Hagel, Dempsey Detail US-Jordan Contingency Planning on Syria's Chemical Weapons

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey both warned Congress on Wednesday about the unintended consequences of a U.S. military intervention in Syria. Hagel also provided the first details of the Pentagon's efforts in assisting Jordan's military for the possibility of having to secure Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, including $70 million worth of training and equipment.

Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee both Hagel and Dempsey cautioned that a U.S. military intervention in Syria could have unintended consequences and should be reserved as a "last resort."

Two years of fighting to bring down the regime of Syrian President Basher al Assad have killed an estimated 70,000 Syrians and created a million refugees. Both Democratic and Republican senators on the committee have advocated the Obama administration consider some form of U.S. military assistance to assist the Syrian opposition in the form of a no-fly zone or the establishment of a humanitarian aid corridor.

"We have an obligation and responsibility to think through the consequences of direct U.S. military action in Syria," said Hagel. He added that "military intervention at this point could hinder humanitarian relief operations. It could embroil the United States in a significant, lengthy, and uncertain military commitment."

More importantly he warned that it could have "the unintended consequence of bringing the United States into a broader regional conflict or proxy war. " He stressed that "the best outcome for Syria - and the region - is a negotiated, political transition to a post-Assad Syria."

He later used blunter language in describing how all factors should be weighed in considering a U.S. military option in Syria. "You better be damn sure, as sure as you can be, before you get into something, because once you're into it, there isn't any backing out, whether it's a no-fly zone, safe zone, protect these - whatever it is. Once you're in, you can't unwind it. You can't just say, well, it's not going as well as I thought it would go, so we're going to get out.

Gen. Dempsey also told the committee that " before we take action, we have to be prepared for what comes next." He noted that the use of force in an area like Syria where the ethnic and religious divisions "dominate" is "unlikely to produce predictable outcomes." He explained that such a scenario "is not a reason to avoid intervention in conflict, rather, to emphasize that unintended consequences are the rule with military interventions of this sort."

In his opening remarks Hagel presented the most detailed outline yet of American efforts in helping Jordan prepare for the possibility of having to secure the Assad regime's large chemical weapons stockpile should the regime collapse. For much of the past year Pentagon officials have declined to provide details about such efforts, instead making vague references about contingency planning with regional partners for such a scenario.

Hagel told the committee that the Pentagon "has plans in place to respond to the full range of chemical weapons scenarios." He disclosed that the U.S. has provided $70 million in funding to Jordan "for training and equipment to detect and stop any chemical weapons transfers along its border with Syria, and developing Jordanian capacity to identify and secure chemical weapons assets."

However, when Sen. John McCain asked Gen. Dempsey if he was confident that American troops would be able to secure Syria's chemical weapons, Dempsey said, "Not as I sit here today, simply because they've been moving it and the number of sites is quite numerous."

According to Hagel, the U.S. military has also prepared for other contingencies such as " the potential spillover of violence across Syria's borders that could threaten Allies and partners." Furthermore, he said, the Pentagon had "been developing options and planning for a post-Assad Syria," though he said he was not able to provide details in public.

Hagel also announced that last week he ordered the deployment to Jordan of a headquarters element from the 1 st Armored Division based at Fort Bliss, Texas.

They will replace the several hundred American military members from various units who have been in Jordan since last summer working with the Jordanian military in contingency planning related to Syria's chemical weapons, humanitarian efforts and preventing a spillover of violence from Syria into Jordan.

A Defense official said the headquarters will provide "a cohesive command and control element with our Jordanian counterparts." The official also said that if needed its structure would enable it to "be capable of establishing a Joint Task Force headquarters that would provide command and control for Chemical Weapons response, humanitarian assistance efforts and stability operations."

Hagel also referred to the other forms of assistance the U.S. is providing to Syrian refugees and opposition groups. That includes $385 million in assistance to help ease the humanitarian and refugee crisis in Syria, as well as $117 million in non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition in the form of communications and medical equipment.

The Defense secretary told the committee that he would be visiting Jordan next week as part of a Middle East tour that will see him making stops in Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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Hagel seeks change on conviction reversals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is recommending that military commanders be largely stripped of their ability to reverse criminal convictions of service members, a move that comes in response to a congressional uproar over an Air Force officer's decision to overturn a guilty verdict in a sexual assault case, the Pentagon said Monday.

Hagel has asked his staff to draft legislation that would require that cases go through the U.S. Court of Military Appeals, and that senior officers no longer have the authority to set aside guilty findings, except in limited, minor offenses that ordinarily don't warrant a court martial. The commanders, however, would retain their ability to participate in plea bargains and to reduce sentences, but they would have to defend the lesser sentence in writing.

