PETER COOK: Afternoon, everybody. It's particularly tall today. Have we done something different? Do you guys like it this way? Where's the bell? We'll go down a little bit. OK. I've got a statement off the top and then I'll turn your questions. I want to begin with the presidential transition. The president and Secretary Carter, have both emphasized our responsibility to carry out a smooth and effective transition to the next commander in chief. At the Department of Defense, that transition effort is being led by Eric Rosenbach, Secretary Carter's chief of staff, who has held numerous planning sessions with senior department leaders, the most recent of which occurred this week.
As the secretary said in his memo to department employees yesterday, this department is committed to carrying out this mission with the same professionalism and excellence that guides everything we do. We have a duty to the men and women of the U.S. military and the thousands of civilian employees that will serve the next administration, as well as the American people to do this job right, and we will.
The secretary also made clear yesterday that as we begin the transition, we will also continue to serve the current commander in chief with our full effort, and that means continuing to address the national security challenges that confront us. Among those is the ongoing military campaign to defeat ISIL, and I like to provide you a quick operational update on that.
In Iraq, Iraqi security forces continue to apply pressure on multiple fronts in the operation to retake Mosul. The advances so far are forcing ISIL to choose where they want to try and defend the city. To their credit, Iraqi security forces continue to take steps to minimize civilian casualties. The coalition continues to do the same when it comes to the air campaign.
Specifically in the east, Iraqi counter-terrorism forces continue to deliberately isolate and clear areas of the eastern districts, securing key neighborhoods. To the north, Bashiqa as been re-taken, although black -- some back clearing still continues, and there's more progress in clearing the towns of Bahweza and Sayyid, bringing the ISF within two kilometers approximately at Mosul. South of Mosul, Iraqi forces consolidated control of our Al-Rashid and Sahyma, and they completed the clearance of Abbas Rejab.
In Syria, the STF continue their drive toward Raqqa and they continue to make progress against moderate ISIL resistance. ISIL forces in Syria are also under pressure from Turkish supported Syrian opposition forces which liberated a number of towns and villages southeast of Dabiq. The momentum in Iraq and Syria, has of course, been assisted by coalition support, including airpower.
Yesterday coalition forces conducted more than a dozen strikes employing 74 munitions in support of operations towards Raqqa, and seven strikes using aircraft and artillery, and employing 67 munitions supporting ISF in Kurdish operations near Mosul.
The bottom line is that across Iraq and Syria, ISIL remains under increasing pressure, and it's problems are multiplying as we apply that pressure on the battlefield.
A brief schedule note as well. Earlier this afternoon, Secretary Carter hosted the ceremony here in the Pentagon to honor former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was presented with the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. As you know, Secretary Carter has been highlighting the contributions of distinguished national security leaders who have contributed to the DOD mission, and it was it that spirit that Dr. Brzezinski received the award today.
And also this hour, Secretary Carter, is meeting with members of the foreign diplomatic corps here at the Pentagon as well.
And with that, I am happy to take your questions.
Bob Burns.
Q: Peter, on the transition.
MR. COOK: Yes.
Q: Has the president-elect's transition people contacted Eric Rosenbach or his people about, having briefings or meetings yet?
MR. COOK: As of this morning, the last time I checked, Bob, we had not had any direct contact yet from -- from anyone with the Trump campaign, or from the president-elect staff.
Q: I have a question on Iraq. Do you have any comment on the report by Amnesty International that there been a number of unlawful killings and torturing of civilians by the Iraqi federal police outside of Mosul in the last 24 hours?
MR. COOK: We've seen those reports from Amnesty International, and I know this is -- was question that we got the other day as well, and obviously we have concerns about those reports, and any indication of human rights abuses in Iraq in the course of this campaign would cause us concern of course, we would expect the Iraqi government to investigate all of these allegations as Prime Minister Abadi, indicated he would be prepared to do.
This is a situation where those forces coming in -- any reports like this should be completely be investigated and we would call the Iraqi government to -- to carry out that kind of investigation. We don't -- we can't confirm that these events took place, but we have seen reports from these human rights groups.
