The President has seen fit to nominate Mr. Kurt Garwood to Secretary of Defense.

Since this is an incedental, debate shall last 3 days. Mr. Garwood is granted the right to participate. Members are still encouraged to ask questions of the nominee. However, no more than 2 questions per member with 1 follow up to each.

Rules of Order do apply to all members and Mr. Garwood.

Secretary Garwood,

1) What ways do you plan to increase recruitment for the armed forces?

2) In Sudan, would you prefer to move troops in to retake the embassy, or would you also take action in Darfur?

I yield

This post has been edited by TrevorWebb on Dec 10 2004, 09:17 AM

Greeting ladies and gentlemen of the committee,

First off I would like to thank you all for allowing me to speak before you and for listening to the comments I have to say today. As for my qualifications for this office, while I was in Washington DC as an analyst for the State Department I would liason with the Pentagon and military officials. Needless to say, I enjoy working with the military and the defense department and I'm also eager to work with the State Department. Traditionally these departments have been at odds with each other, but in the wake of 9/11 we need a united front, not a divided front. I listen to the State Department and our Intelligence officials and try to incorporate a united strategy between the departments.

Now, to answer the questions posed by the gentlemen from Missouri. To answer your first question, I will increase recruitment for our military by stepping up efforts to recruit personnel and increasing benefits for our soldiers and officers. We will raise hazard pay to better levels, ensure that our soldiers are equipped with the proper body armor and protect all our vehicles with the type 3 armor needed to sustain a bomb blast.

As for the second question, our first priority will be to rescue our embassy workers. The causus beli for the declaration of war was the seizure of our embassy, and that will be our top priority. However, we will not neglect the situations in Darfur or in the South. While I feel there is a compelling interest for intervention in Darfur, we must assess the situation and ensure that we have the capacity to invade the country. We also must work with the United Nations and the African Union to secure a multilateral force to allow our intervention legitimacy.

Nevertheless, the top concern for our action in Sudan is avoiding another Somalia. In Somalia the mission was vague, there was no exit plan and US forces were placed under foreign command. I will immediately meet with other cabinet officials, the President and Vice-President to figure out:
1) What our mission is
2) What capacity we have
3) Intelligence information on Darfur and Sudan
4) An exit plan
5) A Plan to Win the War AND the Peace
6) Strategy for securing allies and winning hearts and minds.

I hope this satisfies your questions, Mr. Webb.

I yield the floor.
However, there will be no draft. Not only is a draft bad politically, it will decrease the quality of our soldiers and force people who don't want to serve in the military. We need a professional force and quality must be held to the highest standards.

Mr. Garwood,

First of all, congratulations on your nomination. I have two questions.

First of all, you've stated that you won't institute the draft, yet I'm curious as to how you plan on maintaining current troop levels while also ensuring that we have enough troops available in case of our nation's involvement in further conflicts througout the world.

Secondly, I'd like to know what your thoughts are on a possible course of action in the Sudan. You've stated that you plan on meeting with the President and other members of his cabinet, but I'd like to know what your thoughts are as relates to the Sudan.

Thank you Mr. Wisniewski,

To answer your first question I will not institute a draft, it is frankly to the Congress of the United States whether or not to approve one. The choice lies in your hands.

However, what I can do is fight for increased military pay, benefits and better equipment, technology and armor for our troops. I will also work with the armed forces to conduct an aggressive recruitment and public relations campaign to help recruit. Troop levels are down because people feel that it's not worth risking their lives for low pay and high risk. I plan to change that by doing the aforementioned above.

I will not support a draft, but I will enforce it only if the will of the people and the United States Congress mandate it.

My plan for Sudan is ninefold:

1) Rescue our people in the US embassy as soon as possible but with the best equipment and planning. We cannot afford another failure as in 1980.
2) Assemble a multilateral coalition and legitimacy from the UN, NATO and the African Union.
3) Coordinate troop movement of ourselves and our allies to Chad, the Red Sea and Uganda. Chad and Uganda are both friendly to us and the Red Sea would offer an ideal staging point for our air war as well as Diego Garcia.
4) Assemble local allies, insurgents and opposition leaders such as the Sudan People's Liberation Front and anti-Bashir Arab and African leaders.
5) unleash a bombing campaign to plink the Sudanese army and its tribal allies among the janjaweed as well as destroy all government infrastructures and military targets. We will also ensure maximum damage on the government with minimum or no civilian collateral damage.
6) stage a three-pronged invasion of the country from the Red Sea to Port Sudan, from Uganda in the South and from Chad in the West.
7) Encircle the Khartoum government and force its capitulation as well as destruction of the janjaweed forces.
8) Work with local allies, leaders and African allies to win the hearts and minds of the Sudanese people
9) Administer humanitarian aid to the state, conduct a peacekeeping campaign, organize a new multiethnic democratic government and win the peace.

