U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis was critical of Iran without mentioning it by name
CBS NEWS news, Oct. 9- Defense Secretary James Mattis on Monday told the U.S. Army 'to be ready' should military action be ordered by President Donald Trump against North Korea.
Speaking to the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) convention in Washington, Mattis said efforts continue by the administration to get a peaceful solution to the problem of having a nuclear-armed North Korea. He said, 'North Korean provocations [are] threatening regional and even global peace.'
'It is right now a diplomatically led, economic-sanction buttressed effort to try to turn North Korea off this path,' said Mattis. 'What does the future hold? Neither you nor I can say, so there's one thing the U.S. Army can do, and that is you've got to be ready to ensure that we have military options that our president can employ, if needed.'
Speaking to the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) convention in Washington, Mattis said efforts continue by the administration to get a peaceful solution to the problem of having a nuclear-armed North Korea. He said, 'North Korean provocations [are] threatening regional and even global peace.'
'It is right now a diplomatically led, economic-sanction buttressed effort to try to turn North Korea off this path,' said Mattis. 'What does the future hold? Neither you nor I can say, so there's one thing the U.S. Army can do, and that is you've got to be ready to ensure that we have military options that our president can employ, if needed.'
The comments come amid heightened tensions with North Korea, which has indicated it plans to conduct more ballistic missile tests. The hermit regime also has threatened to conduct a nuclear weapons test over the Pacific.
The retired four-star Marine Corps general also spoke about how past mistakes made during battles are 'a reminder that we've got to be brilliant in the basics of blocking and tackling. Right now what we want to do is be so ready and be very much aware that we fight the way we come that everybody in the world wants to deal with Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson and the Department of State, not the Department of Defense and the United States Army.'
Mattis also was critical of Iran without mentioning it by name.'One state sponsor of terror in the Mideast cannot hide behind its nation-state status while in effect it is actually a destabilizing revolutionary regime,' he said.
'The international situation is the most complex and demanding that I have seen in all my years of service — and that's over four decades,' Mattis said.
However, the Defense secretary didn't specifically talk about the Iran nuclear deal, although in remarks last week to Congress said the U.S. should stay in the international agreement. Trump, who has been sharply critical of the deal, faces a looming Oct. 15 deadline on whether to certify Iran's compliance with the agreement.
At the same time, Mattis was critical of Congress for not doing enough to invest in the readiness of the military and he called on U.S. lawmakers to get rid of automatic spending cuts under budget caps and the so-called sequestration process.
'I am among the majority in this country that believes our nation can afford survival,' Mattis said. 'And I want the Congress back in the driver's seat of budget decisions, not in the spectator's seat of automatic cuts.'
Added Mattis, 'We have the time right now to prepare for war as the best way to prevent war,' he said. 'But should conflict break out, to get money later will not be good enough because we won't have the time at that point.'
Meantime, Mattis on Monday also called for open communications with Silicon Valley and American industry to help the U.S. military get its hands on more technologically advanced equipment and capabilities. He said America's military advantage is being 'eroded' as other major superpowers adopted new advances more rapidly.
'I want no longer this gulf between us to deny us the very advances that American industry is out there and executing for themselves in the private sector,' said Mattis. 'The advances in weaponry that are out there right now.'
Mattis added, 'I've lived out in Silicon Valley for the three years that I was retired. I've seen what American industry is capable of, from Silicon Valley to Michigan, from Boston to Texas. And we've got to open the communication with them much more robustly.'
Elsewhere, Mattis said reforms were underway at the Pentagon to 'move faster in research in engineering.' He also said acquisition reforms were in the works.
Congressionally mandated legislation passed last year will result in the splitting up of the job of undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (AT&L) into two positions: one on the technology wing and a second on the acquisitions wing.
The Defense secretary also applauded the Army's new modernization strategy 'to move us more rapidly and organize to move more rapidly.'
The Army modernization plan includes acquisition reform and is expected to be formally announced this week at the AUSA convention.
However, the Defense secretary didn't specifically talk about the Iran nuclear deal, although in remarks last week to Congress said the U.S. should stay in the international agreement. Trump, who has been sharply critical of the deal, faces a looming Oct. 15 deadline on whether to certify Iran's compliance with the agreement.
At the same time, Mattis was critical of Congress for not doing enough to invest in the readiness of the military and he called on U.S. lawmakers to get rid of automatic spending cuts under budget caps and the so-called sequestration process.
'I am among the majority in this country that believes our nation can afford survival,' Mattis said. 'And I want the Congress back in the driver's seat of budget decisions, not in the spectator's seat of automatic cuts.'
Added Mattis, 'We have the time right now to prepare for war as the best way to prevent war,' he said. 'But should conflict break out, to get money later will not be good enough because we won't have the time at that point.'
Meantime, Mattis on Monday also called for open communications with Silicon Valley and American industry to help the U.S. military get its hands on more technologically advanced equipment and capabilities. He said America's military advantage is being 'eroded' as other major superpowers adopted new advances more rapidly.
'I want no longer this gulf between us to deny us the very advances that American industry is out there and executing for themselves in the private sector,' said Mattis. 'The advances in weaponry that are out there right now.'
Mattis added, 'I've lived out in Silicon Valley for the three years that I was retired. I've seen what American industry is capable of, from Silicon Valley to Michigan, from Boston to Texas. And we've got to open the communication with them much more robustly.'
Elsewhere, Mattis said reforms were underway at the Pentagon to 'move faster in research in engineering.' He also said acquisition reforms were in the works.
Congressionally mandated legislation passed last year will result in the splitting up of the job of undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (AT&L) into two positions: one on the technology wing and a second on the acquisitions wing.
The Defense secretary also applauded the Army's new modernization strategy 'to move us more rapidly and organize to move more rapidly.'
The Army modernization plan includes acquisition reform and is expected to be formally announced this week at the AUSA convention.
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