Q: Have Iraqi police -- who are involved in this operation -- undergone any kind of, you know, human rights -- part of the training, but -- as part of the U.S. training?
MR. COOK: So, Bob, as you know, all of the training that we conduct includes discussions about the law of armed conflict and training in terms of exactly these issues. I cannot speak -- tell you that every single member the federal police force has gone through that specific training. Certainly anyone who's gone through U.S. training has done so.
I feel confident in saying that our -- our partners in the coalition who have conducted a training particular police forces. These are countries with significant experience in this field, that that would have been part of their program as well, but I can't speak to that. Specifically I can't speak to -- to whether or not every single member of the Iraqi federal police has gone to the training. Certainly anyone we have trained, that's been a component of our training.
Phil.
Q: So, also on the transition. Has the secretary expressed any concern about any of his signature policies perhaps on, you know, Force of the Future or anything like that being quickly undone by a Trump administration? Has he reached out to members of Congress to try and seek any protections for any of these policies?
MR. COOK: You've heard the secretary speak several times -- including most recently -- in discussing Force of the Future. He was asked this question at City College of New York. The secretary is confident that good ideas survive, and that the good ideas that he's put in place, specifically with regard to making sure that our forces get the kind of support they need to continue to be the finest fighting force the world has ever seen into the future. And that the Force of the Future initiatives, are all initiatives that make sense today and will make sense in the future.
And so he's confident that those good ideas will survive, and he's of course been an advocate for them for some time and certainly is hopeful the numbers of Congress who support them will do the same.
Q: Has -- has he reached out to anyone to try and safeguard them, because they could just easily be revered by the next secretary of defense?
MR. COOK: I'm not aware of any individual contact he's had with -- with members of Congress, but certainly people should be fully aware of the secretary's support for his -- again a signature initiative for something that he feels very strongly about that's gotten the support of a lot of people, both inside and outside the Pentagon, and something that he feels is important for making sure -- again, his goal here, was not necessarily to -- to serve this secretary of defense -- these are changes that he believes are important, not only for his successor, but his successor's successor on down the line.
This is to make sure that our forces stay on the cutting edge, both in terms of technology and skills, and also stay current with the -- the world around them, and that reflects some of the changes that he's talked about with regard to when there's maternity leave and child care hours, to also making sure that are service members get the chance to have professional advancement as well -- the kinds of things they might be looking for out in the private sector. That way, we ensure that the best and the most talented have an opportunity. Should they choose to do so? We certainty hope so, to continue to serve this country in uniform.
Q: And what about other issues like, you know, now that he's been skeptical of Russia intentions. He's been very critical of the Assad regime, there are people in Syria, rebels that (inaudible) support Assad, and also, you know, (inaudible) Russia, expressing optimism about a Trump administration. He is concerned about reversals in policy that could be judgmental to the United States or does he express any concerns in meetings with staff about those policies? Or is he progressing as if his -- his vision will continue?
MR. COOK: So, the campaign is over, the secretary of defense has indicated yesterday as engaging -- executing the transition as the president has requested. We will do that -- we will do that with the skill and excellence that everyone expects, but were not going get into a policy debate that was part of the campaign. The secretary will continue to serve this commander-in-chief, will continue to articulate his best advice and counsel to the commander-in-chief, and he will do so as he has since he's taking this office.
Lucas.
Q: In Mosul today, there's a report from Reuters, saying -- quoting an Iraqi military advisor saying, "The Iraqi forces are actually only in control of two districts, and that the operation is not going as well as he hoped." And Iraqi military officials said, he called the Mosul operation a "nightmare." And have Iraqi forces paused their campaign and perhaps these optimistic predictions were a little premature?
MR. COOK: Again, you can talk to the Iraqis. I'm sure Fox has crews there. You can see for yourself, the results that they're seeing on the ground. I don't know the source of these particular comments, but the Iraqi security forces are making -- are seeing results on the ground in Mosul. I think anyone who's there can see that for them -- for themselves. And so we'll leave it to the Iraqis to characterize their performance as well.
