unprecedented level. the fbi still has purview over hostages. even if they only have three ajents

strategy is focused on iraq first but until the of mill town of syria which has been termed chernobyl it will spewed radioactive technology over the entire region. last fall may authorize training but to the great frustration when pressed on the path for word most officials seem to suggest we could figure out later this is creating and crisis of confidence and our witnesses are here to explain the strategy when the committee returns we will hear more about alejandra a you met -- a you imf request. >> thank you for calling this important hearing. we are delighted we have such a distinguished array of generals to speak with us this morning and thank you for appearing to day and for our country. with those significant challenges that remain we must address the elephant in the rooms in the for a new authorization of military force or aumf that congress has the important role to play in the policy i believe negotiations over the program congress needs to play its part and i will resist any attempt to marginalize congress with the constitutional role. service members the brave men and women

troops, but to armed as rebel groups in syria with whom we agree. to try to build up a counterforce against the islamic state in syria itself. it is a combined battle space. you will see that isis controls part of syria, part of a rack, it envelops both borders. we have to have a policy effective in syria as well as in a rack. that would be my suggestion. i don't think he has been strong enough on that serious side. >> we were just going -- we were just showing our viewers the new york times from yesterday. beverly in north carolina, democratic caller. go ahead. >> i remember when president obama was running, he also said that he is not against war but he is against dom wars. -- dumb running, he also wars. as far as the saudi's are concerned, i could care less about them. they were pilots on 9/11. i want to know something else. i saw this speech. hasidic jews were outside picketing. some of them said go back to israel. i only saw that on one channel. i don't know what that was about. >> i don't know if you are referring to prime minister netanyahu's

the recruiting of foreign fighters into syria and iraq. we haven't found a way yet in my opinion to effectively stop or even slow it down. it is more than law enforcement or an fbi mission. just last week, we learned about a 47-year-old air force veteran who tried to join isis. before this apprehension there is a man who worked for number of american firms overseas, including a u.s. defense firm in iraq from -- for whom performed avionics and u.s. army aircraft. with had several stories like that that have it. . is there a magic bullet to try get at that problem? director comey: there isn't a magic bullet. it is about making sure we have sources where we need them to be. a capability in the online place -- space. their former likely to hear about a guy thinking about leaving the community american -- that community. the egyptians that spotted him when he was sent back from turkey alerted us and were able to lay hands on him. representative rogers: the prescription drug problem has been devastating in my part of the state and the country. n

countries like iraq, syria yemen, libya, afghanistan, pakistan, ukraine, somalia nigeria, venezuela, and north korea. in addition to monitoring developments in these hotspots our analysts track overall trends in global stability. their findings for 2014 confirm the sense we all get from monitoring daily events that the current international environment is extraordinarily complex. developments last year continued a three-year trend of rising instability marked by severe conflict and the erosion of state capacity worldwide. we saw more outbreaks of instability than at any point since just after the collapse of the soviet union, matching the rate we saw during the period of decolonization in the 1960s. the implications of this trend are well known to this audience. rising instability leads to a growth in ungoverned spaces; a spike in humanitarian crises; a surge of refugees, weapons, and fighters across borders and an , emphasis on security over democratic principles among conflict-weary publics. as cia tackles these challenges, we benefit greatly from the network of relationships we ma

to to complement the work we're doing with our fires to begin to counter isil in syria. my best military advice as we go forward is as we introduce forces that we have trained and equipped then we should provide them support, not only looking to provide them fires but logistics and intel support as well. i think that i think that gives them the best opportunity for success. >> do you think that the forces of aside in syria will attempt to task some of these opposition members we have trained and equipped? if so what level of military involvement should we expect? >> the likelihood that that can happen. we will try to as we put forces and. they are focused. that is the 1st task at hand. again, if they are attacked we should protect. >> what do we do if the forces that we train and equip end up attacking? >> initially that is not what we are focused on. we will discontinue providing support to those forces if they vector off and do things that we have not decided to do initially and asked them to focus on initially. >> do you think the success of the opposition groups do y

