Joint Chiefs Chairman: Defensive Measures Prevented Casualties in Iranian Attack

Joint Chiefs Chairman: Defensive Measures Prevented Casualties in Iranian Attack

JAN. 8, 2020 | BY C. TODD LOPEZ , DOD NEWS

Although Iranian missiles damaged equipment and infrastructure at U.S. and ally-occupied military installations in Iraq yesterday, training and defensive readiness paid off in no lives being lost, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

“There’s sirens that go off on these bases. … There’s bunkers and jersey barriers, and there’s places to go hide and all that,” said Army Gen. Mark A. Milley told reporters at the Pentagon today. Milley and Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper briefed reporters after spending most of the day on Capitol Hill talking with lawmakers.

“We have various levels of protective gear, and we have various scatter plans that do certain things,” the chairman said. “They are all tactics, techniques and procedures — normal defensive procedures that any military unit would do that would come under rocket attack, indirect fire, mortars, large-scale missiles, etc. So in this particular case, Al Asad is a big base — they put 11 large rockets [with] 1,000-, 2,000-pound warheads in them — but we took sufficient defensive measures that there were no casualties to U.S. personnel, coalition personnel, contractors or Iraqis.”

Esper said good discussions took place on Capitol Hill. “We covered a number of issues in both the House and Senate, everything ranging from authorities and imminence, all the way though force posture, next steps, etc.,” he said. “So a very good discussion, a very robust discussion, and you know I thought it was a good chance for all of us to kind of share our views and to consult on next steps.”

The secretary said Iran launched 16 ballistic missiles into Iraq. He said he believes the missiles were short-range ballistic missiles and that the missiles landed in at least two spots. Both landing spots were Iraqi military bases that played host to American and coalition forces, including service members from the United Kingdom, Denmark and Canada.

At least 11 of the 16 missiles struck at Al Asad Air Base, about 175 miles from Iraq’s border with Iran, and about 115 miles from Baghdad. At least one missile also hit at a military installation near Irbil, Iraq, some 200 miles north of Baghdad and about 60 miles from the border with Iran.

The secretary said the current battle damage assessment includes loss of such things as tents, taxiways, parking lots and damage to a helicopter, but “nothing I would describe as major, at least as I know it at this point in time.”

While no lives were lost, Milley said, he believes the Iranians intended to cause deaths.

“The points of impact were close enough to personnel and equipment … that I believe, based on what I saw and what I know, is that they were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft, and to kill personnel,” Milley said. “That’s my own personal assessment.”

Esper and Milley both said professional intelligence analysts are working on a final assessment.

The secretary said he remains cautious about drawing any conclusion that if the Iranians intended to kill Americans and did not accomplish that during the attack, they may consider the attempt a failure and try again.

“I think we have just got to assess the situation. Let’s see what they are saying publicly, see what they are saying privately, look at our intelligence, all those things,” he said. “We are not going to do anything imprudent. … These are serious times, and we take things one step at a time.”

Transcript

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MARK T. ESPER: 

I just wanted to give you a quick update.  I got back from the Hill where the national security team and I have briefed members of Congress in both the House and Senate.  Both briefings went long, longer than expected, but that was a very good discussion.  We covered a number of issues in both the House and Senate, everything ranging from authorities and imminence, all the way through force posture, next steps, et cetera.  So a very good discussion, a very robust discussion, and I thought it was a good chance for all of us to kind of share our views —  and  to consult; and to consult on next steps.  I made that clear in — in my remarks.  It was a chance to hear from members of Congress what they think with regard to the situation and what we should do. 

On that matter, you know some the facts already.  Last night Iran — from Iran, at least three locations launched 16 ballistic missiles.  We believe they were short range ballistic missiles, we can get you the details as we have numbers and designations and nomenclatures.  Those landed at least two spots: two Iraqi bases that hosted American and coalition troops, coalition troops of at least a dozen countries.  I think of the U.K., Denmark, Canada, some of those countries.  The missiles impacted at least 11 at al Asad, which was the one location impacted, and the second one was Irbil, where at least one impacted.  The current BDA is, if you will, again, we can get you details, things like tentage, taxiways, the parking lot, a damaged helicopter, things like that; nothing that I would describe as major, at least as I note at this point in time.  So that’s the state of — of the attack at this point as we know it.

Most importantly, no casualties, no friendly causalities, whether they are U.S., coalition, contractor, et cetera.  With regard to where we stand today, you all saw the president’s press conference.  He gave a very — a robust discussion about what happened and where we are, announced additional sanctions on Iran as of this morning.  And clearly for us, from a DOD posture, we remain poised and ready, we — protecting the force and at the same time, ready for what other contingencies we may be called upon as things — should things development — develop.

We’ve had at least two meetings with the president, the national security team has in the past 24 hours now, to discuss the situation and next steps, and we take it, you know a day, a hour at a time and so more to follow on that front.  Lastly, as I said yesterday, I just want to reassure the American people that we have the best military in the world.  They stand ready to defend us globally and in particular this part of the world, defending our interests, helping reassure our friends and allies, and making sure we can reestablish deterrence with Iran and deal with whatever comes our way.  So — and I also want to thank our men and women in uniform and our diplomats for their service.  So I will stop there and take some questions.  Yeah?

SEC. ESPER:   First of all, when the attacks first started and we had impact, I want you to know that I immediately called the chairs and rankings of the Defense committees, Deputy Secretary of Defense made some calls too, so we were quick to inform Congress of what happened.  And then, the team was quick to inform many of our allies and partners of what was underway to make sure they were aware and they could take appropriate actions, too. 

With regard to — with regard to the — the attacks, my assessment is that they were intentional, given what was hit, the aim points, et cetera.  That remains to be determined, though, and I’ll let the chairman talk here; he has his own views as well, as a professional military man. 

Chairman?

GENERAL MARK A. MILLEY: 

GEN. MILLEY:  OK, so, bottom line is, in my professional assessment, is at al Assad, there were, as you know, there were 16 missiles, 12 impacted, 11 landed at al Asad.  The points of impact were close enough to personnel and equipment, so on and so forth, I believe, based on what I saw and what I know, is that they were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft, and to kill personnel.  That’s my own personal assessment, but the analytics is in the hands of professional intelligence analysts, so they’re looking at that. 

And the one round that landed up in Irbil, there is no way to determine it, because it landed right outside.  It’s only one round; there’s not enough data to know for certain.  So we’ll — we’ll — we’ll find out in the coming days from professional intel folks in various agencies. 

SEC. ESPER:  We had a heads up in the sense that our warning systems and all those things were activated and watching and were able to give a sufficient warning. 

I’d commend the commander on the ground for all the appropriate defensive measures he — he took to minimize the effects of those missiles, and I think that testimony to that is the fact that we had no causalities.