 being targeted. So I guess that's why I'm a little confused, because the French seem to be quite certain that they were – I mean, I can't speak for the French. And again, I'm relaying to you the information that I have. Right. I just want to clarify. Is it the U.S. belief that those drones are potentially targeting U.S. destroyers, the Carney and others, or is it that you don't know? Well, they clearly present a threat, and we're going to take appropriate action in self-defense. The only other thing I'd offer is if you see the comments coming out of who the spokespeople themselves saying what they're attempting to target here. And so again, the targeting of any commercial vessels in the region is a violation of international law. And again, we'll work with the international community to address these threats going forward. Let me give you some new colleagues to share. Thank you so much. I will go back to the Secretary Austin's phone call with the Iraqi Prime Minister. In the phone call, he pointed out to Iraqi militia groups that acts by Iran, Qatar, Hezbollah, and Haqqat, and Najibah that they are responsible for the most of the attacks. How did you get there to that conclusion that these two groups are responsible for the most of the attacks? Section 702. I'm kidding. I'm not going to get into intelligence, but the bottom line is what we put out speaks for itself. Do you expect the Iraqi government to put accountability to these groups? And does the United States give any support to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Sudan, to address these threats? Well, I'm not going to go beyond the readout that we provided, which clearly highlighted the Secretary's conversation with the Prime Minister as it relates to the inherent right to protect U.S. forces. And look, Iraq is an important partner to the United States. We're obviously there. We have a force presence in Iraq at the invitation of the government of Iraq to help their forces as they continue to work for the lasting defeat of ISIS. And so, again, that will continue to be our focus. But we do very much appreciate the Iraqi security forces and the assistance that we've provided when it comes to addressing these threats and will continue to stay in close coordination and communication with the Iraqi government. But at the end of the day, if our forces are threatened, we will not hesitate to take action to ensure that they remain safe. Last question. Do you believe that the Iraqi government could do that because since the very beginning of these attacks, you are requesting the Iraqi government to stop these attacks, but it doesn't happen. Again, I'm not going to go beyond what we highlighted in our readout. You know that we've conducted strikes within Iraq when our forces were threatened. And look, our focus there is on the defeat ISIS mission. You have these groups that are attempting to exploit the situation in the Middle East right now to work towards their broader strategic goal of expelling the United States from Iraq and Syria, but we do not want to see a return of ISIS and will continue to work closely with the Iraqi government and others to ensure that doesn't happen. Let me go to Joseph here. Just on that similar topic, in March, I believe General Carrillo was testifying on the Hill and he said there had been around 78 attacks on U.S. troops since January of 2021 until January of this year. That's two years. Just from October 17th until today, we have somewhere around 90 attacks. You guys have more or less said that these attacks are not linked to what's going on in Gaza. You also said at the top the U.S. is trying to contain this conflict to Gaza. Is it still the department's assessment that what's happening in Gaza is not linked to these attacks on U.S. troops? And secondly, I mean, is it the department's assessment that deterrence is working when we've seen the number of attacks in, I guess, two months more than what we had seen in two years? Yeah, well, again, our focus as I outline those objectives is to prevent the situation, the conflict between Israel and Hamas from broadening into a regional conflict. And so, no, we don't assess that that has happened. It has been contained to Israel fighting Hamas in Gaza and that will continue to be a focus. You know, we've talked about this before, the situation in Iraq and Syria, why our forces are there and the fact that you have Iranian proxy groups who are being encouraged by Iran to, again, exploit this situation to their advantage in order to meet the strategic aim of expelling U.S. forces from that region, which, again, oh, by the way, are there at the invitation of the government of Iraq. And so, you know, we're going to continue to stay focused on that mission. We're going to continue to do what we need to do to protect our forces and I'll just leave it at that. Secondly, if I can follow up on the task force that's being discussed and I don't have anything to read out, but we reported earlier today that there's the U.S. is in talk with 12 nations about this task force. Can you confirm that? And also, can you elaborate at all on the Secretary's conversations next week on his trip as you plan to ask at least Qatar and Bahrain to join them? Yeah, thanks, Joseph. So right now, no, again, more information in the near future as it relates to our efforts to work multilaterally in terms of the Red Sea region. And as far as the trip goes, again, we'll have more information in the future. All right, let me go back over to here. Laura. Thank you. Last month, President Biden and President Xi promised that they would resume military communications. I'm wondering