and going to syria. what happened with that guy is the egyptians that spotted him when he was sent back from turkey alerted us and were able to lay hands on him. representative rogers: the prescription drug problem has been devastating in my part of the state and the country. particularly oxycontin. now that we are beginning to make a dent in closing them down in other places and finally getting the fda to change the formulation of drugs to make them non-abused, a lot of the country is shifting to heroin. and the drug cartels in mexico i'm hearing are now getting into the pill business. because of the enormous profits there. what can you tell us about that? director comey: i think you identified something that doesn't get the attention it deserves. the dea has the lead here, but we do a lot to support them. i know a fair bit about this. we see the mexican traffickers increasingly shifting to heroin. white heroin, used to be brown heroin coming out of mexican. what is happening is it is supplanting pill a

lebanon, syria, as well as israel. but guess what, with the percentage, the likely percentage that an iranian missile can make it through -- if you run the percentages less than a percent, the likelihood that they can retaliate and wipe moran off the map is 100%. if i am at -- if i am an iranian general, i will not recommend that. but if the iranians the capability, no one else is going to sit on their hands. if you're sitting in rehard, what are you seeing right now, you are seeing groups that want to overthrow the regime next door. the iranians are playing in the eastern province which is mostly shia dominated. you see the huti's saking over yemen. it's the nightmare being surrounded by iranian puppets and supporters. add on top of that an iranian capability. there is no way the saudis won't go nuclear. one gulf minister told me a month ago, why do you think the saudis have been supporting the pakistanis all of these years. what do you think is the quid pro quo? the quid pro quo is they'll give the saudis the nuclear

>> could i turn to syria? prime minister said at the liaison committee last month that it was the policy of the government to hold up the moderate opposition in practical terms. are we actually dealing with the same people? i think for most of us it's confusing as to where we are today. >> it's a large number of often very small groups. >> many of them had areas to make sure that there are proper services and policing and rescue services on. we expect to make our main impact through a commitment to engage in the u.s.-led training and equipping program for the moderate opposition. you'll remember that the u.s. congress last autumn allocated $500 million as an initial trench of funding. it has been quite slow not least because of the difficulty of setting out mechanisms to vet candidates for training. >> in the short term rngs is it policy to work so closely with opposition when you consider the main opposition to the west is now isil. and actually not the sad. >> well, it's inconvenient. but we've got to fight

this administration's incompetence in iraq and syria allow the emergence of isis. they are using american tanks and they are using american weapons and isis began taking cities that just a few years ago were secure by american blood. let's be very very clear about who isis is what they represent. they are a religious movement that seeks to take the world back to the seventh century. their aims are apocalyptic. they mean to cleanse the world not just of christians and jewish but muslims who disagree with their extreme ideology and it is their stated vow to kill as many americans as possible. it's time, it is time for the american people to hear the truth. [applause] the president declared in the state of the union that the advance of isis has been stopped and that is simply not true. [applause] he says that isis is a religious group. again, he is simply wrong. to deny the fundamental religious nature of the threat and to downplay the seriousness of it is naÏve, it is dangerous and it is misguided. isis represents the worst threat to freedom since communism. if egyp

to talk about syria. other than the holiday party that we are all invited to, which is an important event for republicans and democrats to come together, and to be together during the holidays, it is truly the only conversation or time we see the president, which is very unfortunate. in his 2014 state of the union the resident came to congress, and on the floor of the house told us he would go it alone wherever and whenever i can take steps without legislation. ". in this year state of the union you probably heard despite the fact his party had been defeated in the polls, he made the same threat. i am not sure what would happen if i were ever invited to the oval office and accepted the invitation to go visit with the president, and to tell the president we were going to completely ignore him. i don't believe that that would endear us to a relationship or begin to create a relationship. quite frankly, i was offended, and disappointed, quite frankly, the leader of our country, and the leader of someone who

then you go to syria. this idea of training the free syrian army made accepts three -- sense three years ago but they have condition des plated. the number trained this year is 5,000. isil is recruiting faster than we can train the syrian army. if we send a praoefree syrian army in europe and assad tries to blow them up through an air attack because he knows they will 10 on him can we engage assad's air force to protect the people we train and they said no. this authorization doesn't allow us to provide air coverage to the people we trained two fight isil on our behalf. it will fail because assad will kill them. that is immoral that is militarily unsound. so i will not vote for an authorization to use military force that ties the military's hands so we can't win the war we must win. i'm so sorry we have to go back. i'm really sorry we have to go back. we should have left some troops behind. we may have made a mistake going into iraq. bush made tons of mistakes. he did self-correct. so at the end of the day

