00:00I understand, to your point here, that you don't want to broadcast everything for our adversaries to hear,
00:06but the American people also want to know what they're sending their men and women to war for.
00:11Is there a concern of this spiraling into a longer war and then one for the chairman when you're done?
00:17Did you not hear my remarks?
00:20I mean, we're ensuring the mission gets accomplished,
00:22but we are very clear-eyed, as the president has been, unlike other presidents,
00:27about the foolish policies of the past that recklessly pulled us in
00:32to things that were not tethered to actual clear objectives.
00:37So we know, we have plans, we have generals, we have chairmen, we have commanders,
00:43CENTCOM commanders, Admiral Cooper, who's executing very deliberately
00:46to ensure outcomes that I laid out are accomplished,
00:49but we would never, in front of a press pool, lay out how long that may take.
00:54The mission for our warfighters, which is what matters to us, is very, very clear,
00:59and they're executing it right now, violently.
01:02And just for the chairman, quickly, I have one for the chairman.
01:05You said this is not a one-night operation.
01:07It will take time to achieve the goals.
01:10What would be the goal line here for you?
01:13I think the secretary laid out the military objectives,
01:16and that's what we execute against is the military objectives.
01:19Last one right here.
01:21Thank you, sir.
01:22As you've said, there are a large amount of U.S. service members
01:25that are in harm's way right now.
01:27What is your prayer for them?
01:30First of all, my prayer for them is that I do pray for them.
01:33My wife prays for them.
01:35Our family prays for them.
01:36Our cabinet prays for them.
01:38None of this is done on a whim.
01:43Having been in their boots, having been in their shoes, having been in their flight suits,
01:48I think we, I mean, I know we think about them with every decision that we make
01:52and every recommendation that we make to the president of the United States.
01:55Those recommendations are made prayerfully.
01:59And when I pray every day for them and for this mission,
02:03I pray simply for the biblical wisdom to see what is right and the courage to do it.
02:09It's going to take courage to follow through on this.
02:11There's going to be a lot of noise, and we pray for that,
02:13and we hope all of you do as well.
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