SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE: National Security

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Thank you for the invitation.

The nature of diplomacy is a mix of reacting and also being steadfast to certain values and principles.

So, answering your general question is quite difficult. Each situation requires a different approach. You mentioned North Korea, so I'll start there.

The sabre-rattling we've seen since the death Kim Jong-Il has obviously been concerning, we know that Kim Jong-Un is trying to establish his authority within North Korea. So in that kind of isolated and totalitarian state the way you do that is to show yourself in full control and to show you're a true threat. I think we need to be careful about not overreacting, while at the same time making sure that they can't abuse their place as an actor on the world stage.

I will say this, the test firing of a missile that landed in the ocean, within less than 1000 miles from Atlasian soil. That's a concern, North Korea cannot continue to act like the thin-skinned bully of North Asia. Its focus should be on their constantly starving people, and giving them the opportunities known to their Southern sister and their acquaintances in China.

I have spoken to my counterparts in China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, we want to re-establish the 6-party talks. But while we will meet in Tokyo after Easter, North Korean representatives will not be invited until they sign a formal pledge not to test nuclear weapons nor to fire any weapon that poses a threat to the territorial sovereignty of any other state.

We need to not focus purely on military threats. Let's look at what's happening in Europe right now. There is a concerted effort going on to ensure the stability of the Eurozone, and when I was in Europe last week I spoke very clearly that the entire world is watching and waiting on how this period goes. A de-stabilisation of the Eurozone will trigger a global financial shock with the results you'd expect from something like that. So while military issues such as North Korea, Iran and what may or may not be happening in Syria ... those other important issues need to be considered as risk to national security and stability also.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Thank you Senator for the question.

At the moment, exact details are difficult to ascertain. What we do know is that at 2am local time a Turkish military installation near the town of Kilis, which had chemical weapons detectors, noted the presence of a chemical that is known to form part of a number of known agents.

The Turkish Government has informed us that while they did ensure that all possible precautions were being taken, they did not have enough evidence to justify either an evacuation of the military personnel or the nearby civilian populations.

We are in close contact with officials in Ankara and they will provide information to us, possibly confidentially, as soon as they know.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The Senator understands, more than anyone as a former Secretary that there may be information presented to me, that the Turkish authorities for reasons of their own defense must not be made public. However, that is a hypothetical as the additional information I present is not of that nature. I will ensure that the committee will be furnished will all information, but that some elements may have to be privately transmitted.

I can tell the Committee that we have told that at present that the exact compound is yet to be indentified, but the detected amounts are defined as trace-level, and have a similar structure to a nerve gas compound.

The thing we more than likely need to consider that this facility is less than 25 miles from the Syrian border and 250 miles from Aleppo. So we will be working with the Turkish to determine the likely origin of this gas, and whether it was directed at Turkey or is evidence if the use of chemical weapons in Syria that has travelled on the wind.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Our plan will be considered based upon the conclusion of discussions with the Turkish Government. We obviously condemn the use of such weapons and that would obviously cast the current conflict in Syria in a much more serious and alarming light.

But considering the current delicacy of the situation we cannot consider our course of action until we are sure what we are acting against. Also, this is a situation involving two separate sovereign entities although one is in a civil war. We are not engaged in a physical sense in Syria or Turkey.

I will do what I can to collect as much information as is possible and will provide a brief to this Committee this evening, but I have no further information.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

What's going on in Jordan is increasingly difficult to be sustained with the resources currently available.

I have been invited by King Abdullah of Jordan to visit the refugee camps, I was unable to visit when I was in Israel last week. But I have cleared my schedule and will be on the ground in Jordan early next week. I will use that trip to get as clear a picture of what assistance is needed as possible.

I will then speak with the President to determine that support could be provided.

As for additional information, the Turkish military believes that considering the very low-level amounts detected suggests that if, and I stress if, there was a normal concentrated release of such an agent and considering the winds, that any release would have been up to 300 miles away and to the south, therefore somewhere in Syria.

