Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington on December 2, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James echoed previous statements from her boss, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, that threw down the gauntlet to Russia over Syria, China over the South China Sea, and any other country that was willing to defy American military objectives.
James beating the war drums for her boss Carter.
James accused Russia of dropping “dumb bombs” on civilians in Syria while also taking credit for Air Force “precision strikes” on convoys of Islamic State tanker trucks smuggling oil from Syria into Turkey. James stressed that the communications between U.S. Air Force and Russian command centers involved in strikes against targets in Syria do not go beyond the testing of the communications lines. James said that no operational information is passed between the Americans and Russians.
James said that the Air Force aided Kurdish and Yazidi military forces in capturing the Iraqi town of Sinjar from Da’esh, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Responding to criticisms from some ex-U.S. Air Force drone whistleblowers about the lack of accountability in remotely-piloted aircraft (RPA) operations, James stated that the Air Force will begin to use civilian contractors for drone surveillance operations or “non-kinetic missions” but not combat operations.
James also revealed that an Air Force drone base in Djibouti is not only being used for operations in Somalia but also Libya. She did not explain the route such drones take from Djibouti to Libya. A straight line route would put the U.S. drones over Sudanese airspace. Sudan and the United States do not maintain close relations.
In the interest of providing Air Force personnel with a greater variety of duty stations, James revealed that the Air Force was establishing new drone bases around the world but she did not provide their locations.
James recently returned from a multi-nation trip where she said she had talks with Egyptian defense ministry and military officials over terrorist threats in the Sinai and with Moroccan officials over Western Sahara.
Responding to a question from WMR, James said there was no change in U.S. rules of engagement over the South China Sea. There was a recent incident involving two U.S. B-52s from Guam flying within 15 miles of Chinese artificial islands in the Spratly Islands. The fly-by resulted in a radio warning from Chinese forces on the island.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
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Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
