English subtitles for clip: File:Secretary Kerry Delivers Remarks at the U.S. Naval Academy.webm
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1 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:11,110 SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much. 2 00:00:11,110 --> 00:00:14,230 Please, please, be seated. 3 00:00:14,230 --> 00:00:21,520 Admiral, thank you very, very much for welcoming me here to this storied academy. 4 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:29,900 I am really privileged to be here, and I’m anxious to hear your questions and look forward 5 00:00:29,899 --> 00:00:32,619 to having a little bit of a dialogue if we can. 6 00:00:32,620 --> 00:00:38,760 I want to recognize Admiral Frank Pandolfe, who is class of 1980. 7 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:44,990 He has served as a liaison between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the State Department, 8 00:00:44,989 --> 00:00:47,069 and he has now traveled with me – Admiral, how many hundreds of thousands of miles? 9 00:00:47,067 --> 00:00:48,607 ADMIRAL PANDOLFE: Three hundred? 10 00:00:48,609 --> 00:00:51,729 SECRETARY KERRY: Three hundred, four – whatever. 11 00:00:51,730 --> 00:00:53,290 Who’s counting, right? 12 00:00:53,289 --> 00:00:54,289 Thank you, though. 13 00:00:54,289 --> 00:01:00,629 He’s been an indispensable liaison, and in today’s world, as you all will find more 14 00:01:00,629 --> 00:01:07,399 and more what the military is doing, what the Defense Department’s doing, is linked 15 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:14,240 to and closely affiliated what the State Department is doing or the Department of Homeland Security 16 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,560 – the distinctions have broken down to some degree. 17 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:24,490 And the most recent Defense Authorization Act actually puts more burden in some ways 18 00:01:24,490 --> 00:01:34,440 into defense to be diplomats and psychologists and mayors of cities and a whole bunch of 19 00:01:34,439 --> 00:01:36,019 other things. 20 00:01:36,020 --> 00:01:39,840 So it’s a broader responsibility than it ever was, and we can talk about that perhaps 21 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,390 a little bit later. 22 00:01:42,390 --> 00:01:49,840 I think that the Admiral’s presence on my staff, together with Captain Abbot -- he’s 23 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:55,300 somewhere here, he was here a – there he is – they have traveled near and far, and 24 00:01:55,299 --> 00:02:00,009 they’ve helped us to really integrate our policies in important ways. 25 00:02:00,009 --> 00:02:05,089 My understanding is this immediate post-holiday stretch – today’s the first day back at 26 00:02:05,090 --> 00:02:08,830 classes, so I hope you’re in a half-decent mood here today. 27 00:02:08,830 --> 00:02:09,880 (Laughter.) 28 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:15,640 I understand this stretch is known as the “dark ages,” made worse by the memory 29 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:21,450 of a certain painful sporting event that took place in Baltimore. 30 00:02:21,450 --> 00:02:28,410 Rest assured, as a former sailor, you know where my loyalties lie in who I was rooting 31 00:02:28,410 --> 00:02:29,410 for. 32 00:02:29,410 --> 00:02:38,860 But despite the outcome of that aberration, it is my understanding that Navy won eight 33 00:02:38,860 --> 00:02:43,110 of 10 athletic contests against Army last fall. 34 00:02:43,110 --> 00:02:50,800 And I know that every plebe here, with respect to football, can affirm that there are 332 35 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,810 days left until the start of another long winning streak, if I’m correct. 36 00:02:55,810 --> 00:03:00,890 I’ve had the opportunity to visit this campus a number of times. 37 00:03:00,890 --> 00:03:05,590 It’s a beautiful campus, an extraordinary place. 38 00:03:05,590 --> 00:03:10,710 And sometimes I’ve just kind of driven around when I’ve had to be in Annapolis for one 39 00:03:10,710 --> 00:03:12,200 reason or another. 40 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:19,690 I’ve also been here for a couple funerals – Admiral Zumwalt, who was my commanding 41 00:03:19,690 --> 00:03:27,540 officer, commanded all naval forces in Vietnam – and also the admiral I had the privilege 42 00:03:27,540 --> 00:03:34,250 of serving as an aide and flag lieutenant to is buried on the hill, along with a bunch 43 00:03:34,250 --> 00:03:36,310 of other admirals. 44 00:03:36,310 --> 00:03:42,810 And it was my privilege to be here with his family after he had passed away. 45 00:03:42,810 --> 00:03:51,220 And while I served in the Navy, I served with a lot of graduates of this Academy. 46 00:03:51,220 --> 00:03:58,590 And believe me, I got to see firsthand the quality of officers that are produced here. 47 00:03:58,590 --> 00:04:04,870 And I’m proud of the service that I had an opportunity to share with them. 48 00:04:04,870 --> 00:04:11,210 There is no question that this is one of the great assets of country – you are the great 49 00:04:11,210 --> 00:04:17,810 assets of our country, but writ large, this institution is and the brand of leadership 50 00:04:17,810 --> 00:04:28,160 that is taught here is absolutely defining of the heart of America and our strength in 51 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:29,160 the world today. 52 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,950 And I hope you all feel the full measure of that. 53 00:04:33,950 --> 00:04:38,000 So it’s a special honor for me to be able to speak here and return, in a sense, to the 54 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,890 roots of my public service. 