We're seeing, what we're seeing, on behalf of the coalition we're providing the enabling support. We've also said all along that this is going to be a difficult fight, and ISIL is a difficult enemy, and this is an urban environment -- that we've always said, would be challenging. And these Iraqi security forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces are demonstrating significant skill and resilience, and in this fight, and they've faced resistance, and they are fighting hard to re- take a city that is the second largest city in Iraq, and one that is suffering right now under the brutality of ISIL. And the sooner it's free from that, the better.
Q: And turning attention at home, there was a crash yesterday off the coast of California involving two Marine Corps F-18 Hornets. I was wondering in light of this collision and this crash, does the secretary believe that Marine Corps aviation is in a crisis right now?
MR. COOK: I don't believe the secretary believes it's in a crisis. This is an unfortunate accident. As I understand it, one service member was injured in this accident and, you know, one thing that's -- again, you and I talked at length about Marine aviation. These were Marine aviators out there training, trying to boost readiness which the secretary is absolutely supportive of, and he will continue to support the Marine Corps' efforts to try and improve that readiness and improve that training. We think this is a critical part of the process.
Q: Does the secretary believe that when he transitions out and turns over the military to his predecessor, is he turning over...
MR. COOK: His predecessor?
Q: Excuse me. Successor.
Start over -- does the secretary believe the military is in a better shape now than when he found it or is it in worse shape?
MR. COOK: The secretary believes he inherited a military in excellent shape and he believes he's leaving with a military in excellent shape, the best military in the world, and he is very confident that the steps he's taken will ensure that that continues not only for his successor but, as I've said before, for those to come down the road. This is the greatest military in the history of the earth and this secretary feels very strongly about maintaining that edge, maintaining that force, and he's done everything he can to try and ensure, once again, that that continues into the future.
Q: Another one on the transition. One of the elements of the 2017 budget that the secretary has discussed often is the European Reassurance Initiative and even at NATO in this last trip discussing elements of the brigades that would be moving over to eastern Europe. Is that now on hold given President-elect Trump's stated opposition to bolstering up NATO or having NATO contribute more?
MR. COOK: We have one commander in chief at a time. We have a secretary of defense who's carrying out the policy of the current commander in chief and we are executing the plans as they were constructed with our NATO allies in close consultations with NATO so we're proceeding forward and we'll leave it to the next administration to speak to their policy choices.
Q: I believe the brigades time frame was a January move over to Europe. Is that still on track?
MR. COOK: I'm not aware of any change right now in plans and, again, for decisions that will come in the future, I'm not going to hypothesize. I'll leave it to the president-elect and his team to speak to that.
Q: I have some questions on Mosul. With the liberation of Bashiqa, is it correct to say that the -- am I understanding correct that the Kurdish Peshmerga have completed essentially their part of battle to liberate Mosul?
MR. COOK: I'll leave it -- I'll leave it to the Pesh and to the Kurds to speak to their role in this. They've certainly played a critical role so far in this operation but I'm not going to speak to tactical moves as to what they might do next.
Q: My understanding was that was it and they've done their part and the rest belongs to strictly Iraqi forces, or.
MR. COOK: I will, again, leave it to the Iraqis to speak to the next tactical moves and the disposition of their forces.
Q: And in the west of Mosul, the Shiite Hashed al-Shaabi, the popular mobilization unit, say they have cut the road between Mosul and Syria. Is that correct?
MR. COOK: My understanding is there has been at least one of the roads heading west has been severed in terms of the line of communication to the lines to Syria. There may be other pathways to the west, but that has been -- one roadway has been at least cut off, as my understanding.
Q: A key roadway?
MR. COOK: Yes. It may not be the only one, but certainly, anything we can do to again, pressure on ISIL, and the ability to isolate ISIL within Mosul and cutoff -- cut it off from the other theater of this conflict, is something that is important.
Q: And finally, so you expect the liberation of Mosul to be completed under President Obama or that this is an issue which President Trump will be facing?
