After only a few questions into his nomination hearing, Ashton Carter made several eyebrow-raising statements that provide ammunition to hawkish conservatives opposed to the Obama administration.
Tapped to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Carter appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday to discuss how he would run the Pentagon. It didn’t take him long to belie one of President Obama’s key talking points. Speaking about “very real dangers” in his opening statements, Carter noted “an ongoing war in Afghanistan.”
At the end of last year, the White House announced the end of the war in Afghanistan – or at least the end of “combat missions.”
In a statement on December 28th, the Office of the Press Secretary said, “For more than 13 years…our nation has been at war in Afghanistan. Now, thanks to the extraordinary sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, our combat mission in Afghanistan is ending, and the longest war in American history is coming to a responsible conclusion.”
The proclamation was met with skepticism, especially in light of a November New York Times report which detailed how the president secretly authorized ongoing US military operations in Afghanistan.
Carter also hinted that his nomination could complicate another one of the administration’s signature foreign policy initiatives. Without even being prompted, Carter called Iran an “immediate” and “substantial threat” on the same level as the Islamic State (ISIL). He made the statement after being lobbed a softball question by the ranking member of the committee, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), on whether the militant fundamentalists pose the most immediate threat in the Middle East.
“I hesitate to say ISIL only because in the back of my mind is Iran as well,” Carter said, adding, “I think that we have two immediate, substantial dangers in the Middle East. One is ISIL, one is Iran.”
President Obama has expended tremendous political capital in Congress in his efforts to secure a nuclear deal with Tehran. Right-wing lawmakers have sought to undermine the talks, despite the fact that the US intelligence community does not believe Iran is currently seeking to build nuclear weapons.
Later, Carter attempted to clarify his remarks.
“It may be something I missed in your line of questioning,” he said to Sen. Reed. “There is an issue looming over this…which is the role of Iran in the whole region, which is why I pointed that out in the beginning, that is a serious complication.”
The Sentinel reported late last year that Carter has a history of making aggressive statements about Iran, while admitting ignorance on the issue. In 2008, he publicly said he didn’t “know much about Iran” at the same time he was approving, a saber-rattling think tank report on its nuclear program.
Later, during questioning, Carter again sideswiped the administration, saying he was inclined to give the Ukrainian government lethal arms in its fight against Russian-backed separatists – comments that go much farther than any made by current administration officials
“I think we need to support he Ukrainians in defending themselves,” Carter said in response to questioning from the committee’s chairman, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
“The nature of those arms I can’t say right now…But I incline in the direction providing them arms including to get to what I’m sure your question is, lethal arms,” he added.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) seized on the statements within minutes, and tweeted out, “Defense Sec nominee Ash Carter says inclined to provide lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine! Hope POTUS listens.”
She also used her questioning to suggest that President Obama had pressured Defense Secretary Hagel into releasing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay without proper safeguards to ensure the detainees wouldn’t return to battle – a promise Carter didn’t dismiss.
“Absolutely,” he said when asked if he would refuse to succumb to pressure from the administration to close the facility.
Sen. Ayotte again took to Twitter.
“Dr. Carter pledges he will not succumb to pressure from administration to increase pace of detainee transfers from #Gitmo,” she tweeted.
Carter is long time Department of Defense official, and most recently served in the Obama administration as Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics from 2009 until 2011.
Before his nomination, Carter was a senior partner in Global Technology Partners, an invest firm founded by former Defense Secretary William Perry, that specializes in defense technology. He also advised Goldman Sachs on global affairs.
