As we look specifically to the sub-regions, Mr. Chairman, I would talk first

Chairman WARNER. General, before you go further, today's record should reflect the comments of myself, and I am sure I am joined by our colleagues here, in recognition of the outstanding service given by General Zinni in his current position. It is extraordinary. I think each of us have had opportunities to travel with him and be with him, and he has brought great credit to the armed services of the United States and indeed fulfilled his duties with great distinction. Thank you, sir, for your reference to him.

General FRANKS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Continuing with some specifics by sub-region, with regard to the Gulf sub-region, we have recently completed an Eagle Resolve Exercise which gave us some discussion of CDI initiatives with the Gulf States as well as with Jordan and with Egypt. We have recently completed an environmental conference with the State of Oman as well as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members there.

What we have seen as a result of this throughout the GCC is an improved ability within the GCC to work together, to share information. We see improving bilateral relationships, not only between ourselves as well as each of these states, but with these states in their dealings with one another.

We are continuing positive relationships as we have watched the modernization of each of the states within the GCC and I believe at this point, sir, those countries have a good relationship and I am very positive about where we stand with the Gulf.

As we move to the two countries on the northern Red Sea where Central Command has responsibility, those being Egypt and Bright Star, I will talk briefly-correction, Egypt and Jordan-I will talk briefly about Egypt first. Recently, Mr. Chairman, we had the Bright Star Exercise with some 70,000 participants, the largest exercise our military formations participate in outside the continental United States, with some 11 countries directly participating and 26 observer nations involved in that—one of the more successful exercises we have had, including the integration of staffs with representatives from each of those countries.

We see strong support for the Middle East peace process continuing to come out of Egypt and I remain very positive about what we see in Egypt. In Jordan, we have seen the development of a 5-year plan by King Abdullah as well as General Mulkawi and the members of his staff that we believe sets Jordan on precisely the right azimuth for the future. We see the strongest relations with the state of Jordan that I believe we have seen any time recently.

Chairman WARNER. Now, you were the deputy, of course, to General Zinni. In the course of that, have you had the opportunity to meet the new ruler of Jordan?

General FRANKS. Yes, sir, I have.

Chairman WARNER. King Abdullah.

General FRANKS. Yes, sir, I have.

Chairman WARNER. So you have a strong personal acquaintance on which to build a foundation.

General FRANKS. Yes, sir, I do.

Chairman WARNER. Good. Thank you.

General FRANKS. Yes, sir. As we move to the Horn of Africa, we have done a great deal with the African Crisis Response Initiative that we see going on there, doing a lot of work with Kenya as one of the principal leaders in eastern Africa and in the Horn. We have also seen the Strategic Studies Institute, the African Center for Strategic Studies, as it has begun to move forward and given us some inroads where we can deal with the countries in Africa on humanitarian response issues, disaster relief issues, very fundamental lower level military training issues.

Mr. Chairman, what we are trying to do is provide the right sort of example to these countries in eastern Africa of what an appropriate balanced military service looks like under civilian control. I believe we are having some success there.

Later, in the month of July we will conduct the Golden Spear Exercise in Kenya, where we will continue to work on issues such as humanitarian support and disaster relief and try to assist them in forming the correct organizations and command and control of those organizations for their future.

In the central Asian states, we continue to work-and Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, Central Command took responsibility for the central Asian states last October. Our efforts there have been to assist with military reform as these countries' militaries move away from the old Soviet model. We have worked with them to help establish structures for command and control of militaries under civilian control. We are working with them now on border security issues and on counternarcotics issues and assisting them with the professional development of both their officers and their noncommissioned officer cadres.

So, sir, pardon the length of that response, but that is generally a snapshot of our circumstance in the region with the friendly countries. Of course, we remain challenged by potential hegemons in Iran and Iraq and we continue to watch the more fragile and failing countries that we see in the region, such as Somalia and Afghanistan, sir.