MR. COOK: We're not going to predict timelines at this point, we want this done as quickly as possible.
Barbara?
Q: Also in transition, Peter, can you -- representing the Defense Department, can you unequivocally say at this point that the U.S. military would not engage in water boarding, even if ordered to?
MR. COOK: You know the policy position of (inaudible) of the law in fact, with regard to this. That is not something the U.S. military is going to be conducting.
Q: If the law is changed?
MR. COOK: Barbara, I'm dealing with the law as it is right now. I'm not going to hypothesize and look ahead into the future. We're dealing with the here and now, and you know the position of this administration on that issue.
Q: Let me just ask one follow-up, if I may. The law, as you say, is the law. So if U.S. military personnel looking at this right now, whether they are the most junior or the most senior commanders, if they -- can you explain to people, if someone in the U.S. military receives what they believe is an illegal order, an unlawful order, what are they supposed to do?
MR. COOK: They have an obligation, obviously not to -- you're talking about an illegal situation, Barbara, that -- you're hypothesizing about something that I'm not aware of any members of the U.S. military being confronted with this. So I don't think it's something we should even be discussing.
Q: I mean, you would want U.S. military personnel, again, whether they're the most junior --
MR. COOK: To follow the law. That's correct. And so, they're not going to get an order in violation of the law.
Q: (inaudible).
How do you think the situation in Okinawa and Denver relocation plan will be affected by the Trump administration? And how will DOD explain our bringing next president about a family issue, and relocation plan is nothing changed, or (inaudible)?
MR. COOK: So, I'm not going to speak to how the president-elect and his team may handle policy issues on this or anything else. What I will say is that we will continue to work closely with the government of Japan in terms of addressing this issue and moving forward. It's a regular conversation we're having with our Japanese counterparts, and of course the people of Okinawa and the leadership in Okinawa as well. So, I'm not going to speak for the next administration.
Carlo.
Q: Peter, the commander of the Raqqa Revolutionary Brigade, one of the Arab-centric units that are participating in this advance on Raqqa, he told the (inaudible) today that he has pulled his forces out of the offensive, which basically means the forces that are moving into Raqqa now are all Kurdish YPG units.
Now, you said from the podium, and others in the building have said that you know, this coalition that's moving into Raqqa will be an Arab, you know, local-led type of force. Now, with this -- with these comments today, it seems it's going to be Kurdish YPG fighters moving into the city. Is there any comment towards building on that? Is there any concern that this coalition is sort of falling apart?
MR. COOK: The SDF is made up of several groups, including several Arab groups, so I don't know that what you just presented is in fact an accurate picture of the make-up of the SDF. We remain confident that they're local, Arab, other groups, including people from Raqqa itself, that will be part of not only the effort to isolate Raqqa, but ultimately the force that helps to take Raqqa and hold Raqqa. Ultimately Raqqa will be governed and held by the people from the local population.
Q: Going back to the transition, quickly. You mentioned Secretary Carter's focus on serving this president. Has he emphatically ruled out working for President-elect Trump?
MR. COOK: He serves at the pleasure of this president, and he's focused on that.
Q: But he has not made any comment about potential for continuing in the role?
MR. COOK: We are serving -- the Secretary is here serving President Obama and will continue in that role. And that's his commitment right now.
Q: President Trump has had conversation with South Korean President Park last night. Do you have anything on that?
MR. COOK: I would refer you to Mr. Trump and his staff.
Q: He mentioned about strong alliance between U.S. and South Korea. However, how do you estimate -- can Trump change any policy towards North Korea or Korean Peninsula?
MR. COOK: I'm going to say the same thing I've said on these other policy matters. If there are particular policy decisions that will be made by the next administration, you're best served by speaking with them. We can speak to what is happening now in terms of our relationship with South Korea and our strong alliance ties with South Korea, and I will leave it to Mr. Trump and his team to speak to their views on the relationship with South Korea.
