Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh Holds an Off-Camera Press Briefing

View Online Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh Holds an Off-Camera Press Briefing July 15, 2024 DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH:  All right. Hello, everyone. Good morning. All right, so a few things at the top and then happy to start diving in and taking your questions. As you saw over the weekend, horrific events unfolded at a Trump political rally. And as Secretary Austin said on Saturday, this type of violence has absolutely no place in our democracy. This is not the way we resolve our differences in America, period. I know several of you have asked whether the department plans to make any changes to our force posture following the shooting at the Trump rally. As of today, I can confirm that there have been no changes to our force posture. If anything does change, though, we'll be sure to provide updates as appropriate. As you heard us say over the weekend with regard to the shooting suspect, we've confirmed with each of the military service branches that there is no military service affiliation for the suspect with that name or date of birth in any branch active or reserve component in their respective databases. In regards to the Republican National Convention, approximately 1,700 National Guard and a small number of active duty personnel will be providing support to civil authorities from July 13th through 19th. These personnel are supporting the FBI, U.S. Secret Service and Milwaukee Metro Police Department for 24/7 operations. I'd refer you to the National Guard Bureau for any questions, but can tell you that these personnel are comprised mainly from the Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota National Guard, and will be providing capabilities such as civil support, EOD and security, and remain postured to respond to other emergent domestic requirements to protect life, property, and to maintain peace, order and public safety. The support of the approximately 1,700 personnel was pre-planned support to the Republican National Convention and not in response to the events that took place this weekend. The RNC is one of three national security — sorry. The RNC is one of three national special security events taking place that the National Guard is supporting. The others are the NATO Summit that occurred here last week and the Democratic National Convention that will be held later this summer. With that, I'd be happy to take your questions. Lita? Q:  Sabrina, thanks. Just — just to double check, that 1,700 number has not — did not move or increase, right? MS. SINGH:  That's right. Q:  And do you know, has there been any, like today or anything, any recent request for more? MS. SINGH:  As of right now, not tracking any additional requests for more support. If that changes, we'll let you know. But this was, again, pre-planned, so not in response to the events of the weekend. Q:  And can you give a sense of what are the active duty troops doing? MS. SINGH:  They are there in support of the National Guard. It's a very, very small number. I'd refer you to the National Guard to speak more to that. They're the ones that have the — retain the command and control of the — through the joint task force, and then, of course, feeding into the larger apparatus, which is Secret Service, which is going to run the entire security for the convention. Q:  Right. Can you give us a quick pier update? MS. SINGH:  Sure. In terms of the pier, the temporary pier still remains at Ashdod. There were not conditions that allowed the pier to be re-anchored over the weekend. So, the pier remains there. When and if we have more updates to follow on re-anchoring, we'll certainly keep you updated. Hayley? Q:  Thanks.  What — I guess on the pier, re-anchoring it, is there a reason why —  as I understand it, it's just being re-anchored to carry over the rest of the aid that's in Cyprus. Why is that not able to just go through Ashdod, given that that is now kind of the agreement going forward, that aid will be able to be taken directly there? MS. SINGH:  So, when I — what I previewed on Friday is that moving aid through the Port of Ashford is essentially in — it's still in its initial phases. It's, I would say, very much still a proof of concept, so that hasn't been, like, completely solidified. But no matter what, the aid that is in Cyprus or on our ships right now will get into the people of Gaza in some way, via either the temporary pier and that being re-anchored or through Ashdod in some way. I just don't have an update just yet on how it's going to move, if it is in fact going to be through the pier or if it is going to be through Ashdod. So, right now the commander is still assessing when and if it can be re-anchored. My understanding is that sea states were still pretty high through the weekend. So, we'll see what this week looks like and then we'll provide an update. Q:  Got it. And then do you have an update on troop counts in Niger and what else has moved out up there so far? MS. SINGH:  I do. Q:  Amazing. MS. SINGH:  Let me see. Let me see if I can get this for you. One sec. So, as you're tracking, we have completed our withdrawal from Air Base 101. That happened on July 7th. The current total of U.S. forces in Niger is around approximately 300, and we're still on track to meet that safe and orderly withdrawal by September 15th. Yes, Phil, and then I'll go to Lara. Q:  Really quick on — on the pier, is it — is it fair to say that the sea states are the only factor that is prohibiting or preventing the pier from being re-anchored? There's no political issue? And secondly, President Biden seemed to suggest in his press conference at NATO last week that he was disappointed with Israel and it's — for not allowing enough aid to get in from — from the pier to the people of Gaza. Does the Pentagon share that — that disappointment? MS. SINGH:  So, I don't exactly remember how he characterized it, but I think he was talking about generally aid distribution within Gaza. I don't know if it was specifically from the pier. I think what the president was referring to is that we have seen some days and weeks where we have had environmental factors play a significant portion in getting aid from the ships off into the — off the pier into the marshaling area. That being said, we've still moved nearly 20 million pounds of aid, so that is still a success. But really, I mean, what it comes down to is the pier was always going to be temporary. And while we didn't set a timeline or a date on when operations would end, we know that, going into later summer, the sea conditions — the weather conditions, the sea states were just not going to allow for the pier to continue to remain operable. So, at a certain point, it was going to be pulled offline. Again, we're working on seeing whether we can re-anchor the pier. Maybe this week, if we can, we'll provide an update. But this is not a political decision so much as it has to do with the environmental factors that impact the pier and operability. Lara? Q:  Hi. Thanks, Sabrina. There were reports over the weekend that the shipment of 500-pound bombs to Israel had resumed. Can you confirm that? MS. SINGH:   Yes, I think we did confirm that when — when — I think we confirmed that last week. But, yes, the — the  shipment that had originally been paused, mixed with that paused shipment in the — with the 2,000-pound bombs were the 500-pound bombs. Those have been separated out and released. Q: OK. And then also, can you say whether the JDAM that was used last week — or on Saturday in the Israeli strike was a U.S.-provided JDAM? MS. SINGH:  I have no idea what was used in the strike. And which one are you referring to? Q:  The one — the one that they — that targeted Deif. MS. SINGH:  I'd refer you to the Israelis. I don't know what was used in that strike. Q:  Thank you. Q: Sabrina? MS. SINGH:  Yes. Q:  Staying with the same topic, I'm trying to verify something. We heard that we are not giving the Israelis the larger bombs so they don't bomb a large populated area. They don't need it. But I've heard, at least from my sources, that this is helping us also with the Israelis not to launch a war on Lebanon because they need it more in Lebanon than they need it elsewhere. How true is this? MS. SINGH:  Look, I — I wouldn't be able to go beyond what the president said, which I think he was asked at his press conference last week about this. The concern and the pause over the 2,000-pound bombs was how they were going to use them within Rafah, which is what we were concerned about. In terms of how other munitions capabilities are used elsewhere and how they want to be employed, I'd refer you to the Israelis to speak to how they use or plan to use munitions elsewhere. But I just don't have a further comment on that. Q: They need it more in Lebanon. MS. SINGH:  Yes, I don't have anything to add on that. Anyone else? Otherwise, a very short gaggle today. OK. All right, great. Thanks, everyone. Q:  Thank you. MS. SINGH:  Quick 15 minutes.

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