55 00:04:40,889 --> 00:04:50,099 1965, I was in my junior year in college, and I volunteered at the time after Lyndon 56 00:04:50,100 --> 00:04:57,590 Johnson called for some 500,000 additional troops to be able to go to Vietnam. 57 00:04:57,590 --> 00:05:04,160 And I joined the United States Naval Reserve, raising my hand just like you and swearing 58 00:05:04,159 --> 00:05:07,549 the oath to uphold the constitution and our country. 59 00:05:07,550 --> 00:05:18,610 And it was 50 years ago last fall when I reported for duty for Officer Candidate School, literally 60 00:05:18,610 --> 00:05:22,490 the morning after my college roommate’s wedding – so you can imagine the shape I 61 00:05:22,490 --> 00:05:23,770 was in. 62 00:05:23,770 --> 00:05:24,910 (Laughter.) 63 00:05:24,910 --> 00:05:31,190 And I stood at attention and had my head shaved, and found myself in a different world. 64 00:05:31,190 --> 00:05:35,920 My earliest memories were probably a mixture of some of the things you all felt when you 65 00:05:35,919 --> 00:05:41,809 came here: A little bit of excitement or maybe a lot of excitement; a certain amount of exertion, 66 00:05:41,810 --> 00:05:45,600 a fair amount of fear. 67 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:50,700 And I have to confess that most of the fear came from looking at myself in the mirror, 68 00:05:50,699 --> 00:05:57,399 because some guys shave their heads and they look like Vin Diesel or the Rock; God gave 69 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:01,110 me a head that was not meant to be shaved, folks. 70 00:06:01,110 --> 00:06:11,380 And so I didn’t have a lot of time, though, to dwell on my appearance, as you all know, 71 00:06:11,379 --> 00:06:16,329 between the grind of physical activity and mental activity. 72 00:06:16,330 --> 00:06:22,030 And learning how to march to class was a different deal for me at that point in time. 73 00:06:22,030 --> 00:06:27,280 But I look back on all of it fondly, as I’m sure – I hope you do at this point, and 74 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:29,649 I know you will ultimately. 75 00:06:29,650 --> 00:06:36,550 Eventually, I moved on to nuclear, chemical, biological warfare school, and damage control 76 00:06:36,550 --> 00:06:42,310 school, and flight control school – a whole bunch of different schools before I joined 77 00:06:42,310 --> 00:06:49,030 my ship in the Gulf of Tonkin, and did a tour of duty chasing aircraft carriers as plane 78 00:06:49,030 --> 00:06:55,850 guard, and occasionally getting up on the gun line, but fairly rarely until I then went 79 00:06:55,850 --> 00:07:03,030 back to Vietnam commanding a 50-foot gunboat, as the Admiral mentioned in his introduction 80 00:07:03,029 --> 00:07:05,099 of me. 81 00:07:05,099 --> 00:07:09,279 So people often ask, and I just want to share with you a few thoughts about what I took 82 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:11,900 away from that experience. 83 00:07:11,900 --> 00:07:17,260 Some of the deeper lessons were very personal – serving as the officer of a deck, which 84 00:07:17,259 --> 00:07:26,929 I did in the first tour, of a 535-foot ship with missiles and a complement – amazing 85 00:07:26,930 --> 00:07:34,110 crew, watching over that ship in the dark of night chasing a aircraft carrier that wouldn’t 86 00:07:34,110 --> 00:07:38,580 necessarily tell you when it was going to turn, and none of us had lights on – is 87 00:07:38,580 --> 00:07:45,760 a challenge, and acting as counselor to a lot of other younger men who are part of your 88 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:53,430 division is a shaping, formative experience. 89 00:07:53,430 --> 00:08:01,120 It teaches you leadership, not to mention obviously, ultimately, going into close combat 90 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:03,200 itself. 91 00:08:03,199 --> 00:08:12,759 And you learn that the folks around you become a lot more than a crew or a lot more than 92 00:08:12,759 --> 00:08:15,589 people you have a right as an officer to tell what to do. 93 00:08:15,589 --> 00:08:17,809 They’re your family. 94 00:08:17,810 --> 00:08:22,640 So this was about as much responsibility as a young person could ask for and that’s 95 00:08:22,639 --> 00:08:29,009 what you all are going to see one way or the other, and it has a value that I simply cannot 96 00:08:29,009 --> 00:08:30,959 overstate. 97 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:37,980 As Secretary of State, as a senator, on the issues I had to vote on about war and peace, 98 00:08:37,979 --> 00:08:46,289 Iraq, elsewhere, those lessons are indelible and they’re invaluable, and they stay with 99 00:08:46,290 --> 00:08:49,190 you forever. 100 00:08:49,190 --> 00:08:57,310 I know that what we learned in that period of time is something that prepares you for 101 00:08:57,310 --> 00:09:02,430 service to your country or even as a corporate leader, as a business leader, or any kind 102 00:09:02,430 --> 00:09:03,430 of leader. 103 00:09:03,430 --> 00:09:07,370 You learn leadership and you will practice leadership. 104 00:09:07,370 --> 00:09:14,200 And that is different from most of the rest of the people who go to college anywhere or 105 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,770 who go out into the world. 106 00:09:17,770 --> 00:09:26,830 Now, in a classroom, some of the slogans probably sound a little cliche. 107 00:09:26,830 --> 00:09:31,570 But in real-life combat situations, I’ll tell you those words have urgent and visceral 108 00:09:31,570 --> 00:09:33,740 meaning. 109 00:09:33,740 --> 00:09:42,910 And the difference between doing the necessary or not has nothing to do with where you come 110 00:09:42,910 --> 00:09:47,400 from, what you look like, who your parents are, where you lived. 