Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra meets with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey in Bangkok, Thailand, June 5, 2012. DOD photo by D. Myles Cullen
Just back from his first major trip to Southeast Asia, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he laid out the context and rationale there for the Defense Department’s rebalance to a region that is of strategic consequence to the world.
During a Pentagon press briefing here today, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey told reporters he had positive visits with counterparts in Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand
However, it was a different story with regards to Pakistan.
According to the American Forces Press Service:
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey joined Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta today in expressing unhappiness with Pakistan’s progress in battling the Haqqani network’s use of safe havens in Pakistan.
Pakistan is working to battle other threats within the federally administered tribal area, or FATA, Dempsey told reporters.
“Although we are extraordinarily dissatisfied with the effect that Pakistan has had on the Haqqani [network], we are also mindful that they are conducting military operations, at great loss … elsewhere,” Dempsey said.
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The Haqqani network is as big a threat to Pakistan as it is to Afghanistan and the United States, Dempsey said. He added that the U.S. will continue to work with Pakistan to find common ground on ways to deal with the cross-border threat posed by the Haqqani network and other groups.
In other news:
The Department of Defense today identified four units to deploy as part of the upcoming rotation of forces operating in Afghanistan. The scheduled rotation involves one brigade combat team with more than 3,000 personnel to rotate in late Spring 2012; one brigade combat team with more than 2,950 personnel and one combat aviation brigade with more than 2,580 to rotate in late Fall 2012; and one combat aviation brigade with more than 2,500 personnel to rotate in early Winter 2012. The deploying units include:
• 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. (deploys in late Spring 2012).
• 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. (deploys in late Fall 2012).
• 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Campbell, Ky. (deploys in late Fall 2012).
• 3rd Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Stewart, Ga. (deploys in early Winter 2012).
Military images of interest and significance:
U.S. Army Cpl. Brian Lewis greets an Afghan boy while conducting a dismounted patrol in Shaway Valley in Afghanistan’s Khowst province, June 2, 2012. Lewis, a team leader, is assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment.
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert delivers remarks during a memorial service for Lt. Cmdr. Wesley Brown in the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel. Brown became the first African-American to graduate from the Academy in 1949. A veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars, he served in the Navy from 1944 to 1969. Brown, 85, passed away May 22, 2012. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad Runge)
All Images and News from Department of Defense Sources
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.