WASHINGTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to damage the Nato alliance, US defence secretary nominee James Mattis said at a confirmation hearing on Thursday.
Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mattis pointed to global challenges facing the US including the IS group, the war in Afghanistan, Russian aggression and Chinese actions in the South China Sea.
In outlining his vision for leading the US Defence Department, Mattis said his most important goals would be bolstering military readiness, increasing the lethality of the force, strengthening alliances and instituting budget reforms.
Mattis seemed to break with Donald Trump, who nominated him for the position, taking a harder line on Russia and saying he would support the Iran nuclear deal.
Trump has faced questions about his ties with Russia and said he would be open to working with Moscow. The president-elect also expressed doubts about US alliances during his campaign and has blasted the Iran deal.
Mattis called Moscow a “strategic competitor” and “adversary in key areas.” “The most important thing is that we recognise the reality of what we deal with Mr Putin, and we recognise that he is trying to break the North Atlantic alliance,” he said.
“I’m all for engagement, but we also have to recognise reality,” he says, pointing to an increasing number of areas where the US must confront Russia.
Stressing the importance of close alliances, he called Nato possibly the most successful alliance of all time, noting, “Nations with allies thrive and nations without allies don’t.”
On Iran, Mattis said the US must honour the international deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“It is an imperfect arms control agreement. It’s not a friendship treaty, but when America gives her word we have to live up to it and work with our allies,” Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The former Marine general had expressed skepticism about the deal in the past, but has said the US must now work within the existing framework. Trump has also questioned the deal, but has been unclear about what he might do about it.
Mattis faces a double hurdle to serve as secretary of defence. Not only must he win Senate approval, Congress must also pass a waiver that would allow him to serve in the position despite a law that says military officers cannot lead the Defence Department within seven years of leaving service. Mattis retired from the Marine Corps in 2013. The last waiver for the civilian defence position was granted in 1950 to George Marshall.
Mattis stressed in his opening statements his respect for the principle of civilian control of the military,
The committee is to consider a waiver for Mattis immediately after his confirmation hearing.
At a hearing this week considering a waiver, Eliot Cohen, a former George W Bush administration official and expert on civilian control of the military, urged the panel to approve the move.
— dpa
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