ウィスパリング同時通訳研究会コミュのPentagon Briefing With Defense Secretary Austin

Speaker 1: (00:00)So right over to the secretary for opening comments, I will be moderating. Please limit followups if you can, Mr. Secretary.

Secretary Austin: (00:07)Thanks John.(00:08)
I’m going to speak briefly and then turn it over to the chairman for an operational update. Let me start by saying that we remain laser focused right now on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and on doing everything that we can to continue evacuating Americans, allies, Afghans, who’ve worked alongside us and also other courageous Afghans at special risk. And to that end, I’m prioritizing three key concerns. (00:44)
First, the safety and security of our people and the people that we’re trying to evacuate. As the chairman will brief you, the final elements of additional military forces continued to flow in the Kabul with about 4,500 in place as we speak. They are trained and equipped to defend themselves and their operations. There have been no hostile interactions with the Taliban and our lines of communication with Taliban commanders remain open as they should be. (01:20)
My second focus is maintaining security at the airport itself. In concert with forces from our allies, our troops have set up defensive positions around the airport and the airport is able to function safely. Now we don’t take this for granted and I continue to be in daily contact with General McKenzie and commanders on the ground to make sure that they have what they need to keep it safe.(01:49)
My third area of focus, of course, is the pace. Increasing the flow of aircraft and people out of Kabul. And we’ve flown out several thousand since the 15th of August and our goal is to be able to increase our capacity every day going forward. And as we build out this capacity, we’re working hand in glove with the state department which is leading the whole of government effort to notify and process American citizens who are leaving, and to urgently identify and process Afghan applicants as well. (02:28)
We’ve dispatched small military teams to two of the airports gates to assist the state department console their efforts as they evaluate and process individuals seeking entry. And we expect to be able to augment that capability in the coming days. This is truly a team effort across the inner agency and throughout all of this, our US service members are making exceptional efforts under challenging circumstances, and showing their humanity and their compassion. So I want to thank them for their skill and their professionalism. It’s not lost on me that even as we conduct this very important mission, we also continue to help our fellow Americans deal with a new surge in the pandemic and the citizens of Haiti deal with the aftermath of an earthquake. Let me also thank General McKenzie and Rear Admiral Vasely who is a commander of US forces forward and Major General Donahue of the 82nd Airborne Division and Brigadier General Sullivan for their leadership at this critical time, it is making an enormous difference. They know, as I do that, there’s a lot of work to be done yet. (03:50)
Now, all of this is very personal for me. This is a war that I fought in and led. I know the country, I know the people, and I know those who fought alongside me. As I said, we have a moral obligation to help those who helped us and I feel the urgency deeply. So I want to end with a word for the force and our military. I know that these are difficult days for those who lost loved ones in Afghanistan and for those who carry the wounds of war. Especially now, we mourn those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, let me say to their families and loved ones, our hearts are with you. And the US military stands as one to honor. Those we’ve lost. (04:49)
Now, Afghan war veterans aren’t some monolith, I’m hearing strong views from all sides on this issue and that’s probably the way that it should be. What’s important is that each of us will work our way through this in our own way. We need to respect that and we need to give one another the time and space to help do it. Our greatest asset as a nation is the extraordinary men and women who volunteer to keep us all safe and their families. We honor your service, we understand your sacrifice and we will never forget it. And so with that, I’m going to turn it over to General Milley who can talk about where we stand operationally.