111 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:55,400 What matters is character – a willingness to put your fellow sailors, your unit, your 112 00:09:55,400 --> 00:10:01,500 duty above all else, and the confidence to do your job well when every instinct may be 113 00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:05,330 screaming at you to take cover or do something else. 114 00:10:05,330 --> 00:10:07,650 That’s the difference. 115 00:10:07,650 --> 00:10:11,210 The ability to bring out the best in other people. 116 00:10:11,210 --> 00:10:17,930 The understanding in your gut that you must never, never leave a shipmate behind. 117 00:10:17,930 --> 00:10:26,160 And in recent years, we have seen that character in practice through the courage of the young 118 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:34,180 officers who have taken the knowledge gained at this academy in Iraq, Afghanistan, in Yemen, 119 00:10:34,180 --> 00:10:37,530 in other places all around the world. 120 00:10:37,530 --> 00:10:42,490 Some of these men and women, as you know better than anybody, never returned home. 121 00:10:42,490 --> 00:10:46,590 Their names have been added to the plaque in Memorial Hall of the brave souls who give 122 00:10:46,590 --> 00:10:49,900 the last full measure. 123 00:10:49,900 --> 00:10:56,140 But the service and sacrifice of every single Annapolis graduate is a stark reminder that 124 00:10:56,140 --> 00:11:03,000 nothing that you do here is purely academic – because you will move from commencement 125 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:10,680 exercises to real-life military exercises in a very short stretch of time, and you will 126 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:18,790 be asked to dig in to that deep reserve of character almost immediately after graduation. 127 00:11:18,790 --> 00:11:25,930 And for that, you will, I assure you, always have the thanks of a grateful nation. 128 00:11:25,930 --> 00:11:33,810 A second lesson from my experience in service may be a little more surprising, but that 129 00:11:33,810 --> 00:11:43,130 is the criticality of America’s leadership in the world. 130 00:11:43,130 --> 00:11:49,320 One of the lessons I have learned, or I think I knew it but it’s been indelibly re-imprinted 131 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:58,680 on me in the course of the last four years, is the degree to which our leadership is critical. 132 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:05,220 People don’t sit around expecting Russia or expecting China or expecting a whole bunch 133 00:12:05,220 --> 00:12:11,270 of other countries to step up and deal with Ebola or to protect the South China Sea or 134 00:12:11,270 --> 00:12:18,780 to stand up against Russia and protect the frontline states with respect to their incursion 135 00:12:18,780 --> 00:12:24,540 into Ukraine, but they do expect it of the United States of America. 136 00:12:24,540 --> 00:12:30,470 There are high expectations of us and what I have found is – and I don’t say this 137 00:12:30,470 --> 00:12:39,390 with any scintilla of arrogance – but if we’re not engaged in the leadership effort 138 00:12:39,390 --> 00:12:44,790 with respect to many of the challenges we face in this planet today, it more often than 139 00:12:44,790 --> 00:12:51,080 not doesn’t happen or it takes a hell of a lot longer for it to get done. 140 00:12:51,080 --> 00:13:03,670 I was – and remain – convinced that ours is often the decisive catalyst for good. 141 00:13:03,670 --> 00:13:09,790 And that engagement is especially vital in an era when technology has brought the whole 142 00:13:09,790 --> 00:13:18,760 world closer together and when we have seen the rise of dangerous non-state actors. 143 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:25,750 Most of the last century’s history was defined by nation-states fighting nation-states, and 144 00:13:25,750 --> 00:13:32,120 millions upon millions of people died in the course of world wars and conflicts. 145 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:38,220 That’s not what is currently characterizing this century. 146 00:13:38,220 --> 00:13:44,630 This century is defined much more by non-state actors who are acting as disruptors to the 147 00:13:44,630 --> 00:13:53,030 global order, in many ways, or bad governance and corruption and the disintegration of rule 148 00:13:53,030 --> 00:14:00,600 of law, so that it has a profound impact that pulls the United States in. 149 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:11,260 We’ve seen the resurgence now suddenly of an authoritarian populism, and I would respectfully 150 00:14:11,260 --> 00:14:16,870 suggest to all of you that this is something we may see more of in the next years that 151 00:14:16,870 --> 00:14:21,840 may produce challenges that all of you are going to have to cope with in the context 152 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,570 of choices that get made as a result. 153 00:14:24,570 --> 00:14:32,530 Even excessive nationalism defining some countries in the world, the spread of sectarian tensions, 154 00:14:32,530 --> 00:14:39,870 the shift of power and prosperity in the direction of the Asia Pacific, nations that – after 155 00:14:39,870 --> 00:14:44,740 World War II, we were the only power standing. 156 00:14:44,740 --> 00:14:48,450 We could make bad decisions and still win. 157 00:14:48,450 --> 00:14:50,680 We don’t have that luxury today. 158 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:56,290 We’re the most powerful country on the planet, yes, and we’re the biggest economy in the 159 00:14:56,290 --> 00:14:58,500 world, yes. 160 00:14:58,500 --> 00:15:04,000 But China will be eventually just by virtue of its size. 161 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:09,920 And so you can’t walk into a room and say, “Do it our way,” and have everybody automatically 162 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,560 say, “Oh, absolutely.” 