Chairman WARNER. Moving through Congress is a piece of legislation which might well lift some of the trade restrictions with Iran. Until that is enacted into law, of course, it will not pose a challenge to you. But certainly the question in Iraq today does pose a very serious challenge, and I would like to make it my first question.

I do not have the exact figures, but, given the petroleum crisis that this country is facing right now and the high prices at the gas pump, Americans should be aware that a considerable portion of that petroleum on which we have this serious reliance comes from Iraq. It may not be direct, but it can be traced to Iraq.

At the same time and while we are right here in this hearing, I dare say, there are aviators flying and taking a high degree of risk as they fulfil those missions, both in the north and the south. This policy I think is, in the words of Churchill, when looking at the system of government in this country, it is one of the worst he has ever seen, but he knows of no better.

I know of no better policy for the moment than the one being pursued by the United States, and with the support and indeed the participation by Great Britain. But I am concerned that people are

saying that the only reason that we are in that region and got involved in the Gulf War was to protect our U.S. access to oil in that region. I say I am offended because I think that the men and women of the armed forces of this Nation have never been viewed as mercenaries who go to assume the risks solely for economic rea

sons.

I remember well one of our high officials made a reference to that and I and others rebutted him very strongly. We went in the cause of freedom, the cause of human rights, and we fought a brave battle in 1991. So today I am of the view that we are there for reasons far beyond any economic implications. I would like, having discussed this very question with you yesterday, to have you state for the record your own professional judgment as to why we are there and justifying the daily risks that the men and women of the armed forces are taking in that region.

General FRANKS. Chairman Warner, I appreciate the opportunity to comment on that point and share my views. It is true that more than 70 percent of the

Chairman WARNER. "Known Reserves" I think is the phrase. General FRANKS. Yes, sir-known Reserves of energy are in that region, and it goes without saying that one of our interests in the region is to assure our access to those strategic resources. But it is also true that in this region we have more than 125,000 Americans involved in a variety of activities, and we are constantly and consistently interested in looking after American citizens and the interests of those citizens in the area.

So we are also very much concerned with the freedom of navigation at the nexus of three continental plates in this region. We are interested in maintaining access to the commercial markets of this region. We are certainly interested, Mr. Chairman, as you said, in peace and stability so far as the longstanding relationships and friendships the United States of America has with the countries in this region.

So we are interested in the security of our partners there. We are interested in a lasting Middle East peace (process). We believe that the credibility that we establish and maintain in this region is supportive of a lasting Middle East peace.

Additionally, sir, we are interested globally and certainly in this region in nonproliferation, and our presence and support lends to the security and stability in the region, which we are hopeful will give us the right chance to guarantee nonproliferation.

Chairman WARNER. I thank you very much for that.

General Kernan, as the commander of the 18th Airborne Corp, which would be amongst the first of all units to deploy to a major theater war, you had a great deal to do with readiness. Now, as the commander to be of Joint Forces Command you will be responsible for the deployment of all CONUS-based units to theaters of combat, but you will not have the direct Title 10 responsibilities of training and equipping these forces.

Now, as commander of the Joint Forces Command, what actions can you take with your colleagues across the spectrum of our military departments to provide for that degree of readiness which you must pass on before you, presumably, inform the President that you are ready to go?

General KERNAN. Mr. Chairman, if confirmed, I have the opportunity to work very closely with my service component commanders to assess and ensure the readiness of their forces. Additionally, through joint readiness training we can ensure that the joint warfighting capability of those components is adequate to meet the combatant commanders' needs. It is a very difficult balancing act, unquestionably.

But by leveraging the service training venues and providing the overarching joint training opportunities for the component commanders, I am assured, I can be assured that we can provide trained and ready forces to meet the needs of the combatant commanders.

Chairman WARNER. If you are given an execution order and it is your professional judgment that that unit or units are not ready to meet the challenge of that order, do you have any hesitation to bringing to the attention of your superiors, notably the Chairman and the Secretary of Defense, it is your professional judgment that that unit is not ready to carry out that order?