iran continues to prop up bashar al assad's outlawed regime in syria. recently seized sunna, a cap actively yemen just over the weekend we had to withdraw further troops from yemen. hezbollah remains iran's catspaw in lebanon. put simply, iran dominates or controlled five capitals in its drive for regional hedge mown. further, iran has rapidly increased the size and capability of its ballistic missile arsenal recently launching a new satellite. three weeks ago iran blew up a mock u.s. aircraft carrier in naval exercises and publicized it with great fanfare. iran does all these things without the bomb. just imagine what iran will do with the bomb. and imagine a united states further down the road of appeasement, largely defenseless against this tyranny. but you don't have to man gyp much. simply look to north korea. because of a naive and failed nuclear agreement, that outlaw state acquired nuclear weapons. now america's largely handcuffed, watching as this rogue regime builds more bombs and missiles capable of striking the u.s. homeland and endangering

it's a reflection of his failed leadership that we see extremists who are attempting to establish syria as a safe haven to carry out acts of terror around the globe, certainly around that region. and that's why you've seen such a vibrant international response. and ultimately all of this rests at assad's feet. and we are optimist thaik as we move forward we're going to be able to succeed in working with the international community to limit this threat, to degrade and ultimately destroy isil as an organization to take out other extremists that may be operating inside syria and you know hopefully that once we've been able to make some progress as it relates to the security situation we can also make progress on the political situation inside syria too. >> okay. and on the cyclone that hit many south pacific islands, we heard from the president on that. what's his response? is he going to offer any kind of aid? >> let me start by saying that we offer our con don'ted to the people vanuatu tuvalu, the solomon islands and carabas as they cope with the devastating impact of cyclone pam. our th

lebanon, syria, as well as israel. but guess what? with the percentage -- the likely percentage that an iranian missile can make it through -- if you run the percentages less than one percent. the likelihood that the israelis can retaliate and wipe iran off the map is 100%. so if i'm an iranian general or even revolutionary guard i'm not going to recommend that. but if the iranians have a nuclear capability, as david said nobody else is going to sit on their hands. if you are sitting in riyadh what do you see right no? you see iranians still supporting groups that want to overthrow the regime next door. you've see core constantly suspecting the iranians are playing in the eastern province which is mostly see ya dominated. now the houthis are taking over yemen. the classic saudi nightmare being surrounded by iranian puppets, and supporters. now, add on top of that an iranian nuclear capability. there's no way that the saudis will not go nuclear and by the way, i heard from one gulf foreign minister who told me a thing about a month ago

i wanted to ask as well about i sil's activities beyond iraq and syria. we are hearing a lot about isil's activities in libya. can you help me understand what we see isil doing beyond the grave challenges we face of their associate caliphate along iraq and syria in places like libya, and where else are we seeing their presence and what are we going to do about it? mr. carter: thank you, senator. i will say something, and then the chairman will want to add in. we are seeing it. we're seeing a throughout north africa. we are seeing it in thegulf area. i had a lenghthy conversation with president ghani about a chewing up in afghanistan. and then we see people in europe individuals who are joining up and so forth. and i will give you the perspective i learned by talking to our folks over in the meeting i held in kuwait last week, what i learned about it, which is, one, isil is attractive to younger members of movements -- of older movements with the leadership has gotten a little older, maybe they have gotten a little staid and the younger guys who have more

fleming: i'm talking about syria. sec. carter: on the syrian side, as the chairman indicated, we are trying to build. rep. fleming: so we don't know who they are. sec. carter: you have the forces of assad regime any forces of isil neither of which we want to align ourselves with. they are the largest forces on the ground in syria. that is the circumstance in which we find ourselves. we are trying to create a moderate syrian force that will be able to defeat them and own the future of syria. that is our objective. rep. fleming: i just have to say we are not finding out who these people are. there is no answer to this question. rep. askedhford: thank you. card microglia losing -- part in microglia losing -- i will bring it back to the university of omaha. i agree with you about president ghani. there is a lot of hope in his ability to start reforms in the armed services and open up discussions with pakistan which are meaningful. when we went to visit with the president, one of his first comments with me was about tom. he sta