General Milley: (05:36)Good afternoon everyone and thank you Mr. Secretary.(05:38)
What I’d like to do is give you an overall situation update as a today and what our next steps are. Currently, the United States military has focused on the specific mission of conducting a noncombatant evacuation operation from Afghanistan. This is likely to be probably the second largest NEO conducted by the United States. Our key tasks are to establish and maintain security at the Kabul international airport, defend the airport from attack, evacuate all American citizens from Afghanistan who desire to leave this country, evacuate any third country nationals or allies and partners as designated by the secretary of state, evacuate personnel with state department designated special immigrant visas and evacuate any other evacuees that the state department designates. (06:37)
The President of the United States made a decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan on April 14th. Since that date, we conducted a deliberate and responsible draw-down of US forces to less than a thousand with a specific task of securing the US embassy and our diplomatic presence in Afghanistan. Since then the security situation rapidly degraded. Today, the situation is still very dangerous, very dynamic, and very fluid. And all of us can be proud of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines who are executing this mission. They are currently in harms way, that needs to be our focus. There’ll be plenty of time to do AAR’s but right now, our mission is to secure that airfield, defend that airfield and evacuate all those who have been faithful to us. There’ll be many post-mortems on this topic, but right now is not that time. Right now there are troops at risk and we are the United States military and we fully intend to successfully evacuate all American citizens who want to get out of Afghanistan. All American citizens who want to get out of Afghanistan, they are priority number one. In addition, we intend to evacuate those have been supporting us for years, and we’re not going to leave them behind and we will get out as many as possible. (08:01)
Our troops in Kabul are taking high risks to accomplish that mission. Every minute, these troops are on the ground, making difficult decisions with incredible skill, incredible bravery and incredible valor. Currently the security situation at the airport is stable, however, there are threats and we’re closely monitoring those, at any moment they could happen. We can identify them. If we identify them, we will take immediate military action without hesitation, and according to the rules of engagement. The Taliban and every other organization that country knows it. The Taliban are in and around Kabul right now, but they are not interfering with our operations. Through the state department the Taliban are facilitating the safe passage to the airport for American citizens, that is US passport holders. We also have a risk as you saw the other day of unarmed innocent civilians massing on the airfield where it became a safety hazard to our airplanes, our air crews, and also to themselves. And we currently have that situation under control inside the airfield. There’s many other risks out there and the troops are dealing with those every single day in this volatile environment, which can and likely will change rapidly. (09:24)
Let me make one comment on the intelligence because I’m seeing all over the news that there were warnings of a rapid collapse. I have previously said from this podium and in sworn testimony before Congress that the intelligence clearly indicated multiple scenarios were possible. One of those was an outright Taliban takeover following a rapid collapse of the Afghan security forces and the government. Another was a civil war and a third was a negotiated settlement.(09:57)
However, the timeframe of rapid collapse that was widely estimated and ranged from weeks to months and even years following our departure, there was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days. Central command submitted a variety of plans that were briefed and approved by the joint chiefs of staff, the secretary of defense and the president. These plans were coordinated, synchronized and rehearsed to deal with these various scenarios. (10:38)
One of those contingencies is what we are executing right now. As I said before, there’s plenty of time to do AARs and key lessons learned and to delve into these questions with great detail, but right now is not that time. Right now, we have to focus on this mission because we have soldiers at risk. And we also have American citizens and Afghans who supported us for 20 years also at risk. This is personal and we’re going to get them out. And we in uniform have a deep commitment to this mission. (11:10)
Now, let me give you an operational update. The security situation, as I said, is currently secure at this time. And since 12 hours we’ve deployed 12, or correction, two, United States Marine battalions, one battalion from the Minnesota National Guard. All three of those were pre-positioned in theater, CENTCOM AOR as part of the contingency planning. In addition to that, we alerted, marshaled, and deployed the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters and a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division consisting of three airborne infantry battalions, and associated enablers. (11:46)
And finally, there was an infantry battalion from the 10th Mountain Division securing the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. In addition, we were operating on the ground with a variety of special operations forces. That in combination with the ground forces, we have some of the best soldiers and Marines the world has ever seen. In total, there are 20 U.S. maneuver companies currently on the ground with about 4,500 troops and the flow continues. (12:15)
The president has authorized, as you all know, up to 6,000. On top of them is the United States Navy and Air Force. We have multiple squadrons of F-18s, AV-8s, F-16s, AC-130s, B-52s and MQ-9s. We have a significant amount of rotary wing aviation on the ground, including attack and lift helicopters. In addition, we are working with our allies and partners. There are British infantry rifle companies along with British special forces on the ground working with us. It was also a Turkish security force and there are other international special operations forces. (12:55)
This force is capable of extracting a significant amount of people on U.S. Air Force aircraft. Right now we’re averaging about 20 sorties of C-17s every 24 hours. We have the capability to significantly increase that throughput as the Department of State makes evacuees available. As the secretary said, we’ve already evacuated approximately 5,000 people and we intend to increase it. (13:21)
In addition to the military airflow, there’s a variety of commercial and charter flights taking out evacuees on behalf of various other countries and NGOs. The military side of the airfield is open and the civilian side of the airfield is also open. And we intend to keep them both open for military, commercial and charter flights. One caveat on the civilian side, however, is that the airframes have to come in by visual flight rules only and a NOTAM is going out to all the air crews. (13:53)
The state department is working to rapidly increase the flow of passengers available to get out on the aircraft and we are fully supporting them with our military personnel at the entrance gates. In this highly dynamic environment, there’s a number of unexpected challenges that can and likely will continue to occur. And we rely heavily on the talent, skill and training of our troops. We’ve got great people across all the ranks and services out there right now on this mission.(14:19)
In addition to Afghanistan, which is clearly our main effort, we’re also conducting humanitarian and assistant operations in Haiti in the aftermath of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake with a significant loss of life. On the West Coast, we’re fighting wildfires and we continue to conduct COVID support and other operations around the world. As we reflect on these difficult and challenging times, every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, coast guardsman, who was fought or conducted operation in Afghanistan, almost 800,000 should hold their head high. (14:54)
For more than 20 years, we have prevented an attack on the U.S. Homeland. 2, 448 lost their lives. 20,722 were wounded in action. And many others suffered the unseen wounds of war. To each of them, I want you to know personally that your service mattered. As the secretary said, for both he and I this is personal and I know it’s personal for each and every one of you. Thank you.

