00:00Thank you, Senator Reid. Senator Fischer.
00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:03And thank you both, Admiral Cooper, General Grinkiewicz,
00:07for your service and for the service of your family to this country for many, many years.
00:14General, you're nominated not only to serve as commander of the U.S. European Command,
00:20but also as the supreme allied commander, Europe,
00:24who is responsible for all NATO military operations and forces.
00:29And that includes the American nuclear forces that are assigned to NATO.
00:34NATO is a nuclear alliance.
00:37The role that you would assume in NATO has always been filled by an American,
00:42beginning with General Eisenhower in 1950.
00:46How do you view the role of nuclear deterrence with respect to the NATO alliance?
00:53Senator, in my view, the U.S. strategic nuclear forces under the command of General Cotton
01:02at U.S. Strategic Command are really foundational to the security of all of Europe
01:08and foundational to the security of the alliance as really, you know,
01:12and also underpin global security in many, many ways.
01:15And they're absolutely essential.
01:18I also would note the forward positioning of certain nuclear capabilities on the continent,
01:25and those provide a very important backstop against any potential threat coming from the east.
01:32You earlier were asked about the increased, the higher role of spending from our NATO partners to 5% of GDP.
01:44I'm curious how you would work to coordinate among the NATO members
01:50to ensure that their investments would be complementary to each other and to the alliance as a whole.
02:00Senator, if confirmed, I think that would be one of my major responsibilities,
02:04is to ensure that any increased spending was done in a way that benefited the alliance
02:09and ensured the achievement of capability targets that the alliance has agreed to.
02:13I'd also note the work that has been done on the NATO plans and that there are specific requirements
02:20and capabilities that are essential to the effective execution of those plans.
02:24And so, you know, certain countries have strengths in particular areas.
02:28You know, some countries are very strong in the land domain.
02:31Others have a stronger position in the maritime domain.
02:35And within all of the domains, there's, of course, a variety of capabilities.
02:39My goal would be to work very hard with our allies and partners in the region
02:45to bring all of that together in a coherent fashion to increase the strength of the alliance.
02:50Do you know if discussions are going on right now with that?
02:54Ma'am, I'm certain that those have started. Absolutely.
02:59Admiral Cooper, yesterday we had the opportunity to visit a little bit in a classified session together.
03:06And we talked about Iran's influence in both Syria and Lebanon
03:12and how that's been changed with recent events.
03:16And it sounds like there are real opportunities in the future for more stability,
03:21for peace within those nations.
03:24What do you assess a post-Assad Syria and a post-Hezbollah Lebanon
03:30would mean for the region in its entirety?
03:33Senator, first, I enjoyed our conversation yesterday.
03:38When I think first of Syria, I think that stability in Syria can translate into security in the United States.
03:45And here's how those dots connect.
03:47ISIS thrives in chaos.
03:49If the government of Syria now, seven months into their existence,
03:53can help suppress that ISIS threat along with the U.S. forces in the region,
03:58that stability helps create our own security.
04:00I'm optimistic for the future, although they're at the beginnings of this new government.
04:05I think we've now seen several steps, including Ambassador Tom Barrack,
04:09who's the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, being appointed as a Syria envoy.
04:14He's made several trips.
04:15Everything we do in Syria will be diplomatically led.
04:18And I think we're heading in a good direction in that regard.
04:21If you are confirmed, how would you ensure that CENTCOM integrates its actions,
04:27both with state and treasury, to support more stability, growing stability within Syria?
04:36Senator, I would anticipate we will be nested very closely, diplomatically led, drafting in behind.
04:42As the policies start to sharpen on this,
04:45we will be prepared to provide our best military advice on how to support those policies.
04:49Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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