163 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:17,560 And we’re seeing that pushback in many different respects, in many different places, which 164 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:27,240 requires greater skill and greater speed in the execution of our decision making and of 165 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,700 our diplomacy. 166 00:15:29,700 --> 00:15:35,340 This is an age when the globe seems to be spinning at a faster pace than anybody can 167 00:15:35,340 --> 00:15:36,340 remember. 168 00:15:36,340 --> 00:15:41,760 If you think you’re a little dizzy, trust me, a lot of people who’ve been coping with 169 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:46,550 these challenges for a long time feel the intensity of that pace. 170 00:15:46,550 --> 00:15:51,030 So we have to be quicker; we have to be more nimble; we have to be more fluid. 171 00:15:51,030 --> 00:15:57,780 And we have to use every national security tool in our arsenal – including force when 172 00:15:57,780 --> 00:16:03,730 absolutely necessary – but also we have to use our commercial, our economic, our diplomatic 173 00:16:03,730 --> 00:16:12,250 influence, and keep our people safe and secure and prosperous by virtue of the greater skill 174 00:16:12,250 --> 00:16:16,040 that we apply to the broad array of tools in our arsenal. 175 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:20,620 Now, this has been my focus over four years as Secretary of State. 176 00:16:20,620 --> 00:16:25,630 I’ve tried to get people to realize that economic policy is not distinct from foreign 177 00:16:25,630 --> 00:16:32,110 policy; economic policy is foreign policy and foreign policy is economic policy in today’s 178 00:16:32,110 --> 00:16:33,110 world. 179 00:16:33,110 --> 00:16:38,080 And I’ve always tried to keep uppermost in my mind who will pay the price and bear 180 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:42,660 the burden of defending our country if diplomacy fails. 181 00:16:42,660 --> 00:16:46,920 War is the failure of diplomacy. 182 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:52,070 President Kennedy famously said we must never negotiate out of fear, but we must never fear 183 00:16:52,070 --> 00:16:53,210 to negotiate. 184 00:16:53,210 --> 00:16:59,370 And that has guided me significantly in the course of my career. 185 00:16:59,370 --> 00:17:05,350 Our successes at the negotiating table can make your jobs a lot easier and a lot less 186 00:17:05,350 --> 00:17:06,680 dangerous. 187 00:17:06,679 --> 00:17:10,079 And you can’t get there if you’re not willing to talk. 188 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:15,719 Now, an important example of all of this and the new world we’re living in, obviously, 189 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:21,290 is the fight against ISIL/Daesh. 190 00:17:21,289 --> 00:17:27,169 Naval aviators and Marines are playing a vital role in that campaign against the extremists 191 00:17:27,169 --> 00:17:29,439 in Iraq and Syria. 192 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:34,910 And this effort reflects an incredible partnership between diplomats and our military. 193 00:17:34,909 --> 00:17:36,989 We are constantly working hand-in-hand. 194 00:17:36,990 --> 00:17:41,960 We’re working with the Turks to figure out how much and how far they’re going to come 195 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,370 down and what we’re going to do with the Arab forces that we’re working with and 196 00:17:45,370 --> 00:17:50,780 how we surround al-Raqqa, and to what degree we can arm some of the people that they don’t 197 00:17:50,779 --> 00:17:53,569 like and to what degree they can be used in the fight. 198 00:17:53,570 --> 00:17:58,670 There’s a lot of diplomacy involved in the implementation of the battle strategy, of 199 00:17:58,669 --> 00:18:01,579 the war plan, and it reflects that. 200 00:18:01,580 --> 00:18:08,480 On the political side, we have built a 68-member coalition, with countries from every corner 201 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:14,320 of the globe all coming together in pursuit of a common goal, which is to defend our citizens, 202 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:22,330 our allies, and our friends from a group that has no rules, that is literally waging war 203 00:18:22,330 --> 00:18:25,720 on civilization itself. 204 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:27,990 This is different. 205 00:18:27,990 --> 00:18:35,050 Our confrontation with violent extremism is likely to prove a generational challenge to 206 00:18:35,049 --> 00:18:39,749 which we’re going to have to respond with every appropriate means – from conventional 207 00:18:39,749 --> 00:18:47,249 military operations where that’s necessary, to clandestine, covert operations, law enforcement, 208 00:18:47,249 --> 00:18:50,709 and other avenues of homeland defense. 209 00:18:50,710 --> 00:18:55,910 And we can see the same connection between our diplomacy and security elsewhere in the 210 00:18:55,909 --> 00:19:03,249 Middle East – in Iran, where we have forged an historic agreement to block each and every 211 00:19:03,249 --> 00:19:05,829 one of that country’s pathways to a nuclear weapon. 212 00:19:05,830 --> 00:19:10,420 Now, I hear people criticize me and say, “Why’d you make a deal with Iran?” 213 00:19:10,419 --> 00:19:13,119 Well, pretty simple. 214 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:15,740 Our ally, Israel, is critical. 215 00:19:15,740 --> 00:19:22,500 Our other allies in the region – Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, others – all have deep concerns 216 00:19:22,499 --> 00:19:24,409 about what is happening. 