Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

US must be ready to confront Russia: Mattis

WASHINGTON — United States President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon put Russia at the top of a list of threats to US interests and told Congress early today (Singapore time) that America must be ready to confront it where necessary, even though he backed Mr Trump’s bid to engage with Moscow.

WASHINGTON — United States President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon put Russia at the top of a list of threats to US interests and told Congress early today (Singapore time) that America must be ready to confront it where necessary, even though he backed Mr Trump’s bid to engage with Moscow.

Retired General (Rtd Gen) James Mattis added that along with Russia, China and Islamist militants pose the biggest challenge to the US-led world order. He also reaffirmed US support for its historic alliances and diplomacy.

“We must embrace our international alliances and security partnerships,” he said to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing.

“History is clear: Nations with strong allies thrive and those without them wither.”

Asked about the main threats to American interests, Rtd Gen Mattis said, “I would consider the principal threats to start with Russia.”

“I’m all for engagement, but we also have to recognise reality in what Russia is up to,” he said, adding there were a “decreasing number of areas” where the US might cooperate with Moscow.

Due to enter the White House in eight days, Mr Trump on Wednesday acknowledged that Russia likely hacked the Democratic National Committee and emails of top Democrats during the 2016 presidential election campaign, a conclusion reached by US spy agencies.

Rtd Gen Mattis cited Russian involvement in hacking and information warfare among the challenges posed by Moscow. Others include treaty violations, using tactics short of open war to destabilise other countries, and “alarming messages from Moscow regarding the use of nuclear weapons”.

He said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to undermine the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).

Rtd Gen Mattis also singled out Beijing for its activities in the South China Sea, where it has been building man-made islands with anti-aircraft and anti-missile batteries.

Together with Russian activities and Islamist extremists, he said China was part of a mounting assault on global stability, and the relationship with Beijing needed to be carefully managed.

“I think it (the world order) is under the biggest attack since World War II, and that is from Russia, from terrorist groups, and with what China is doing in the South China Sea,” he said, as he railed against the defence spending caps imposed by Congress.

“Russia is raising grave concerns on several fronts, and China is shredding trust along its periphery.”

Rtd Gen Mattis elaborated that the US must try to engage and collaborate with China where possible, “but also be prepared to confront inappropriate behaviour if China chooses to act contrary to our interests”.

While Mr Trump has called for the US to pull back from foreign entanglements — criticising the 2003 invasion of Iraq and praising Russia’s intervention in the Syrian war — Rtd Gen Mattis has argued for a more assertive US posture in the world.

“I will work to make sure our strategy and military calculus are employed to reinforce traditional tools of diplomacy, ensuring our President and our diplomats negotiate from a position of strength,” he said.

Rtd Gen Mattis, who retired from the military in 2013, is technically ineligible for the job since he has not been a civilian for at least seven years. That means Congress would need to grant him a waiver, something it has not done since 1950, but appears inclined to do now. AGENCIES

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.