John McCain

Do you believe that if the current conditions persist, Assad can remain in power nearly indefinitely?

I commend you both for your distinguished careers and your leadership of an Army in the midst of organizational change.

What is the reasoning behind such a significant cut to the ASFF, particularly given the increased role ASF are to assume next year?

General Mattis, with the withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Iraq, we have repositioned significant forces in Kuwait and are in the process of redefining their roles and missions. Can you describe your long-term plans for U.S. Forces in Kuwait?

General Mattis, what is your assessment of the impact of this policy on operational readiness of units in a deployed setting?

There is only one state in our AOR actively seeking to destabilize the region and actively foment violence, and that is Iran.

Isn't that what the United States has been standing for for a couple of hundred years at least? Isn't that why we fought wars?

Under current conditions, would simply providing arms to the opposition be sufficient to help them end the violence and to force Assad to leave power?

Yes, sir, it'll be the biggest strategy setback for Iran in 20 years when Assad falls; not if, but when.

Sir, Assad has chosen violence. I think his military is under more pressure every day.

Providing military assistance to the Free Syrian Army and other opposition groups is necessary, but at this late hour, that alone will not be sufficient to stop the slaughter and save innocent lives.

The President has made it the objective of the United States that the killing in Syria must stop and that Assad must go.

General Ham, when do you expect to approve the master plan?

General Ham, will you share the plan and the total costs with this committee?

I know that the Department of the Navy has been working on a master plan for over a year to construct an austere base for thousands of U.S. military personnel with an emphasis on anti-terrorism force protection and safety.

Rather than closing off the prospects for some kind of a negotiated transition that is acceptable to Syria's opposition, military intervention is now needed to preserve this option as credible.

The Europeans set a goal of 2 percent of the GDP, and they are not meeting that.

The only realistic way to do so is with foreign air power, and the time has come for it.

The end of the Assad regime would sever Hezbollah's lifeline to Iran, eliminate a longstanding threat to Israel.

General Ham, what can be done to mitigate force protection risks, such as expanding the footprint of the installation?

I think we have to continue to press on our allies to spend more on defense as a general proposition.

I do not think there is great likelihood that an extremist organization will be able to extend control of the government of either country.

It would be in our interest to help the Tunisians, as I mentioned in my prepared statement, with some ability to better control their own borders.

So here we are with a NATO that was willing to engage and intervene in Bosnia and Kosovo, but we will not even make any contingency plans for the massacre that is going on in Syria.

I think we should bear all this in mind as we in this committee and we in Congress more broadly debate whether and how to reduce our defense spending, including the catastrophic effects of sequestration.