Milley said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “the greatest threat to the peace and security of Europe and perhaps the world” in his 42 years in the US military, but added that it was “heartbreaking” to see the world unite. around Ukraine. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens to undermine not only European peace and stability, but also the world peace and stability that my parents and a generation of Americans have fought so hard to defend,” Milley said. “We are now facing two world powers: China and Russia, each with significant military capabilities, and two that intend to radically change the rules based on the current world order,” Milley added. “We are entering a world that is becoming more unstable and the possibility of a major international conflict is increasing, not decreasing.” Lawmakers in both parties focused on listening to the weapons provided to Ukraine, asking if more could be done as Ukraine continued to call for additional possibilities. “One of the biggest questions we will have in this committee is, ‘How can we do more?’ said House Speaker Adam Smith, a Democrat in Washington state, at the top of the hearing. “How can we make sure we do everything we can to help them?” Alabama’s spokesman Mike Rogers, the commission’s top Republican, said he would support the United States in establishing permanent bases in eastern NATO countries such as Poland and the Baltic to deter Russia. Milley said he would support the creation of permanent bases, but added that he believed that US forces should be rotated through them to create a deterrent without incurring the cost of relocating family, setting up schools and other measures required when a permanent US base is established abroad. “I believe that many of our European allies, especially those in the Baltic or Poland or Romania or elsewhere, are very, very willing to establish a permanent base,” Milley said. “They will build them, they will pay for them, etc., so that we can go through a rotation. That way you will have the result of the permanent presence of forces, but the real individual soldiers, sailors, pilots or marines are not stationed there permanently for 2-3 years “. Austin said NATO was still discussing how to strengthen its permanent presence in Eastern Europe. “If NATO deems it appropriate to change its footprint, then we will definitely be part of it,” Austin said. Several Republicans asked Milley and Austin if the United States had failed in its efforts to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from attacking Ukraine. Milley said he did not believe Putin could have been prevented if US forces had not been deployed from Ukraine – a scenario he would have advised not to pursue if proposed. “Honestly, other than the deployment of US troops in Ukraine, I’m not sure it was a deterrent. That was a long – term goal that dates back years,” Milley said. “I think the idea of preventing Putin from invading Ukraine, of preventing him from the United States, would require the commitment of the US military, and I think that would jeopardize the armed conflict with Russia, which I certainly would not advise. . ” Milley noted that the sanctions “have a very bad track record of preventing aggression”, but said they had been able to impose significant costs on Russia for its aggression. “The purpose of the sanctions is to impose a significant cost if it invades, this significant cost, the sanctions combined with the export controls, break the back of the Russian economy here we are talking about,” he said. Austin later added that if the United States “put forces in Ukraine to fight Putin, that would be a different story.” “But we made a decision that we would not do that and we made the decision for the right reasons, and I support those decisions,” Austin said, adding that he did not want to speculate on what the Chinese leaders could do. happened in Ukraine as it was related to Taiwan. Milley defended U.S. military policy of requiring troops to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in response to numerous questions from Republicans who questioned whether members of the military should be fired because they refused to be vaccinated when the number of Army recruits increased. was reduced. Milley noted that members of the service should receive multiple vaccinations as part of their enlistment in the military, such as a coal vaccine, and said the Covid-19 vaccine contributed to preparedness for violence. In a hot moment, Austin got into a fight with MP Matt Gaets, after the Republican from Florida accused the Pentagon of being too focused on “vigilance” and not on defense. Austin accused Gaets of being “ashamed of his country” by questioning the US military’s ability, and the two men shouted at each other in several places. Gaetz accused the Pentagon of “making a mistake” in predicting that Russia would occupy Ukraine within days and that the Taliban would not take control of Afghanistan last year. “You completely blew up those calls and maybe we would be better off if the National Defense University really worked a little more on strategy and a little less on vigilance,” Gaetz said. “Has it occurred to you that Russia has not surpassed Ukraine because of what we and our allies did?” Austin asked. “Have you ever thought about that?”