In a written statement Monday, Hagel said that, if enacted by Congress, the changes "would help ensure that our military justice system works fairly, ensures due process and is accountable. These changes would increase the confidence of service members and the public that the military justice system will do justice in every case."

The change requires congressional action, but lawmakers have already begun looking into the matter in response to a furor over a recent Air Force sexual assault case. Hagel said the new recommendations have the full support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the service secretaries.

Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin, commander of the 3rd Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, overturned the conviction against Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, a former inspector general at Aviano Air Base in Italy. Wilkerson had been found guilty last Nov. 2 of charges of abusive sexual contact, aggravated sexual assault and three instances of conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman. The incident had involved a civilian employee.

Wilkerson was sentenced to a year in prison and dismissal from the service, but after a review of the case Franklin overturned the conviction. His decision triggered outrage among senators and calls for a new look at the military justice system.

"This decision has turned the military on its ear," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., during a hearing last month. She added that Franklin's decision sets the Air Force "all the way back to Tailhook." The 1991 Tailhook scandal rocked the military as Navy pilots were accused of sexually abusing female officers at a Las Vegas convention.

Hagel ordered a review of the issue, but he does not have the sole authority to either change the law or the reverse Franklin's ruling.

On Monday, senior defense officials explained the change, saying that once their review of the matter began it became quickly evident that no one was pushing back against the change. They said that the authority to set aside convictions was more suitable years ago, but the military justice system now has additional checks and balances to assure fairness.

The officials who were involved in the review spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the change publicly.

Senators heralded Hagel's move, with McCaskill calling it a "big win for survivors of sexual assault" in the military. And the House Armed Services Committee promised to give the change serious consideration.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who heads the personnel panel on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she and several colleagues are drafting a bill to address the problem and strengthen accountability in the military justice system.

Anu Bhagwati, executive director of Service Women's Action Network, said that she commended the change to the post-trial decision-making. She added, however, that similar attention must be placed on the authorities of commanders during pre-trial decisions affecting the investigation and prosecution of offenses so that the judicial process more closely mirrors the civilian system.

At the same time, Hagel acknowledged that the Pentagon is still struggling to address the problem of sexual assault in the military. He said he's reviewing other ways to strengthen the department's prevention and response efforts.

Air Force officials have argued that overturning the results of a military court martial and granting clemency is rare — amounting to roughly 1 1/2 percent of the caseload. In the past five years, senior commanders have overturned 40 guilty verdicts out of the 3,713 courts martial that were tried. Of those, the Air Force said that 327 involved sexual assaults and just five of those convictions were reversed.

Defense officials said that the other military services have reported similar percentages, but their exact numbers were not available.

Under the current law, if an accused service member is found guilty and sentenced, the findings are not final until they are approved or disproved by the convening authority. The convicted service member can request clemency and the general officer — usually a major general or lieutenant general — seeks legal advice, reviews the trial record and considers information submitted by the accused.

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Hagel to ask Congress to end commanders' power to overturn jury verdicts

By David Alexander

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Monday he would ask Congress to change U.S. military law to eliminate the power of senior commanders to alter courts martial verdicts for major crimes like murder or sexual assault.

The decision follows a controversial ruling in which a senior military commander in Europe set aside the sexual assault conviction of an Air Force officer, throwing out his one-year prison term and dismissal from the service.

The ruling sparked an outcry in Congress, where the military has faced rising criticism over its failure to deal effectively with the large number of military sexual assault cases. It prompted Hagel to order a one-month review to determine whether a revision to U.S. military law was warranted.

Announcing the results of that review, Hagel said he would ask Congress to revoke the power of military commanders to change a jury's findings of guilt or innocence, but would recommend that they retain the power to alter courts martial sentences.

He said he would recommend military law be changed to require the "convening authority" - the general with the final say over a court martial - to explain in writing any reduction of sentence or change in the verdict in a minor case.

"The intent is to ensure that convening authorities are required to justify - in an open, transparent, and recorded manner - any decision to modify a court martial sentence," Hagel said in a statement.

"These changes, if enacted by Congress, would help ensure that our military justice system works fairly, ensures due process, and is accountable."

PLEA BARGAINING

Defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said commanders needed to retain the power to reduce sentences handed down by courts martial to be able to engage in plea bargaining, in which defendants cooperate in exchange for a reduced sentence.

They said the authority also was needed so that commanders could ensure that people convicted of the same crimes did not receive wildly varying sentences.

The changes would have implications for virtually all military legal cases, from the trial of al Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay to the prosecution of Private Bradley Manning, who is suspected of releasing secret documents to WikiLeaks.

Critics of the military's handling of sexual assault cases agreed that changes were needed in the court martial process, but some said Hagel had not gone far enough and that sexual assault cases should be removed from the chain of command.