We are now working to analyse the limited data available.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I fully support the direct provision of any aid to the refugees. While I disagree that we couldn't expect the aid to be provided if given to Jordan, I believe direct provision will enable us to use our logistical skills and strengths to ensure that supplies arrive as quickly as possible.

I believe we would be able to undertake the operation in a very short space of time.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I'm comfortable with this.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

There is a difference between making sure we don't limit our options and making ourselves look stupid, unnecessarily so.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I'll leave that to the committee's discretion

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Mr. Secretary,

Regarding Syria, should Atlasia get involved in providing an active humanitarian help to the refugees?

We have provided aid resources to the Jordanian-based refugee camps. Was there anything in particular, in addition to that, you'd like to suggest?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Senator Kalweijt, I believe the Administration would be supportive of the provision of relevant support for refugee camps in Turkey.

Senator Ben, the problem is this a serious step. In my speech to the CFR last week, which I urge you to look at to get an idea of my philosophy on these things, I said that there is strong evidence that the regime has used chemical agents. The problem is we have evidence of their release, but not of where they were released, let alone against whom.

In a court of law, there has to be a solid body of evidence with causal linkages. I've said we cannot allow timidity because of past rushes to war to prevent us from dealing with this issue, equally we need to heed the lessons of Iraq and make sure everything possible is done to minimise any chance we're operating on faulty intelligence.

We have a good relationship with some of rebel leadership, however, like in Iraq a lot of information and accusations are coming from them, not independent experts who can give us as objective a dossier of information as possible.


I've been travelling the world talking to my counterparts and heads of state to deal with that key mistake from Iraq. We are not taking any, let me repeat this, any options off the table, however, I am determined that any action will represent the will of the international community.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The information I have is that he remains in custody. Atlasian Embassy officials have had contact with him. He is not reporting any ill-treatment, however, our official protest over the management of this issue by the Russian authorities has been handed over to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

We remain committed to have him released as soon as possible, including his immediate removal from the country.

While we remain deeply troubled by the staged nature of the arrest, we see an avenue to his release sooner, rather than later.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

How do you will you be moving forward in your relationship with Russia?

Look, it's not an ideal situation.

We have done virtually all we could do through diplomatic channels. The man in question is not being mistreated.

I do not have any plans to meet with Russian officials for the remainder of my term. That is not a consequence of this action, as I'm happy to meet with whomever I need to. However, should a meeting between myself and my Russian counterpart be necessary to finalise this unpleasant episode I'm prepared to do so.

My relationship with Russia, in my capacity as Secretary, remains as it should, professional and respectful.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Will the Department be taking steps to ensure future intelligence is more secure?

Senator, that would suggest that this was actually an issue with intelligence. We are not in any way confirming or denying that this is intelligence-linked.

I will not make any comments on our intelligence operations, but the fact is, our intelligence officials and operators are amongst the best in the world, we will consider investigations if and when it is clear that we are in a position to require it. I personally do not see that coming from this situation.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I think that the Senate needs to be made aware of all of the details of this case - in private, if necessary. We need to know that the Atlasian intelligence community is in the clear.

I'm prepared to provide a confidential briefing for the Senate.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Mr. Secretary, what measures would you propose to increase embassy security?

Senators, as you'd no doubt be aware, Atlasian embassies already have some of the most sophisticated security measures available. Nothing can entirely prevent the risk posed in volatile and dangerous postings. It is a tribute to our foreign service employees, both posted and locally engaged.

We will be proposing further re-enforcement of outer walls of existing buildings, look into options for creating even greater space between public areas and embassy staff. Each location will require an individual assessment, and I have instructed security policy teams to inspect a number of facilities where improvements look to be needed.

Those findings, which I expect by 21 June 2013, will form the basis of a new memorandum outlining the security requirements of Atlasian foreign missions. I intend that to be issued by Monday 1 July 2013.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

We regularly assess the situation in all areas where we have staff posted that are at risk. We will be analysing the security situation in Kabul, especially, in the coming days. If our security estimate suggests an unreasonable risk, taking into account the nature of the posting being of elevated risk normally, we will put our people's security first.