inclusion in centcom? also they coordinated very closely with the ballistic missile defense including agent support from the mediterranean. how do you ensure the continuity of the ballistic missile defense in israel, and will this continue in the eu orb moved to a different direction? >> senator, we are in a planning phase right now to move israel into the central command. we are on about a six month timing plan. as you know a number of things have to happen in order to make sure the move goes seamlessly and i will address those in a moment. we worked closely with the european command and joint staff based on guidance we got from the secretary to make sure that that move proceeds very smoothly and nothing falls through the cracks. particularly those things related to the defense of israel. the principal benefit of israel coming into the central command away our is the fact that all of israel's threats emanate from the east which is in the centcom area of responsibility. today, i talk a lot to the israeli c

in centcom, we have the opposite problem.ts significant resources to counter al-qaeda, isis, and iranian-backed terrorists. general mckenzie, in the last year, i understand you've been able to reduce u.s. troop levels in the region, but i worry this administration's policies in your region are driven more by politics than national security. first, in afghanistan, the administration is, by its own admission, executing a calendar-based drawdown rather than a conditions-based one. we know this is true. we've talked about this for quite a period of time. general mckenzie you recently stated that the taliban still has to take actions to meet the conditions for u.s. troop withdrawal of the february 2020 agreement. and the arbitrary september 11th deadline for troop drawdown risks a power vacuum that terrorists will dominate and use to threaten our homeland again. i want to add here that i'm extremely disappointed that general miller is not yet scheduled to testify publicly before the committee, and i hope you will work to fix that,

i can state as a matter of fact that the unison ships assigned to centcom are as ready as any in the joint force. the weeks and months ahead will see us execute a very complicated and demanding military operation to withdraw the u.s. and nato forces from afghanistan. this is presently the main effort of my command and we have the tools necessary to accomplish the task. with that i look forward to answering your questions. thank you sir. >> thank you, general townsend. >> chairman smith, ring a member rogers and numbers of the committee. good morning. thank you for the opportunity to appear here today. it's a privilege it represents men and women as the u.s. africa command. they are dedicated to secure u.s. interests and perverting our strategic -- unaccompanied by when my key staff advisor is air force colonel jaclyn -- and here this morning with my colleague and friends miss amanda dori, acting under secretary of policy and general frank mckenzie of the centcom commander. we will discuss the share challenges and opportunities in our areas of response ability and the high return of t

centcom has requirements. other places in the world have requirements as well, and we need to bear that in mind. i go in and fight for the resources for centcom. i do recognize that. >> let's continue that discussion later today. thank you for being here and i yield back, mr. chairman. thank you. mr. garamendi is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. general mckenzie, is it true that president trump reduced the number of troops from 10,000 to 2,500 via a tweet last year and then via another tweet decided we would leave by may, early may, all troops out of afghanistan? >> sir, i believe he tweeted it but my orders came through the chain of command, from the president to the secretary, written orders. and the department of defense we move troops based on execute orders. i'm not aware of the time he may have done it. the chain of command, the president sits at the top of, directs us to move forces. >> so it was president trump that said all troops would be out by may of this year? >> conditions

some concerns from the centcom commander today also up on capitol hill about possible taliban attacks as the u.s. gets to pulling out troops. he said it's going to zero. that's something you support and the president, president trump pushed for. but are there concerns in your mind about how this all happens? >> yes, bret. the execution of this has to be flawless. it has to be done well. and the administration needs to make very clear that should the taliban make a choice that's different than the one they have made for enough to what's almost the last year and a half, we haven't had an american soldier killed there since the agreement that our administration entered into the taliban back in the beginning of 2020. if the taliban changes direction, if they attack in america, we need to respond with the full fire and fury of the united states of america. we need to make that clear to them. they need to understand if we do we will deter them and if we don't they will attack us and we will have americans put at risk. i hope that's not what happens when you pick a date certain this far in a

the cia and centcom and it is believed that by some that the some of the i am i a e a inspectors may have passed on information i think that ultimately the iranians will respond and they will respond in a big way for a number of things that the israelis have done but the iranians are patient and they're known for their patience but i think the last 20 years have shown that iran knows where to push things and write your news returns in half an hour. there are calls for a living style investigation into the capitol building of january 6th is this an effort to seek the truth or to fabricate another massive political hoax also. i'm absent and sam we're going on the ground for another lockdown edition as further draconian lockdown measures are eased here in the u.k. in part 2 we'll hear from one of america's most influential conservative thinkers about what happens when law fails those it's there to protect from the george floyd trial to identity politics dead ends but 1st to reports of genocide in china i'm joined from head to virginia by russian executive director of the campaign for we

the cia and centcom and it is believed that by some that the some of the i.a.e.a. inspectors may have passed on information i think that ultimately the iranians will respond and they will respond in a big way for a number of things that the israelis have done but the iranians are patients and they're known for their patience but i think the last 20 years have shown that iran knows where to push things. bring some live pictures for you right now one fireman reportedly killed and 2 others seriously injured this of the venice of the north after a huge fire engulfed a historic factory building in the russian city of st petersburg roundest on iran 40 people had to be evacuated a huge team of firefighters is at the scene the plage the blaze i should say there was this raging over an area 4000 square meters due to the risk of collapse so it seems about the pullback from the building we understand high winds are said to be fanning the flames and adding well just making it more complicated i guess an investigation into what started the fire is already underway. that's it fo