217 00:19:24,409 --> 00:19:29,699 And the fact is that it is better to deal with the problems of an Iran that will pursue 218 00:19:29,700 --> 00:19:34,870 its revolutionary interests in Yemen or in Syria or elsewhere without a nuclear weapon 219 00:19:34,870 --> 00:19:38,800 than to pursue an Iran that does have one. 220 00:19:38,799 --> 00:19:42,869 A pretty simple equation, in my judgment. 221 00:19:42,870 --> 00:19:47,870 And we have been able to create an Iran that only has 12 – that went from 12,000 kilograms 222 00:19:47,870 --> 00:19:52,490 of enriched material down to 300 kilograms. 223 00:19:52,490 --> 00:19:55,790 You can’t build a nuclear weapon with 300 kilograms. 224 00:19:55,789 --> 00:20:01,139 They’ve gone down to 3.67 percent enrichment for the next 15 years. 225 00:20:01,139 --> 00:20:06,609 You can’t build a nuclear weapon at 3.67 percent enrichment. 226 00:20:06,610 --> 00:20:13,140 That has literally destroyed the calandria of its plutonium reactor so that they no longer 227 00:20:13,139 --> 00:20:15,809 have access to plutonium fuel. 228 00:20:15,809 --> 00:20:23,019 Where we are now tracing from cradle to grave, from the mine to the waste, all enrichment 229 00:20:23,019 --> 00:20:26,539 and all uranium that they mine. 230 00:20:26,539 --> 00:20:31,999 And that will happen for the next 25 years, with television cameras present and watching. 231 00:20:31,999 --> 00:20:37,499 So we believe that by bringing all of the parties to the negotiating table and addressing 232 00:20:37,499 --> 00:20:43,699 a major international challenge without resorting to military action, we were able to persuade 233 00:20:43,700 --> 00:20:50,080 Iran to eliminate 98 percent of its stockpile, shut down two-thirds of its centrifuges, and 234 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:56,510 subject its nuclear facilities – most importantly – to the most rigorous inspection regime 235 00:20:56,509 --> 00:21:00,229 that has ever been created or negotiated. 236 00:21:00,230 --> 00:21:07,410 And the result is that a significant danger in a volatile region which, if not curbed, 237 00:21:07,409 --> 00:21:12,369 might have resulted in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and other countries pursuing their own nuclear 238 00:21:12,369 --> 00:21:16,799 weapon, that has now been eliminated as one of the threats for that region. 239 00:21:16,799 --> 00:21:23,069 Now, after graduation, many of you will likely serve tours across the Pacific. 240 00:21:23,070 --> 00:21:30,000 And as we gather here today, more than half our Navy fleet is stationed in that region. 241 00:21:29,999 --> 00:21:34,489 We have boosted our missile defense assets, we’ve increased the number of ships, and 242 00:21:34,490 --> 00:21:38,010 we’ve expanded the rotation of Marines in and out of Australia. 243 00:21:38,009 --> 00:21:44,379 We’ve also forward-deployed strike groups and hospital ships to the Western Pacific 244 00:21:44,379 --> 00:21:50,019 in order to collaborate with our allies on joint military, humanitarian, and disaster 245 00:21:50,019 --> 00:21:51,459 relief exercises. 246 00:21:51,460 --> 00:21:59,000 Now here again, the link between military readiness and effective diplomacy is absolutely 247 00:21:58,999 --> 00:22:00,149 key. 248 00:22:00,149 --> 00:22:06,089 The strength of our alliances and friendships is going to make it easier for us to generate 249 00:22:06,090 --> 00:22:10,720 security cooperation, which you have to have in today’s world to be effective. 250 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:18,490 And it will help us prevent small disputes from growing up into major crises. 251 00:22:18,490 --> 00:22:24,370 The success of our diplomacy, in turn, will hinge to a considerable extent on the versatility 252 00:22:24,369 --> 00:22:27,199 and the credibility of American power. 253 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:34,480 Now, I’ve said many times, as I said earlier today, U.S. leadership is not only needed 254 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:40,170 in the world, but in most places it is also welcomed. 255 00:22:40,169 --> 00:22:43,409 And nowhere is that more the case than in Asia. 256 00:22:43,409 --> 00:22:48,519 And the Navy without any question at all – all of you – are going to pay – play a very 257 00:22:48,519 --> 00:22:56,399 critical part in our presence there and in defining the diplomacy of the future. 258 00:22:56,399 --> 00:23:04,639 So finally, I just want to note that increasingly when you travel the world, you will confront 259 00:23:04,639 --> 00:23:10,069 firsthand the challenges that are presented by climate change. 260 00:23:10,070 --> 00:23:16,990 Some in our country, remarkably to me, still are deniers or doubters. 261 00:23:16,990 --> 00:23:24,920 But virtually all the credited scientists of our country and the world agree that human 262 00:23:24,919 --> 00:23:32,049 beings are contributing to this through choices we make about how we power our nations. 263 00:23:32,049 --> 00:23:38,709 As our military leaders have repeatedly pointed out, we’re not just talking about the problems 264 00:23:38,710 --> 00:23:44,000 that plague the air we breathe or the water we drink. 265 00:23:43,999 --> 00:23:51,419 Those are pressing, but what we’re talking about in the context of security are the social, 266 00:23:51,419 --> 00:23:59,119 political, security consequences that will stem and are already being observed from rising 267 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:07,479 record temperatures, from rising sea levels, from water shortages, from famine, droughts, 268 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:15,470 fires, outbreak of disease, and conflicts over natural resources and mass migration 269 00:24:15,470 --> 00:24:19,400 and the destruction of vital infrastructure. 