"Today's proposed changes from the Pentagon fall short of the necessary fixes to end the epidemic of sexual assault in the military," said Nancy Parrish, head of Protect Our Defenders, which is pressing the military for action.

Hagel acknowledged that the Pentagon needed to take further steps to address the problem of sexual assault. The Pentagon has estimated that 19,300 military men and women were sexually assaulted in 2010, with only 240 of those cases going to trial.

"It is clear the department still has much more work to do to fully address the problem of sexual assault in the ranks," Hagel said. "This crime is damaging this institution."

Hagel's proposals, if approved by Congress, would tinker with a system that dates back to the Continental Congress - before the adoption of the Constitution - and is now outdated due to creation of a robust appeals process, officials said.

Hagel ordered the review after Lieutenant Colonel James Wilkerson at Aviano Air Base in Italy had his sexual assault conviction overturned by a commander, who threw out his one-year prison sentence and dismissal from the Air Force and returned him to duty.

Lieutenant General Craig Franklin, the officer with final authority in Wilkerson's court martial, reviewed the trial record and concluded that, despite the jury verdict, the evidence was insufficient to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Defense officials said a review of the Wilkerson case found that the Uniform Code of Military Justice had been followed. The Air Force was expected to release further information about that case at a later time, the officials said.

(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart.; Editing by Christopher Wilson)

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Hagel: B-2s not intended to provoke North Korea

WASHINGTON (AP) — America's unprecedented decision to send nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers to drop dummy munitions during military drills with South Korea this week was part of normal exercises and not intended to provoke a reaction from North Korea, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday.

Hagel acknowledged, however, that North Korea's belligerent tones and actions in recent weeks have ratcheted up the danger in the region, "and we have to understand that reality."

Speaking to Pentagon reporters, both Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the B-2 bombers were a message intended more for allies than Pyongyang.

"The North Koreans have to understand that what they're doing is very dangerous," Hagel said. "I don't think we're doing anything extraordinary or provocative or out of the ... orbit of what nations do to protect their own interests." The U.S., he added, must make it clear to South Korea, Japan and other allies in the region that "these provocations by the North are taken by us very seriously and we'll respond to that."

U.S. Forces Korea announced in a statement Thursday that two B-2 stealth bombers flew from an air base in Missouri and dropped dummy munitions on a South Korean island range before returning home. The Pentagon said this was the first time dummy munitions had been dropped over South Korea, but late Thursday said it was unclear whether there ever had been any B-2 flights there.

The joint drills are likely to heighten the already escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea that have played out in recent weeks, including Pyongyang's threat to carry out nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul. North Korea has ramped up its rhetoric in response to the recent U.S. military exercises and also the U.N. sanctions over North Korea's nuclear test last month.

Use of the stealthy B-2 bombers added something of an exclamation point to the training mission, which had already included older but also nuclear-capable B-52 bombers.

"They're telling the North Koreans, we can attack you in ways in which you can see us coming, and we can also attack you potentially in ways in which you cannot see us coming," said retired Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, a North Korean intelligence expert who served on the Joint Staff and the National Security Council. "So it's a message to the North Koreans that they have to be very careful how they proceed next with their military efforts and their political efforts. "

Asked if the U.S. has seen North Korea take any actual threatening military steps in response to the bombers, Dempsey said the North has moved some artillery units across the demilitarized zone from Seoul and some maritime units along the coasts. But so far, he said, "We haven't seen anything that would cause us to believe they are movements other than consistent with historic patterns and training exercises."

The military drills are only the latest U.S. response to what officials see as a growing North Korean threat. The Pentagon is also planning to beef up its defenses against a potential North Korean missile attack on the U.S.

Hagel announced earlier this month that over the coming four years the Pentagon will add 14 missile interceptors to the 26 it already has in place at Fort Greely, Alaska, at an estimated cost of $1 billion.

Asked about the cost of sending the B-2 bombers all the way from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to South Korea for a show of force, Dempsey said the military plans for a certain number of exercises each year involving the B-2 and B-52 bombers.

Even if it wasn't in the budget, he said, "in light of what's happened in North Korea and the provocation and the necessity of assuring our allies that we're there with them, we would have found a way to do this."

Hagel said there are a lot of "unknowns" with North Korea and its new president Kim Jong Un.

"But, we have to take seriously every provocative, bellicose word and action that this new, young leader has taken so far since he's come to power," Hagel said.

Leighton and other experts say that a full-blown North Korean attack is not likely. But there are persistent worries about a more localized conflict, such as artillery attacks or a naval skirmish in the disputed Yellow Sea waters. There have been three naval clashes since 1999.

"You may see some shelling of South Korean islands that are very close to the North Korean coast. They've done that in the past, they killed four people the last time they did this. That could happen again," said Leighton.

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AP Broadcast writer Sagar Meghani also contributed to this report.

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