because isil already shows signs of metastasizing outside of syria and iraq. third, the president proposed authorization provides great flexibility in the military means we need as we pursue our strategy, with one exception. the proposed aumf does not authorize long-term, large-scale offensive ground combat operations, like those we conducted in iraq and afghanistan. because our strategy does not call for them. instead, local forces must provide the in during presence need

through their proxy has others fighting in syria. for states to say that you can't make peace with iran because we have our own problems with them, united states has to do what's best for the united states. what is best for our country is to try to stop them from becoming a nuclear weapons power. i think the most any reasonable person would say it is better to do that through diplomacy if you can do it rather than resort to militarism and war. as you know very well, we are just coming out of two big land wars. our troops have been fighting for 14 years. we fought for eight years in iraq. now we have several thousand special forces back there to combat isis. we have a lot of this generation of soldiers lost. we should try for a diplomatic solution. i think the critics in saudi arabia should wait for this deal to be finished before they start opposing it the way they have. we haven't even seen what the terms are yet. i trust the president and secretary kerry on this one. >> when you say we need to deal with it and you are talking about

over the past year was out with conflicts in iraq and syria. the transition from combat operations to a train, advise and assist in ct mission focus in afghanistan. at the same time, we dealt with a number of difficult challenges in yemen egypt and lebanon and a host of other locations throughout our area of response biloxi. we actively violent extremist groups and took measures to counter the radical ideologies espoused by these group. we also dealt with the rand which acts as a destabilizing force in the region primarily through its code forces and support to proxy actors such as lebanese hezbollah. and while we are hopeful and acceptable agreement will be reached with the rain with respect to its nuclear program either way whether we reach an agreement or don't reach an agreement, it ran will present a challenge going forward. we are faced with a number of difficult issues in our region. however, i firmly believe challengechallenge s present opportunities and we make our primarily by the business opportunities and we do pursue them. i am con

i want to talk about search and rescue capabilities in iraq and syria. i was 26 years in the military an a-10 pilot, and ran a joint rescue center in operation some of the watch and the early dayhs ofs of the afghanistan war weird if they get shot down, we are able to rescue them quickly. also in the environment we as seen with the fate of the jordanian pilot, to be able to immediately be overhead to locate and protect them while we are moving the forces to pick them up. we have got to get them right away. i have gotten a brief and will get a more detailed brief tomorrow by the joint staff on our posture, but i'm concerned. we will have to talk more classified about our capability and posture and whether it is limited by the 3100 person on the ground limitation, because we have to make sure, especially guys flying single-engine airplanes, that if they have to eject, we would do everything it takes, and sometimes it takes tremendous resources to protect them so we can get them out. can you speak to that, and i would like to follow-up. secretary carter: i

>> the request from syria is to defeat that isil threatened a work assyria policies lie will refrain. >> is a that incongruity? id and node with the syrian fighters are but today they fight isis' then they fight assad then retrain them to send the weapons? that ukrainian people ever said there were fights united states or kill us? have the ever said anything like that? direct certainly we will register your strong position on this issue but i will say 180 million but i hear your. >> at the end of my time we your sending defensive weapons will escalate the problem. not sending them will escalate because there will be no more ukraine. i yield back. [applause] smith know we go to the lady from florida. >> the ridges like to ask anyone to the ukraine last year, thank you for your testimony. to want to say i feel anxiety when i hear my colleagues with their unflattering remarks. i have three questions when we were in ukraine reheard time and time again have a correction of the ukrainian government would undermine the government to create an environment that they thank you alluded to of rus

syria as well as israel. but guess what? with the percentage, the likely percentage that an iranian missile can actually make it through, well, if you run the percents, less than 1%. the likelihood that the israelis can retaliate and wipe iran off the map is 100%. if i am an iranian general, i will not recommend that. but if the iranians have a nuclear capability, as david said, nobody is going to sit on their hands. if you are sitting in riyadh you are seeing groups that want to overthrow the regime next door. the iranians are playing in the eastern province which is mostly shia-dominated. you see the houthis taking over yemen. it's the nightmare being surrounded by iranian puppets and supporters. add on top of that an iranian nuclear capability. there is no way the saudis won't go nuclear. i heard from one gulf foreign minister who told me i think about a month ago, he said why do you think the saudi's have in supporting the pakistanis all these years? what to you think is the quid pro quo? it is that they will give the sa