SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - Defence Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday he still plans to shift the American military’s focus to competing with China and Russia, even as security threats pile up in the Middle East. Since Mattis resigned one year ago in protest of President Donald Trump’s push to withdraw from Syria, the Middle East has become even more volatile. Also, Iraq is facing civil protests and a violent crackdown by security forces. On Friday, Esper said he realizes that it will be difficult to move resources out of the Middle East to increase the focus on China and Russia. “That remains my ambition, but I have to deal with the world I have, and so I gotta make sure at the same time I deter conflict — in this case in the Middle East,” he said.

Source: thestar December 07, 2019 20:15 UTC