If the United States ever conducts coordinated airstrikes in Syria with Russia, the U.S. military will not share intelligence with the Russians, the nation’s most senior military officer told senators Thursday, underscoring in a very public way the divide between the Pentagon and the State Department on Syria policy.
The cessation of hostilities agreement negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry calls for creating a Joint Implementation Center where U.S. and Russians would work together to target the Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Syria, by coordinating airstrikes and targeting info.
But Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford insisted that arrangement would not include sharing intelligence with Moscow in testimony Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Under questioning from Chairman Sen. John McCain, Dunford said, “We don’t have any intention of having an intelligence sharing arrangement with the Russians.”
McCain seemed confused, responding, “That is part of Secretary Kerry’s proposal.”
Dunford answered, “Chairman, the U.S. military role will not include intelligence-sharing with the Russians.”
On Sept. 13, State Department spokesman Mark Toner spoke in vague terms about intelligence being shared, yet he did acknowledge it was expected to occur.
“But there will have to be a certain level or certain degree of coordination ongoing. We’ll have to establish processes. We’ll have to establish a means of communication,” Toner said. “And we’ll have to, as you mentioned, talk about the mechanisms by which we share information and intelligence and how that works.”
Dunford also backed a statement from anonymous Pentagon officials who say a Russian Su-24 was in the area and most likely bombed a humanitarian aid convoy in Syria on Monday. Dunford said Syrian planes were also in the area.
“What we know are two Russian aircraft were in that area at that time. My judgment would be that they did.” Dunford said. “There were also some other aircraft in the area that belonged to the regime at or about the same time, so I can’t conclusively say that it was the Russians, but it was either the Russians or the regime.”
But either way, he said, there was no question that Russia was responsible for the bombing that killed 20 people, and stopped the delivery of food and medicine to long-suffering Syrian civilians.
Asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., if the bombing should be considered a war crime, Dunford said, “It was an unacceptable atrocity, senator.”
