F.P. Report
WASHINGTON: Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby has said that US are going to have a certain amount of US troops remain in Afghanistan to protect our diplomatic presence. And Afghanistan is not going to be treated like any other nation, where we have, you know, Marine security guards. I mean, it’s Afghanistan and we understand the dynamic nature of the security threat there.
This he said during press briefing on Tuesday, he said So there will be some number of U.S. troops there, and as we’ve said before, security at the airport is critical to being able to protect and have a diplomatic presence on the ground. We are still working out some of the details of what the security situation is going to look like at the airport and how that’s going to be facilitated.
One is to have a presence in Kabul that is sufficient to the task of protecting our diplomacy there. And two, to have a relationship with Afghanistan, a new bilateral relationship with Afghan forces that is designed to help their needs for competency and capability in the field, but it’ll be over the horizon, over-the-horizon logical support and some financial support.
Kirby added that we would like to see is the Taliban return to the peace process in a credible way. And as we see events on the ground unfold, it certainly calls into question the sincerity of their efforts to — to — to be a legitimate, credible participant in the peace process.
That’s really the right future for Afghanistan is a political process that leads to a negotiated settlement and a peaceful end to the fighting in Afghanistan. And that’s what we’re — that’s what we’re in favor of. That’s what — that’s what the administration’s policy continues to try to pursue.
Kirby further informed that General Gus Perna, who serves as the chief operating officer of the Countermeasures Acceleration Group, who is going to retire at the end of the week. His deputy, retired Lieutenant General Paul Ostrowski, a 35-year veteran himself, will also step down from his position as director of supply production and distribution, and return to civilian service.
This he said during press briefing on Tuesday, he said that both leaders were selected due to their vast experience and expertise in logistics and acquisitions to lead an incredible team, including the best of government, industry, and academic professionals, to develop, manufacture, and deliver safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics for the American people.
Kirby said that General Perna, Mr. Ostrowski, and their team accomplished this incredible feat in only 13 months, an unprecedented and historic accomplishment. To date, they have helped deliver over 390 million doses of COVID vaccines, and almost 1 million therapeutics for the American people. And, of course, they began the initial coordination to support our global donations.
As the country transitions to a new normal, the department will transition leadership of vaccine operational logistics under the Countermeasures Acceleration Group to HHS. Both departments will maintain a strong partnership to ensure the seamless production and delivery of vaccines. The general’s retirement and Mr. Ostrowski’s return to civilian service I think is a benchmark of that transition. And we thank them and their team for their incredible success in this really what can be called a Herculaneum mission and service to their country.
As the secretary himself said of General Perna and his team last week, thanks to his unrelenting efforts and leadership in the fight against COVID, in fact, one step closer to returning to a normal way of life.
He further said that on a new topic, as I mentioned last week, this Monday, U.S. Navy Europe and the Ukrainian Navy kicked off Exercise Sea Breeze 2021 in the Black Sea with the largest number of participants in the exercise’s 21 iterations.
During the opening ceremony, Deputy Commander Captain Kyle Gantt explained that there is nothing provocative about a naval exercise in international waters, and he’s absolutely right. This longstanding exercise continues to support security and stability in the region through interoperability with our Black Sea NATO allies and partners.
This week, the exercise will include force integration training, which places participants into a pre-scripted scenario that builds familiarization at sea, and then this will transition in — into the unscripted scenario of testing the dynamic maritime capabilities of the participants.
And then lastly, tomorrow, Secretary Austin looks forward to welcoming and hosting German Federal Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer here at the Pentagon for a bilateral meeting. And of course, we’ll — there will be access to the press to — to the opening comments of that meeting.
Regarding to a question on Iraq, Kirby answered that we talked about the strikes over the weekend that they really were intended to disrupt and deter future attacks. Now, that remains to be seen, I understand that.
Nobody is interested in escalating tensions. Nobody is interested in further violence in Iraq or in Syria. Our troops are there at the request of the Iraqi government to help them in their fight against ISIS, which is still a relevant mission.
And so and it’s all about, the whole purpose of us being there is all about helping protect the Iraqi people and our own national security interests. So, we have no interest in having this escalate into some sort of broader conflict. But we do have a responsibility to protect our people and our facilities. And that is what the president ordered over the weekend.