It's a rather rough as of yet, but I suppose it's the best plan I can think of on the spot and given a pending declaration of war.

This post has been edited by Pro-Union Republican on Dec 10 2004, 06:20 PM

Grats, Garwood.

1. What can you do for the Naval Aviator? Did you know that F-18s are falling apart? Our supply of Orion P-3s have scratched glass and corroding parts. What about the JSF? Mr. Garwood, are you just another civilian politician with no military experience who will ignore the needs of the common warrior and increase political gain?

2. What about space exploration? I believe that exploration should use the Navy, not the Air Force.

Thank you Mr. Thayner,

Our naval aviators will not be neglected, nor our air force or marine pilots. However, I will not favor any particular branch over the other. It is not my job to pander to one branch over the other. Now, what I will do is talk to the Chairmen of the JCS, CENTCOM and military officials on how much funding we need to repair our F-18s and fix our military vehicles and aircraft.

Mr. Thayner, I might not have the military experience you desire but I'm willing to listen to the military and I will work for the common soldier. As you might have noticed, I will not be campaigning or endorsing a candidate this election. I'm going to concentrate on my job and protect our men and women of the armed forces and coordinate strategic operations with CENTCOM and the JCS.

Sure we could use the Navy for space exploration, although I honestly think that space exploration programs should be the last thing on minds right now. We're fighting a war on three fronts now and we need to put all of our efforts into winning them.

I hope my comments answer your question.

I yield.

I would like to thank members for their insightful questions.

I have a few of my own:

Mr. Garwood, how many troops are you sending to circle Khartoum? Where are they coming from?

Mr. Garwood, why are members of the Republican party trouncing the United Nations on the House Floor? Will they support or oppose you going to NATO, the UN and the AU?

Thank you.

Mr. Ellison,

I can only give you vague answers right now. The fact is, the plan is very general and I need to talk specifics with the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other officials in the Pentagon. I would roughly assume that we'll need at least 400,000 troops in Sudan whether all American or with coalition forces. I would ideally prefer at least 50% non-US but these may be idealistic goals. These troops will come from Saudi Arabia, Germany, on reserve in the US and on sea. I will not divert forces from Iraq and Afghanistan to Sudan. However, I also wish to deploy more troops to Iraq because I believe that our forces right now are undermanned. Nevertheless, as soon as Iraqi elections are conducted and a legitimate government arises we can reconsider our commitments in Iraq.

The reason why the Republicans were trouncing the United Nations on the House Floor was because they did not want to be taxed by it for any reason and they do not want our national security outsourced to another country. They don't want the international community to put Presidents on trial for "war crimes". I can say that I can't blame them. However, I have been asssured cooperation if the administration seeks a multilateral coalition or goes to the UN, NATO, the AU or the EU for help. Even the GOP knows that we cannot go alone this time.

I yield.

This post has been edited by Pro-Union Republican on Dec 11 2004, 10:02 PM

Thank you Mr. Garwood. As a follow-up, I must ask. If the United States needs 400,000 troops in Sudan, probably of which 70% will have to be American, 150,000 troops in Iraq, and probably 20,000 in Afghanistan, won't we need a draft pretty quickly to fill in the ranks?

Thank you again.

Mr. Ellison,

To answer your question, I will not recommend a draft. That is up to your discretion and the rest of Congress. We already have 170,000 troops in Iraq and approximately the same number in Afghanistan. We have about a million on reserve and 200,000 in Germany.

What we need to do for now is start training our reservists and national guardsmen in desert and urban warfare as well as counter-insurgency and peacekeeping operations. That is the first order I will issue as Secretary of Defense.

I do not believe in a draft because it will decrease the quality of our soldiers and be politically unpopular. However, if the gentlemen and women of Congress deem it necessary, then I will act upon their discretion.

I hope my response answers your questions.

I yield.