Russia more of threat than Islamic State, says U.S. Joint Chief of Staff nominee

Washington, July 10, 2015 (dpa/NAN) A U.S. army officer, Gen. Joseph Dunford, said on Friday before a congressional committee, that Russia posed a greater threat to the U.S. Islamic State (IS).
He told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington that: “ if you want to talk about a nation that could pose an existential threat toward the U.S., then I would point to Russia.
“If you look at their behaviour, it’s nothing short of alarming”.
Dunford testified before the committee as President Barack Obama’s nominee for the next chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.
If approved by the Senate, he would succeed Gen. Martin Dempsey on October 1.
He pointed to Russia’s nuclear capability and its capability to violate the sovereignty of other countries and allies of the U.S. and to “do things that are inconsistent with our national interests.”
Dunford, a former commander of troops in Afghanistan and the current commandant of the Marine Corps, said if he had to rank his concerns, China would be second, North Korea third and Islamic State fourth.
He explained that he included China second, because of U.S. interests in the Pacific and China’s rapidly advancing military capabilities.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a current threat or that we view them as an enemy. But as somebody in uniform, I get paid to look at both somebody’s intent and their capability.
“So when I look at Chinese capabilities relative to our interest in the Pacific, I’d have to consider China as an area of concern for security again, as distinct from a threat,’’ he said.
Dunford said as for North Korea, its nuclear programme and missile technology were clearly a threat.
He said in the fight against IS, he was comfortable with the current strategy in which the Department of Defence was responsible for two of nine lines of effort.
“These are denying the enemy sanctuary and building up Iraqi and Syrian forces. The other lines of effort are managed by the State Department and other parts of the US government.
“I don’t see how we can have an enduring success unless those other seven lines of effort are addressed,” he said.(dpa/NAN)