270 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:26,400 That is precisely why President Obama and I made a top priority to rally countries across 271 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:31,910 the globe in support of a bold, ambitious action to combat climate change. 272 00:24:31,909 --> 00:24:39,449 And that includes the Paris agreement, which went into effect last year and which commits 273 00:24:39,450 --> 00:24:45,360 countries almost all around the world – 186 countries came together and agreed to reduce 274 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:50,430 their emissions – and it includes other major steps to reduce emissions of international 275 00:24:50,429 --> 00:24:59,069 airlines, as well as to change the hydrofluorocarbons that we use in refrigerants. 276 00:24:59,070 --> 00:25:04,560 Just that alone could wind up in saving us half a degree centigrade in the warming of 277 00:25:04,559 --> 00:25:05,559 the Earth. 278 00:25:05,559 --> 00:25:10,179 I’ll just share with you that I went down to Antarctica a month or so ago, a couple 279 00:25:10,179 --> 00:25:12,079 months ago. 280 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:19,600 And you see that ice sheet which in some places is three miles deep, and you listen to the 281 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:26,250 scientists from many countries, in the teens, who are down there doing research, and they 282 00:25:26,249 --> 00:25:31,309 will tell you about the fragility of the great Antarctic Ice Sheet. 283 00:25:31,309 --> 00:25:36,449 If that ice sheet were to melt in total over the course of the next century, two centuries, 284 00:25:36,450 --> 00:25:40,360 you’ll see sea level rise of a hundred to two hundred plus feet. 285 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:48,110 Already, we’re going to see meters and already Norfolk, Virginia and the base there are making 286 00:25:48,110 --> 00:25:53,290 adjustments because of the docks and the access to the port, and so readiness is affected 287 00:25:53,289 --> 00:25:56,089 by what is already happening today. 288 00:25:56,090 --> 00:26:04,040 So I want to emphasize to you the degree to which your voices and your engagement on these 289 00:26:04,039 --> 00:26:06,169 issues are going to be critical. 290 00:26:06,169 --> 00:26:12,089 When a natural disaster strikes in a place like the Caribbean or Southeast Asia, it’s 291 00:26:12,090 --> 00:26:16,540 the Navy and Marines who are often the very first representatives of the United States 292 00:26:16,539 --> 00:26:23,469 who are on the scene – and that makes you our most important and effective ambassadors 293 00:26:23,470 --> 00:26:25,130 as well. 294 00:26:25,129 --> 00:26:30,919 This last point I can’t highlight enough: as officers of our sea services, you are often 295 00:26:30,919 --> 00:26:34,559 direct extensions of our foreign policy writ large. 296 00:26:34,559 --> 00:26:38,729 And from practically the moment you leave the confines of this campus, you’re going 297 00:26:38,730 --> 00:26:43,860 to deploy and train with forces from around the world, and you will interact directly 298 00:26:43,860 --> 00:26:45,480 with our diplomatic corps. 299 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:51,850 And you will be writing the next chapter in the long history of the Navy and Marine Corps 300 00:26:51,850 --> 00:26:57,440 and the leaders who have helped to establish and strengthen alliances in every region of 301 00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:58,950 the world. 302 00:26:58,950 --> 00:27:04,280 That dates back to the earliest days of our republic; and these folks have explored the 303 00:27:04,279 --> 00:27:09,019 depths of the seas and the farthest reaches of space, and they’ve charted the oceans 304 00:27:09,019 --> 00:27:13,599 and they’ve stood on the cutting edge of scientific discovery. 305 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:19,020 To quote Commodore Matthew Maury, an officer considered the father of modern oceanography: 306 00:27:19,020 --> 00:27:24,190 “Navies are not all for wars. 307 00:27:24,190 --> 00:27:28,530 Peace has its conquests, science its glories.” 308 00:27:28,529 --> 00:27:34,349 And I’ll tell you, this will be the case for you as well – to serve not only as members 309 00:27:34,350 --> 00:27:41,460 of the finest fighting force in history, but as key envoys across the globe. 310 00:27:41,460 --> 00:27:44,640 So suffice it to say your jobs are not going to be simple. 311 00:27:44,639 --> 00:27:45,979 I’m not going to sugarcoat it. 312 00:27:45,980 --> 00:27:51,450 The world is in a more complicated place right now; you wouldn’t trust me if I didn’t 313 00:27:51,450 --> 00:27:52,450 acknowledge that. 314 00:27:52,450 --> 00:27:58,490 And we all know that our country’s long list of diplomatic and security challenges 315 00:27:58,489 --> 00:28:03,869 never gets any shorter; every time you get to the top of one mountain, it always seems 316 00:28:03,870 --> 00:28:07,520 like there’s an even taller peak to scale. 317 00:28:07,519 --> 00:28:12,689 But as you have no doubt learned here at the Naval Academy, sometimes the only choice is 318 00:28:12,690 --> 00:28:16,570 just to keep moving forward and keep reaching higher. 319 00:28:16,570 --> 00:28:18,870 It can be a daunting task. 320 00:28:18,869 --> 00:28:23,109 But you know as well as I do that none of you would be here if you weren’t up to that 321 00:28:23,109 --> 00:28:29,229 task, if you didn’t have within you the inherent character qualities of leadership 322 00:28:29,230 --> 00:28:34,640 that have long defined the men and women of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. 