if you can tell us when that's going to happen. So I don't have any specific calls or meetings to announce right now. We have been working closely with our Defense Attache Office and our policy team's been in active coordination with Beijing in order to arrange communication. But again, nothing to announce at this point in time. We have underscored many times the importance of ensuring that that senior leader level communication continues to mitigate potential risk and prevent miscalculation, and so we'll continue to stay very focused on that. I know that Secretary Austin doesn't have a Chinese counterpart. Right now, have they offered someone to speak in his place? Again, right now we're reaching out. Don't have anything to announce at this time. Thank you very much. Thank you, General. Congratulations on your promotion. Thank you. Getting to start. The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act says that US troops stationed in South Korea will be maintained at the current level. Does this include troops deployed for joint exercise? Thanks, Janney. So as you know right now, we have approximately 28,500 U.S. forces assigned in Republic of Korea. In terms of forces coming in for exercises, that is a variable number that depends on the size of the exercise, the number of requirements and things like that. So that won't change. So the bottom line is, you know, when it says force levels will be preserved, I take that at face value. Obviously, I'm not going to talk about pending legislation. But, you know, exercise numbers can fluctuate again just depending on the requirement. Do you think military cooperation between North Korea and Russia will lead putting the war in Ukraine to victory? You're asking. Look, Janney, you know, we are singularly focused on working with the international community to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to be successful on the battlefield, both in the short term and in the long term, in terms of deterring future aggression from Russia. So I'll just leave it at that for real. Thank you. I have two questions on the Secretary's course with the Japanese Defense Minister. First, on the Osprey crash, I wonder if the Secretary shared the progress on the investigation into the crash with the Japanese Defense Minister because Pentagon said the investigation will be transparent. Yeah, again, I'm not going to have anything to provide beyond what's in the readout. As you highlight broadly speaking, yes, the Department of Defense will continue to work closely with our Japanese allies to share information as it relates to the investigation, you know, and as appropriate. Yeah, secondly, the Secretary also discussed maritime security in the Red Sea. So does the Pentagon hope that the Indo-Pacific countries, including Japan, will join a maritime task force in the Red Sea, because what's going on in this critical waterway matters to the economy in the Indo-Pacific region? Again, I'm not going to speak right now for any individual countries. As I highlighted, this is an international problem that requires an international solution. So we are engaged with many different nations to discuss this challenge. And as I mentioned, we may have more future in the days ahead. Now better go to the phone or else I'm going to get in trouble here. Let's go to Jeff Schogel task and purpose. Thank you. What evidence does the Defense Department have that if Vladimir Putin wins in Ukraine, that he might target Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, all of which are protected under Article 5 of NATO? Yeah, thanks Jeff. So I don't want to get into hypotheticals, but broadly speaking, you know, past performance is usually an indicator of future performance. And so we've seen Russia conduct gray zone operations. We know that their goal, which they have failed at, it was to eliminate Ukraine as a nation. And so the concern here is, yes, if Putin were allowed to win, Russia won't stop. They will move on to other countries and attempt to either invade or destabilize. And so this does put us in a situation where NATO could be threatened and U.S. requirements and commitments under Article 5 would be something that we would obviously take very seriously. So again, this is why Ukraine matters. It's not just about Ukraine. It's about international security, not only in Europe, but also globally. Thank you. Let me go to Reuters, Phil. Hey, Dries here. Two quick questions. Firstly, Israel has said that it will deploy its own warship to the Red Sea. The U.S. ships already in the region working with them, and will Israel be part of any maritime effort in the region? And secondly, President Biden earlier today said that Israel is losing support over what he called their indiscriminate Gaza bombing campaign. Does the Secretary agree with the President that the bombing by Israel has been indiscriminate? Thanks, Idris. So I don't have anything to announce regarding Israel. I'd refer you to them to talk about their own operations in the Red Sea region. And look, Secretary Austin's comments at Reagan were very clear when it comes to two things. One, that our support for Israel's inherent right to defend itself is ironclad. And number two, that we will continue to expect Israel to conduct its operations in accordance with the law of armed conflict, highlighting that not only does Israel have a moral obligation to protect civilians, but it's also a strategic imperative. Thank you. Come back in the room for a few more here. Matt. Thanks, Pat. Today Reuters reported that a declassified U.S. intelligence report determined that Russia has lost some 315,000 troops, either