John: (15:29)Okay, we’ll go to questions. Bob.

Bob: (15:31)Thank you, John. I have a question for you each of you gentlemen, if I may. Mr. Secretary, you mentioned the urgency of ramping up the pace of the evacuation. So you have a safe passage agreement with the Taliban. But in fact, in some cases, American citizens, Afghans who are at risk who are being advised to go to the airport are able to get into the airport because of Taliban checkpoints and so forth. So are you considering other ways that you can get around that problem, by for example, sending forces out beyond the airport to collect people and bring them, escort them into to the airport?(16:10)
If I may ask General Milley. With a rapid collapse of the Afghan forces, there’s large amounts of weaponry that are kind of out there now that were either surrendered or abandoned by the Afghan forces that are otherwise captured by the Taliban. Are you considering ways that you might destroy some of that equipment to avoid it falling into the Taliban’s hands?

Secretary Austin: (16:39)Thanks, Bob. In terms of whether or not we intend to send forces outside of the airfield to collect up American citizens or Afghans who are special immigrant visa applicants, the forces that we have are focused on security of the airfield. And you know how important that is and you know what happens if we lose the ability to provide that security. And so I don’t want to detract from that. And we have to make sure that we can not only secure the airfield, but as the chairman said, defend it as well because there are a number of threats still in the environment.(17:26)
I certainly don’t want to do anything to make the airfield less safe and we won’t do that. But we will continue to coordinate and deconflict with the Taliban. And make sure that those folks, those people that need to get to the airfield have the right credentials to ensure passage. And the Taliban has been checking those credentials and if they have them, they have allowed them to pass so.

General Milley: (17:59)On the equipment part, we obviously have capabilities, but I’d prefer not to discuss any operations other than what we’re doing right now in order to get our evacuation out and get that complete. And then there’ll be another time when we can discuss future operations.

Speaker 2: (18:13)Barb.
Barb: (18:13)I would like to press both of you on the same points. General Milley, you say in your statement that one of your tasks is to evacuate all American citizens from Afghanistan who desire to leave. There are Americans clearly all over Kabul. There may be Americans in other parts of the country. How can the US, the Pentagon live up to that task of evacuating all Americans because we continue to see the violence just outside the airport and how would you get them around the country, unless you go get them?

General Milley: (18:50)Well, two things, Barbara. One is State Department as you know, as I said is working with the Taliban to facilitate safe passage of American citizens, US passport holders to the airport. And that’s the primary means and under the current conditions, that’s the primary effort. We have capability to do other things if necessary.

Barb: (19:12)
Well, can I ask you what that means? Because you also said there were international special forces there that have the capability to extract, and those words suggest very clearly in the military realm, you would go get people. (19:26)
Well, that’d be a policy decision. And if directed, we have capabilities that can execute whatever we’re directed.
Barb: (19:32)Thank you.

Speaker 2: (19:32)Louie.
Secretary Austin: (19:34)And I would draw a distinction, Barb, between extracting someone in an extremist condition or circumstance versus going out and collecting up large numbers of American citizens.
Barb: (19:50)Do you have the capability to go out and collect Americans?
Secretary Austin: (19:53)We don’t have the capability to go out and collect up large numbers of people, Barb.

Speaker 2: (20:00)Louie, go ahead.
Louie: (20:01)For both of you if I could. You have 5,000 US military personnel on the ground securing the area. You have small groups, potentially, of Taliban fighters outside there who are holding up potentially the second-largest NEO that could be undertaken. You have the capability to get there, but how do you get those people inside so that they can actually get on those planes? And both of you have served in major command roles inside Afghanistan, did you not see the possibility that the Afghan security forces were not up to this fight?

Secretary Austin: (20:38)We continue to work with the State Department officials on the ground to improve the procedures at the entry points to make sure that we can speed up the process of getting people in and move them onward. And so State is deploying more consular officers to be able to help with that. As I stated earlier, we’re going to push more military assistance down to the entry points to facilitate these efforts, but we’re really working hard to get as many people through as possible. And quite frankly, it’s obvious we’re not close to where we want to be in terms of getting the numbers through. So we’re going to work that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we’re going to get everyone that we can possibly evacuate evacuated. And I’ll do that as long as we possibly can until the clock runs out or we run out of capability.

Louie: (21:46)Thank you, sir. And also about the Afghan security forces, did you feel that they were ever up to this fight, or did you not see this coming, that they were not up to the fight?
General Milley: (21:59)Well, I stood behind this podium and said that the Afghan security forces had the capacity. And by that, I mean, they had the training, the size, the capability to defend their country. This comes down to an issue of will and leadership. And no, I did not nor did anyone else see a collapse of an army that size in 11 days?
Speaker 2: (22:18)[Fabrice 00:22:18].
Louie: (22:18)Thank you.

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