323 00:28:34,639 --> 00:28:36,959 There are so many examples throughout history of that. 324 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:41,980 But I just want to tell you one that’s relevant to me. 325 00:28:41,980 --> 00:28:47,810 There was a young Navy lieutenant from Massachusetts who was deployed to Vietnam not long after 326 00:28:47,809 --> 00:28:49,779 I was, in 1969. 327 00:28:49,779 --> 00:28:54,219 His name was Tom Kelley – a friend of mine. 328 00:28:54,220 --> 00:28:58,550 He commanded a river assault force of eight boats on a mission to extract a U.S. Army 329 00:28:58,549 --> 00:29:03,659 infantry company from an area that was controlled by the enemy. 330 00:29:03,659 --> 00:29:08,769 And during the operation, his vessels came under intensive fire from the opposite bank 331 00:29:08,769 --> 00:29:14,009 of the river; one of them became disabled, they were unable to lower the loading ramp 332 00:29:14,010 --> 00:29:16,060 or get underway. 333 00:29:16,059 --> 00:29:21,769 So Kelley ordered the other boats to form a defensive line, brought his vessel to the 334 00:29:21,769 --> 00:29:29,129 front where the incoming fire was most intense, and suddenly, a rocket crashed beside him, 335 00:29:29,129 --> 00:29:34,659 penetrating the boat’s armor and spraying shrapnel into his neck. 336 00:29:34,659 --> 00:29:38,339 Kelley couldn’t stand, he couldn’t speak, he had suffered the permanent loss of one 337 00:29:38,340 --> 00:29:44,010 eye; but he was still able to transmit commands through one of his sailors, and he did so 338 00:29:44,010 --> 00:29:49,780 until the injured boat was repaired and moved out into safety and the convoy moved out. 339 00:29:49,780 --> 00:29:53,010 He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. 340 00:29:53,009 --> 00:29:58,899 His steadiness in command reminds me of that shown by another Navy Lieutenant from Massachusetts, 341 00:29:58,899 --> 00:30:04,689 President Kennedy, who had a long career as a U.S. Congressman and a Senator, and then 342 00:30:04,690 --> 00:30:11,180 Commander-in-Chief, but through it all, he never forgot where his service began. 343 00:30:11,179 --> 00:30:18,139 And on an August day in 1963, just three months before his assassination, he came here to 344 00:30:18,140 --> 00:30:24,150 this campus and he told a group of midshipmen “Any man who may be asked…what he did 345 00:30:24,150 --> 00:30:30,910 to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 346 00:30:30,909 --> 00:30:33,429 I served in the United States Navy.” 347 00:30:33,429 --> 00:30:35,339 That was President Kennedy. 348 00:30:35,340 --> 00:30:41,130 I couldn’t agree more – because that declaration is a sign of the courage and the character 349 00:30:41,130 --> 00:30:47,920 and the commitment and the patriotism of anyone who is afforded the privilege of attending 350 00:30:47,919 --> 00:30:49,979 this great institution. 351 00:30:49,980 --> 00:30:55,740 And I know looking around this hall at all of you that that tradition of service and 352 00:30:55,740 --> 00:31:01,520 the honor of that calling remains very much in the best of hands. 353 00:31:01,519 --> 00:31:05,799 So I thank you for your service and your sacrifice even now. 354 00:31:05,799 --> 00:31:10,709 May God bless you and your families and bless always the United States of America. 355 00:31:10,710 --> 00:31:14,920 Thank you. 356 00:31:14,919 --> 00:31:19,139 (Applause.) 357 00:31:19,139 --> 00:31:29,409 I’d be delighted to answer a few questions. 358 00:31:29,409 --> 00:31:31,639 Let me introduce John Kirby. 359 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,260 He’s actually Admiral John Kirby. 360 00:31:34,259 --> 00:31:38,609 And we stole him from the Pentagon and he had to hang up his uniform, but he served 361 00:31:38,610 --> 00:31:42,170 as spokesman over there and he’s been the spokesman for the State Department, and his 362 00:31:42,169 --> 00:31:45,599 whole family is Navy – his son, his daughter, everybody’s Navy. 363 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:47,270 So have at it, John. 364 00:31:47,269 --> 00:31:48,269 MR KIRBY: Thank you, sir. 365 00:31:48,269 --> 00:31:51,299 I think we’ve got time for a few questions and I think the first one is supposed to be 366 00:31:51,299 --> 00:31:52,789 coming from Midshipman First Class Park. 367 00:31:52,789 --> 00:31:53,789 Is that right? 368 00:31:53,789 --> 00:31:54,789 QUESTION: Yes, sir. 369 00:31:54,789 --> 00:31:55,789 MR KIRBY: Go for it. 370 00:31:55,789 --> 00:31:56,789 Here. 371 00:31:56,789 --> 00:31:59,839 SECRETARY KERRY: I don’t know how much time we have, but if we have a few minutes extra 372 00:31:59,839 --> 00:32:05,059 – and I’ll try not to go too long – I’m happy to take a couple extra if anybody’s 373 00:32:05,059 --> 00:32:07,819 been somehow motivated to ask something more. 374 00:32:07,820 --> 00:32:08,820 Go ahead. 375 00:32:08,820 --> 00:32:09,820 QUESTION: Sir. 376 00:32:09,820 --> 00:32:10,820 Good afternoon, sir. 377 00:32:10,820 --> 00:32:12,420 Midshipman First Class Jin Soo Park from 16th Company. 378 00:32:12,419 --> 00:32:13,779 My question for you is -- 379 00:32:13,779 --> 00:32:15,369 SECRETARY KERRY: Hold the mic up close. 380 00:32:15,372 --> 00:32:16,372 There you go. 381 00:32:16,372 --> 00:32:20,062 QUESTION: My question for you is: As you reflect back on your military career during the Vietnam 382 00:32:20,059 --> 00:32:24,809 era, can you think of a leadership lesson or life lesson a mentor or leader gave you 383 00:32:24,810 --> 00:32:29,800 that you carried throughout your public service, political career, and your role as Secretary 384 00:32:29,799 --> 00:32:30,799 of State? 