WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at the Full Committee's hearing entitled, "State and Non-State Actor Influence Operations: Recommendations for U.S. National Security." For testimony and other information and to watch the hearing click here.
"Whether the term used is 'political warfare,' 'influence operations,' 'psycho-cultural warfare,' 'indirect warfare,' 'hybrid warfare,' or one of many others that has been suggested, it is clear that the United States and our allies are under consistent attack using non-kinetic tactics intended to undermine and weaken us.
We know that Russia intervened in a variety of ways to sow dissension during the 2016 election. History and now declassified documents establish that the former Soviet Union had a track record of 'active measures' against NATO's deployment of intermediate range missiles in Europe, and they included providing propaganda themes to peace movement groups, as well as organizational expertise, financial resources, forged U.S. military documents, etc. And according to declassified CIA documents, that campaign was built upon a similar campaign they carried out against the proposed neutron bomb of 1977-78.
It's part of the standard playbook, and we should expect more of the same against the decisions called for in the Nuclear Posture Review, for example, only given their recent success, a more sophisticated version.
While most of the attention has been centered on Russia as the source of these attacks, they are not the only adversary using such methods. China has spent billions of dollars to gain economic leverage, buy access to infrastructure, and shape public opinion and perceptions around the world to its advantage. Iran, various terrorist organizations, and even North Korea make use of some of them.
These tactics challenge our traditional ways of thinking about warfare; they challenge our organizational structure on who is responsible for defending the country in this sphere; and they challenge our ability to develop and use the tools needed to counter them in a timely way.
As the National Defense Strategy says, 'China and Russia want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model – gaining veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic, and security decisions.' It is important to identify the motive behind these efforts, but the question remains whether we have the tools, organizations, and approaches to protect American sovereignty and national security.
We hope to gain insight into these issues from our distinguished panel of witnesses."
Mar 21, 2018
Press Release