i would say this committee has always stressed that commanders on the ground should be listened to. would you agree with that? i would and i would tell you that they were listened to. i think there s a difference between us having an opportunity to have a voice and i think it s very important that the military has a voice, but i firmly believe in the military and i am required and the military commanders are required to give our best military advice. but the decision makers are not required in any manner, shape, or form to follow that advice. no, they are not, and i agree with you about civilian control of this country. but i think it s important to realize when we continue to see missteps by an administration that s costing lives. secretary austin, it s been reported right now that the biden administration reached out to russia about using russian bases in the central asian bases bordering afghanistan to the north for our strike assets to
that commanders on the ground should be listened to. would you agree with that? i would and i would tell you they were listened to. i think there s a difference between us having an opportunity to have a voice and i think it s very important that the military has a voice, but i firmly believe it s in the control of the military and i am required and the military commanders are required to give our best military advice but the decisionmakers are not required to follow that advice. no, they are not. i agree with you about civilian control of this country, but i think it is also important to realize, when we continue to see missteps by an administration that s costing lives. secretary austin, it s been reported right now that the biden administration reached out to russia about using russian bases in the central asian nations bordering afghanistan to the north for our strike assets to fly out of for the over
our strike assets to fly out of for the over the horizon counter terrorism missions. is that true? senator, this is an issue that i believe came up during a conversation that the president had with president putin where president putin offered to provide assistance. but have you reached out to the russians asking specifically to use bases? general milley recently had a conversation with his russian counterpart. so the reports are true that have been coming out today? i can assure you that, you know, we are not seeking russia s permission to do anything but i believe and joe milley can speak for himself i believe he asked for clarification on what that offer was. i have a number of questions which i ll need to get to with
capabilities that are needed to make sure that we can conduct over the horizon counter terrorism operations. president biden has pointed out we conduct over the horizon ct operation to go after terrorists and other places in the world issue including isis and syria, al qaeda and yemen and somalia. we have either a u.s. presence or reliable partners on the ground, is that correct? senator, that is correct. in those three locations, do we have strike assets or agreements in nearby countries? global this briefing, yes, we do. general mckenzie, when the democrat developed initial plans
that is the situation we are in right now? that is correct. you stated during the evacuation we developed pragmatic relationship with the taliban. but you re not saying we should consider the taliban to be reliable partner by any means, are you? i do not trust the taliban, i do not consider the taliban to be reliable partner. have you to look at what they do and not what they say. general mckenzie, yemen, syria, and somalia all border ocean or sea, we can use carriers or other sea-based assets to so our strike assets are significantly further for potential targets than they are for other locations. is it fair to say it s more difficult to hit targets that are further away from where the strike assets is based? senator, in general, that is