the astra zeneca shot out probably wait for sputnik the i be right on the old vaccines have troll centcomspeaking there is no time to waste we have to get back to normality. or that it is the weekly for this hour here on oxy international we continue running down the top stories of the day and over the weekend about 32 minutes hope you can draw on us. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy confrontation let it be an arms race and of his on off and spearing dramatic development the only really i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time time to sit down and talk. but i just know that i will. mention the photo on. the toy story to the political. person. on the show there's a hazmat. i thought i would do you. think you should like it or not this is your choice if you want. it was a carefully i'm glad to. distance troops leave it to the last just for much notice of. this is you do you wish the best for the. old open your eyes for just finished i want to move as a 100 votes. to push for a 2nd but of course mr. march 2

the cia and centcom and it is believed that by some that the some of the i am i a e a inspectors may have passed on information i think that ultimately the iranians will respond and they will respond in a big way for a number of things that the israelis have done but the iranians are patience and they're known for their patience but i think the last 20 years it's asho and that iran knows where to push things. to venice to the north now where 2 people have reportedly been killed and one seriously injured offer a huge fire engulfed a historic factory building in the russian city office and petersburg around 40 people have been evacuated from the site of the military is now involved in putting out the fire which is raging over an area now of 10000 square meters it's so far on unclear how the blaze started and due to the risk of collapse teams have had to pull back from the building we understand that high winds are said to be fanning the flames which have spread now to a neighboring building. i will keep you posted on that developing story here on r.t. international for the meantime tho

the cia and centcom and it is believed that by some that the some of the i. am specters may have passed on information but apparently it was an act of sabotage an individual. cause damage to the electrical power which caused damage to one of the halls mr marandi i'm running very low on time here just one more question if i may has promised revenge what kind of form could up possibly take do you think. well the israeli regime has murdered an iranian deputy minister a few months ago with u.s. support this act of sabotage was probably carried out with u.s. support. no one believes the notion that israelis act separately from the americans yon belief but so i think that ultimately the iranians will respond and they will respond in a big way for a number of things that israelis have done but the iranians are patient and they're known for their patience but i think the last 20 years have shown that iran knows where to push things mr saeed mohammad marandi from the university of tehran a political analyst joining us here in r.t. international thank you very much for

the cia and centcom and it is believed that by some of the some of the i.a.e.a. i.a.e.a.inspectors may have passed on information i think that ultimately the iranians will respond and they will respond in a big way for a number of things that the israelis have done but the iranians are patients and they're known for their patience but i think the last 20 years have shown that iran knows where to push things. killed and 2 others seriously injured offer a huge. historic building in the. around 40 people had to be evacuated from the site a huge team of his were at the scene all around the perimeter. area of. the building. we also want to enter the course of the already. is you'll be a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe from. high salacious focus munity. are you going the right way or are you being led so. what is truth what is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. maybe in the shallows. seemed wrong but all in all just don't call. me lol yet to say proud disdain comes to advocate and engagement e

so what i know for a fact is that joel scott miller, the isaf commander, the centcom commander and austin and lay out the risks of a departure from afghanistan. and at the end of the day, again, from a senior military perspective, that's the best you can hope for. and then when the civilian leaders make a decision, you salute smartly and move out. but what i do know is those risks were laid out. there is always the risk of a resurgent taliban. there is always a risk of al qaeda returning to sanctuary. there is always a risk to the progress the women have made in afghanistan. there is always the risk of a mass migration out of afghanistan. so nobody should be naive to those risks. now the responsibility of the military is to follow the orders of the president and do everything they can working with the afghan government to mitigate those risks. >> and if you had been one of those advisers, what would you have said? >> you know, my preference would have been to have left a small footprint in afghanistan, probably about where we are. but having said that, i understand the president's decisio

advice of folks like joel scott miller, the commander in charge of afghanistan, frank mckinsey at centcomtin. all those men have had extensive experience in afghanistan. so from the military standpoint, we have the opportunity to speak to the president, to talk to him about all those issues that richard haases raised but at the end of the day, this is a decision for the civilian leaders. we are a professional military. our job is to follow the orders of the civilian leadership. at the end of the day, we will do that. >> for all the republicans hopping up and down on capitol hill, this new withdrawal date super seeds the date from the trump administration that they set in may. i don't imagine you are a big fan of hard and fast withdrawal dates or times off of any battlefield. >> you know, in general, no. here's what i would offer to you. based on some of the sources i've been talking to, i think they've come to the understanding that they can do a thoughtful withdrawal. again, recognizing that there aren't that many troops left. we've got to think about how do we get the american troops ou

not bought you know months for the american military in 2010 the united states central command to centcom the highest military command in the u.s. issued a classified report the question the current u.s. policy of isolating and marginalizing how much as well as has played in lebanon the report described the 2 groups is pragmatic and argued that putting them in now catering the same sentences if they're all the same is just stupid and the us military isn't alone in this assessment isis itself has attacked the mosques again and again because they're not radical enough to pragmatic and too compromising. i spent a lot of time on my radio program going over a hamas is charter what it says it wants to obliterate israel it wants to destroy the jews it is a sick twisted you know perverted ideology and it manifests itself in different forms muslim brotherhood islamic jihad hamas hezbollah isis al-qaeda you know it's all the same thing meanwhile you hear next to nothing about another extreme political charter that is much more relevant to the conflict the platform the ruling the crude party in isra

morning the hearing will receive testimony from general mckenzie, commanding the central command, centcom and general townsend, commander of the united states africa command or africom. thank you both for your many decades of military service and