to injury or death, total casualties. And also that its losses in personnel and vehicles has set its military modernization efforts back by some 18 years. Are you able to confirm any parts of that report or do you have your own estimates for casualties on either side of the conflict? Yeah, thanks, Matt. I don't have anything to provide on those reports, nor do I have numbers to provide on casualties. But I will take it as an opportunity to highlight the fact, again, the strategic failure of Russia when it comes to the objectives that it had set for itself in Ukraine, and the fact that it has cost thousands and thousands of lives on both sides needlessly, which is why, again, we will continue to work very closely with Ukraine to ensure that they have what they need to defend their people and protect their sovereign territory. So I'll just leave it there. Thank you, Dan. Thanks, General. One of the follow-up on the individuals that appeared to be responsible for the hijacking some days ago that you said appeared to be Somali. Can you give us an update on where they are if they're still detained underway with the U.S. Navy, if you've clarified where they're from and just where they are now? Sure. They are Somali. They are still aboard the USS Mason while we continue to work with the Department of Justice on next steps. So as we have more information to provide, we will do that. Do you believe them to be working in any kind of way with the Houthis, or was this just a coincidence at a time when there's a lot of Houthi operations? Yeah, I don't have any further information to pass along, Dan. And as we get updates, we'll be sure to pass them along. All right. I'll get one sec. Yes, sir. Thank you very much. You just said that Secretary Austin made it clear that the United States is expecting Israel to be careful in its bombing campaign in Gaza when it comes to civilian casualties. What if the Netanyahu government or the IDF continue to indiscriminately attack civilians in Gaza and continue to use the white force force like it did in southern Lebanon? What steps will the United States government take? Again, look, we have been very clear with our Israeli partners that we have the expectation that they will conduct their operations in accordance with the law of armed conflict. It is the importance of taking civilian safety into account has come up in every single conversation that Secretary Austin has had with his counterpart, and that continues to happen at multiple levels. And again, look, we understand that Israel is fighting to defend its people from a terrorist threat in the form of Hamas that brutally attacked the people of Israel on October 7th. We also understand that they are an extremely difficult fight and an extremely dense urban terrain where the enemy has intertwined themselves among the civilian population and are using them as human shields. So again, we understand that and we will continue to support Israel in their efforts to defend their people and defend their country. But we will also continue to talk to them about the importance of mitigating civilian casualties and the importance of ensuring that civilian aid is provided to the people of Gaza. Let me go back to the phone here and then we'll do one more in the room. Heather from USNI. Thanks so much. Just to follow up on Nancy's question. Because the French are saying that they were attacked when they were NATO ally, what responsibility is that put on the United States to help protect French military ships that might be getting attacked or other military ships that may consider the drones or missiles being shot in the Red Sea to be attacks. Thanks Heather. So my understanding is operations in the Red Sea, it's not a NATO operation per se. Clearly France is a close ally and should they ask for our support or call on us to support them, we will obviously respond and be there to help. But again, it's not a NATO mission as I understand it going on right now within the Red Sea. You've got the combined maritime force that has over 39 nations that work together on a multiple number of efforts to provide security and regional stability to include Red Sea navigation. So again, nothing to announce on that front, more to follow in the near future, but let's leave it there. All right, so you get the last question. As far as US and your military-to-military relations are concerned, how would you highlight 2023 and also any major accomplishment under what the future had like between the two countries and including yourself if you're enjoying your job, you have enjoyed your job in 2023? I absolutely enjoyed my job in 2023 and I enjoy spending time with all of you here. But in terms of the relationship between the United States and India, with obvious focus on the Department of Defense, I think it's been a very good year. I think we've made great progress in terms of further bolstering our relationship and our cooperation. You've heard us talk about things like Indus X and working on defense cooperation efforts to include in the industrial base as far as developing things like jet engines in India, working collaboratively to produce armored vehicles in India, the ability of our ships to go to India, our Navy ships to go to India to be repaired. And so all of this working toward the common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region where sovereignty is respected and countries can operate in international airspace, sail the international waterways freely and without harassment. So again, we'll continue to work closely with our partner India and we look forward to further progress in 2024. Thank you very much.