General KERNAN. Sir, I have no hesitation whatsoever. However, I would go through the chain of command and initially get with the component commander and assess that. But I have a moral as well as a professional responsibility to do just that.

Chairman WARNER. I thank you for that.

Senator Levin.

Senator LEVIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

First, General Franks, relative to Iraq, you were already asked about the No Fly Zone, and I take it that your answer is that it performs a useful purpose in your judgment, and you stated the relationship of that No Fly Zone enforcement to the purposes that you outlined.

Relative to Iraq, on Sunday it was reported that Saddam Hussein issued a decree suspending a 1998 order that divided Iraq into four military zones. I am wondering if you can give us any insight as to what might be behind that new decree and what it might portend for the future?

General FRANKS. Senator Levin, in open session I would say that we believe we saw the breakdown of Iraq into four general areas related to some of the strike activities that we within Central Command undertook against Iraq in times past. I believe that our take right now on the reason that those areas are being undone is a return to normalcy for command and control within Iraq, sir.

Senator LEVIN [presiding]. What effect does that have on the risks that our flyers are facing every day, if any? Does that increase the risk, decrease the risk, or have any effect?

General FRANKS. Sir, we see absolutely no change to the risk. As we came out of the Desert Fox strikes back in December of 1998 we saw tremendous amounts of air defense and integrated air defense activity outside or down within the No Fly Zones in the south. As we have continued the containment, Operation Southern Watch work over the last 18 months, those air defense assets in the south as well as up in the northern No Fly Zone, have been reduced dramatically.

So what we have done is we have built ourselves a cushion, if you will, in the south as well as in the north, where we operate

with, not impunity, but where we operate certainly, sir, with lower risk than we had during Desert Fox.

To your question, this rearrangement of command and control within Iraq has no effect on that posture at all. We still see our ability to operate both in the north and the south as very good.

Senator LEVIN. I want to ask you about troop morale and I would like to address this question to both of you, because we want to be reassured relative to that morale issue where we have high operational and personnel tempos. First, General Franks, as Commanding General of the Third U.S. Army, and General Kernan, as Commanding General of the 18th Airborne, you are both in a position to give us really first-hand accounts of troop morale, and I wonder if you each would tell us how you see morale within the troops under your command.

Maybe we will start with you, General Kernan.

General KERNAN. Thank you, Senator Levin.

I command 85,000 soldiers, 4 divisions, 13 separate brigades. Routinely, those forces are deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, and many other places. I will tell you that the morale of the troops is extremely high. They are very proud of what they do. We are very proud of them. They serve selflessly around the world, doing whatever their Nation requires them to do, and they do it remarkably well.

I will tell you that when you go out there and see them in the field you cannot help but be impressed with their attitude, their perseverance, and their confidence and competency, and at the same time the fact that they feel that they are contributing. It's a worthwhile effort on their part.

The challenge for them, of course, is the high operations tempo (OPTEMPO). We must maintain a trained and ready force, so in addition to the operational tempo, the high operational tempo that they are experiencing, back at home station they are equally busy at home station training preparing for whatever they may have to do next.

you,

That is hard on them, hard on their families. It is the challenge of the leaders to ensure that we bring balance to all that. I will tell I think morale is good, though, sir. If our retention rates are indicative of morale, right now-last year we did 108 percent on retention and right now we are retaining our mission for this year. So if that is an indicator, they are satisfied and they feel proud of what they do. I think right now morale is good, sir.

Senator LEVIN. General Franks, your comments on the morale of our forces?

General FRANKS. Sir, I would agree with everything General Kernan said. I would say specifically to my command, in Central Command, we have very few assigned forces. What we have the ability to do is to meter forces into and out of the region based on need.

Over the course of the last 3 years, we have had the opportunity to view an awful lot of soldiers and sailors and airmen, Marines, and special operators coming into the theater. Senator, what Í would say is that in every case, both the professional competence as well as the morale of those troops whom we have rotated into the region have been absolutely top drawer.