Q: (inaudible) listen to the exercise of evacuations of U.S. citizens from South Korea. Do you have any detail on this? How did you -- military families, U.S. citizens from South Korea, evacuating?
MR. COOK: I'm actually not aware of any evacuations taking place right now, but I'll check with our team. If we have something on that I'll get that to you.
Yes?
Q: The other day Russia was telegraphing that it was within hours going to launch air strikes against what it called Islamic State positions in and around Aleppo, including some strikes that would be taking off from the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. Is that something that Russia ever communicated with the U.S. about? And is there any insight into why we seemingly haven't seen any of those strikes?
MR. COOK: I'll leave it to the Russians to explain their own military operations in Syria and in terms of our standard deconfliction they're conducting flights over Syria and it requires deconfliction certainly we expect that to be conducted. But I can't speak to any communications we've had with them. I'm not aware of any particular communications about their activities beyond our normal correspondence with regard to our deconfliction procedures.
Q: Have any senior staff -- regarding the transition -- have any senior staff submitted their resignation following the election? And has the secretary spoken to any of his counterparts after the election to reassure them that he still is the secretary of defense? And as you said, there are still months left of this administration.
MR. COOK: I don't have any calls to read out to you right now. But he is the secretary of defense and plans to serve until January 20. And that is -- should be clear to everyone.
And in terms of people submitting resignations, I'm not aware of any at -- at this point. Yes?
Q: Peter, similar question. Recognizing that the secretary is a political appointee, is there any desire or plan to sort of you know maintain continuity elsewhere in the building or the department during the transition?
MR. COOK: Well, as the secretary made clear in his memo to employees as he's made clear to all of us. We will do everything we can to ensure that this is a smooth and effective transition. As you know, there are uniform military personnel and thousands of career civilian employees who will serve the next administration. So, we have that continuity already.
And one reason that the secretary feels so strongly about making sure this transition operates as smoothly as possible is of course to serve those folks as well who will continue to serve the next administration.
Yes, Richard.
Q: Peter, can you speak to the organization of the move south against Raqqa? For instance, who's in command of it? Who is in command of the SDF move against Raqqa?
MR. COOK: The SDF is in charge of it.
Q: Is that YPG? Which element of the SDF is in command of the overall movement?
MR. COOK: Yeah, so the SDF, as we discussed before, is made up of several different organizations -- several different groups. And they all have a command structure. And they've had -- spoken to their movements.
I'll leave it to them to describe their own command and structure. It's not a command structure that is controlled by the coalition.
We are enabling the SDF and providing air cover -- air support. But we do not control the command leadership of that organization.
Q: Well, what would be various elements of the SDF -- have their own command? Are they moving independently under the umbrella of the SDF?
MR. COOK: I believe it's -- it's a -- it's a coordinated effort that they've -- that they've worked out. And again, I'll let them speak to their command structure and their organizational structure.
But they are moving towards Raqqa. And they've made some -- seen success already on the ground.
And we provided air cover, we've coordinated air cover with them, provided air support. And we'll continue to do so as they begin the isolation of Raqqa.
Q: Say, who does General Townsend talk to when he wants to find out how the SDF is moving and what they intend to do?
MR. COOK: We have the ability to communicate with leadership of the SDF. And General Townsend is able to communicate as are his commanders.
As you know as well, this is -- we've been working with them for some time. And we've been working with other partnered forces in Syria. And we continue to keep close -- a close eye on the situation on the ground in Syria from the air.
And there are some number of U.S. forces -- which I'm not gonna get into their disposition. But one of the reasons they're there is to be able to keep an eye on what's happening and be able to provide feedback to their commanders as to what's transpiring on the ground.
Luis.
Q: Peter, a question about the transition. Who is heading in here at the DOD? How long has it been in operation?
MR. COOK: You -- you -- you missed my top. Eric Rosenbach, the secretary's chief of staff.
Q: That was going to be my following question. Thank you.
Mr. Rosenbach -- how large of a team does he have here? And had there been contacts prior to election day where the respective campaigns could of contacted the DOD transition team?
