Secretary of Defense Mark Esper gave his first press briefing Wednesday since entering office, ending the year-long drought of press briefings by a sitting Secretary of Defense.
The newly-confirmed secretary touched on a variety of issues, ranging from the Pentagon’s ongoing effort to refocus on adversaries like China and Russia to the U.S.-led operation defending shipping from Iran in the Persian Gulf. The crowded Pentagon briefing room was filled with dozens of journalists and photographers, leading Esper to joke, “I haven’t seen this room filled this much in a while.”
Members of the Pentagon press corps could be seen snapping selfies and pictures of Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford. Some exchanged tongue-in-cheek remarks about how it was good to be back, while others swarmed Pentagon press officers with questions.
“The United States military has a proud history and a great story to tell,” Esper said in his opening remarks. “It is my commitment to the American people, who entrust us with their sons and daughters, to keep them informed of the work that our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, and Department of Defense civilians do every day to keep our nation safe. While we have many avenues to engage with the media in today’s world, moving forward, I intend to do these briefings to maintain an open dialogue about the department’s activities.”
Esper has only spent about a month in office, but in that time he has confronted several major national security issues — both planned and unplanned. First, he made clear that the Department of Defense under his watch continues to implement the 2018 National Defense Strategy, a road map created by his predecessor, James Mattis, for refocusing the military’s efforts toward competitors like China and Russia.
“It is clear that China is engaging in a deliberate strategy to undermine the stability of the region,” Esper said regarding the Pacific region. “It is clear the values and behaviors of the communist party do not align with the vast majority of states.”
Esper also announced that Operation Sentinel, a U.S.-led mission protecting shipping in the Gulf, is up and running with the U.K., Australia, and Bahrain participating as partners. The operation’s goals are to protect vital shipping and to deter provocations and conflict with Iran.
“[W]e are not seeking conflict with Iran. We want to engage with them diplomatically,” Esper said. “You saw over the weekend some reporting the President once again said he is more than willing to meet with Iran’s leaders to resolve this diplomatically. That has been the purpose of Operation Sentinel, to get us off that that track and onto a different one.”
When asked about the ongoing negotiations with the Taliban and how that might impact U.S. troops in the region, Dunford said it was premature to discuss the subject. He did, however, note that he does not believe the Afghan forces are ready to counter terrorism by themselves and defended the ongoing U.S. negotiations with the Taliban.
“I believe that what is needed is some type of disruption to the status quo,” Dunford said. “I think that an agreement that can initiate inter-Afghan dialogue, and potentially leading to a reduction of violence associated with the insurgency, is something that’s worth trying. Particularly, and it’s important to emphasize this, any agreement that we have moving forward, and the presidents been very clear, is going to be conditions based. And so those conditions are what make me confident that its worth trying.”
For Dunford, the briefing was one of his last, as he prepares to retire after four years leading the Joint Chiefs. Esper admonished one reporter for using the “R word” prematurely when mentioning the outgoing general.
“He’s not going anywhere yet, he’s got a few more weeks,” Esper joked.
“A month is a long time,” Dunford added.