MR. COOK: My understanding is there was no contact with any of the campaigns prior, as per the normal rules. Mr. Rosenbach set it up -- the secretary designated him a few weeks ago to carry this responsibility and he's been meeting, as I said at the beginning of the briefing, with senior leaders, representing the various departments within the department. Various units of the department on a regular basis to make sure everyone was doing what was necessary to prepare for the transition, and that included a meeting even this week.
Q: Is there a specific point at which where the president-elect's top administration can reach out to the DOD? Is there some kind of memo of understanding that has to be reached before someone can be designated to reach out to the DOD?
MR. COOK: I don't know the legal framework but my understanding is we stand ready to engage with the designated transition leaders with regard to the Defense Department for the next administration. As I said earlier, that to the best of my knowledge as of the time I came out here that had not yet happened.
Q: And on a different matter, in the eastern Mediterranean, the Russian aircraft carrier has been there on station for a while. Have there been intercepts of American or NATO aircraft by the Russian aircraft there in the Mediterranean?
MR. COOK: Just asked about their flight operations. I'm not aware of any contact that we've had in particular, anything unusual hasn't been communicated to me. We have our deconfliction line as you know to prevent any risk of miscalculation, misunderstanding over the skies of Syria and we will continue to use that and we certainly, if they put additional aircraft over Syria that's something that we would keep very close track of. That's something we would expect would be deconflicted like everything else.
Q: Budget question for you. There's still the matter of the 2017 budget, especially if extra troops are going to be staying in Afghanistan, there's a question of whether additional money would be needed. What sort of back and forth is going on between this building and Congress right now to get a package through before the end of the administration?
MR. COOK: We've been working with the OMB for a supplemental. We expect that there will be a request, and just at this point I can't provide the exact details of that at this particular moment in time but it's something that we've expected and OMB and the White House have spoken to that they expected this would happen after the election.
Q: You say you expect a request. There's a request that has already been pushed out by the secretary?
MR. COOK: The secretary has said that we expected a supplemental in the future, after the election, I believe is how the White House expected it, so I would defer to the White House because this would be a request that would come from them.
Q: I would like to come back to the transition and what's going to happen at the DOD. Can the secretary envision a situation where he would stay the secretary of defense under Mr. Trump? Or is it something that it is really impossible to envision.
MR. COOK: You're talking about a hypothetical situation. The secretary is serving - this secretary, this president, and he expects to complete his term serving this president.
Q: As we see things now it's not hypothetical, it's how we envision things now.
MR. COOK: The secretary is focused on his job right now and he wants to serve this president and he's fully expecting to do that and is committed to doing that until the end of his term.
Q: Is it still a priority to the Pentagon to close Gitmo?
MR. COOK: It remains certainly the priority for this secretary acting on the orders of the president of the United States that if there's an opportunity to do that that we want to take all the steps necessary to try and do that. Obviously we have a change in leadership coming. We've had an election, we have a limited time window here, but certainly the secretary of defense is open to having that conversation with members of Congress who are key players in all this, of course. And that he still believes that there is a pathway to do that and to do it responsibly and he would be open to having that conversation.
Last one and then I think I've got to go.
Q: (inaudible) on what's going on in Iraq and Syria with the transition. What type of concerns have there been expressed by any of the troops on the ground whether part of the SDF, or part of the coalition in Iraq that's focusing on Mosul right now, about the transition, and what types of things has the Pentagon been doing to reassure them about continuity from this administration to the next in terms of what they've been asked to do?
MR. COOK: I'll leave you to speak to those groups about any concerns they may have. The one thing we are doing on a daily basis is engaging with these groups and they certainly know our commitment to seeing this through to the end of this secretary's term. We are actively engaged, every day, and will be, in Iraq and Syria to confront the ISIL threat. We have men and women in uniform right now flying over Iraq and Syria. We have people on the ground, as you know, in harm's way, carrying out this mission. And we're gonna do everything we can to support them fully and to support our local partners fully in that effort until the secretary leaves office.
Thanks everybody.