385 00:32:30,799 --> 00:32:34,739 SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I think I sort of described one to you a moment ago, but I think going 386 00:32:34,739 --> 00:32:46,029 further than that, I’d just say to you that the greatest lesson I learned is that you 387 00:32:46,029 --> 00:32:53,539 have the bars, and eventually you may even have the multiple stripes and you have a lot 388 00:32:53,539 --> 00:32:58,719 of power, but it’s not the stripe that gives you the authority – although there’s a 389 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:00,970 certain obvious automatic to that – it’s you. 390 00:33:00,970 --> 00:33:05,060 It’s how you behave; it’s how you lead. 391 00:33:05,059 --> 00:33:13,729 It’s not the saying and telling somebody to do something; it’s how you lead and respect 392 00:33:13,729 --> 00:33:15,909 the people who work with you. 393 00:33:15,909 --> 00:33:18,439 It’s family. 394 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,230 When we served – when I was in Vietnam on the boat, I was the lieutenant. 395 00:33:22,232 --> 00:33:28,292 I was the only lieutenant on the boat and we had radar men and boatswain’s mate and 396 00:33:28,289 --> 00:33:34,789 so on and so forth – gunner’s mates, et cetera – but we never kind of got too formal 397 00:33:34,789 --> 00:33:36,159 about it all. 398 00:33:36,159 --> 00:33:41,799 Everybody understood where the authority came from, but it was the sharing of responsibility 399 00:33:41,799 --> 00:33:49,789 and the sharing of the pain and the suffering and the hardness of it, and if you ever forget 400 00:33:49,789 --> 00:33:54,229 that, it’s going to be very hard to be the full measure of leader that you want to be 401 00:33:54,230 --> 00:33:56,530 and that people would expect you to be. 402 00:33:56,529 --> 00:34:01,659 So I just think, remember, the people around you are part of the family, even as you maintain 403 00:34:01,659 --> 00:34:12,399 the necessary authority through the respect that they will have for you because they know 404 00:34:12,399 --> 00:34:13,599 you’re commanding in the right way. 405 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:19,200 I think that’s the most important thing I learned: Always take care of the troops. 406 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:29,110 MR KIRBY: Next question. 407 00:34:29,109 --> 00:34:39,449 QUESTION: Sir, Midshipman First Class Nico Shyne, 4th Company. 408 00:34:39,450 --> 00:34:43,340 Information age technologies have fundamentally altered how people and states interact. 409 00:34:43,339 --> 00:34:46,849 As you mentioned in your comments, traditional diplomatic and military actions were carried 410 00:34:46,850 --> 00:34:48,020 out between nation-states. 411 00:34:48,020 --> 00:34:53,190 However, the increasingly low cost of entry for emerging technology means non-state actors 412 00:34:53,190 --> 00:34:57,800 wield significantly more power than they did before cyberspace was an active domain. 413 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:02,120 As Secretary of State, what emerging technologies or concept altered your department’s role 414 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:05,390 and America’s role on the international stage and how did you adapt to meet these 415 00:35:05,390 --> 00:35:06,390 changes? 416 00:35:06,390 --> 00:35:08,360 SECRETARY KERRY: Well, it’s a great question, Nico. 417 00:35:08,359 --> 00:35:15,019 We’ve been moving really rapidly – as rapidly as we can – to try to change our 418 00:35:15,020 --> 00:35:20,480 response to this advance of technology. 419 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:24,090 ISIL has been particularly adept. 420 00:35:24,089 --> 00:35:31,419 It was surprisingly adept in the beginning at proselytizing through the social media, 421 00:35:31,420 --> 00:35:38,450 and we were simply not in a place to be able to adequately respond right away. 422 00:35:38,450 --> 00:35:42,460 But we knew we had to, so we adapted very significantly. 423 00:35:42,460 --> 00:35:46,850 We now have a Global Engagement Center in the State Department which is manned by a 424 00:35:46,849 --> 00:35:53,529 massive group – not big enough, in my judgment, but it has grown significantly – of digitally 425 00:35:53,530 --> 00:36:01,120 capable folks who know how to use the social media effectively. 426 00:36:01,119 --> 00:36:06,999 We’ve coordinated with the United Arab Emirates, with the Saudis and others, to build centers 427 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:16,180 in those countries which are staffed by indigenous population so that we now have a capacity 428 00:36:16,180 --> 00:36:24,670 to go out in multiple languages – Urdu, Arabic, Somali; I mean, whatever – and communicate 429 00:36:24,670 --> 00:36:25,670 effectively. 430 00:36:25,670 --> 00:36:35,970 And we are now doing by exponentially – by X factor, we are swamping the capacity of 431 00:36:35,970 --> 00:36:41,320 Daesh to be able to do what they were doing previously. 432 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:43,750 Now, we’ve also done a bunch of other things. 433 00:36:43,750 --> 00:36:45,920 We’ve cut off their finance. 434 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:51,670 We’ve targeted their oil production capacity which they used to raise money. 435 00:36:51,670 --> 00:36:56,650 We have significantly closed the portals for the movement of foreign fighters. 436 00:36:56,650 --> 00:37:00,850 We used to have about a thousand a month or a week that were going in. 437 00:37:00,849 --> 00:37:04,619 We cut that down to 500 – now it’s a trickle. 438 00:37:04,619 --> 00:37:08,049 And that’s work we’ve done outside of technology, but using technology, because 439 00:37:08,051 --> 00:37:13,681 we’ve got watch lists on aircraft, we’ve got incredible sharing of information with 440 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:17,670 other countries, all of which is through the technology platform. 441 00:37:17,670 --> 00:37:22,620 So the result is we’re more nimble, we’re much faster, we’re much more efficient and 442 00:37:22,619 --> 00:37:25,109 effective, and shutting down their space. 443 00:37:25,109 --> 00:37:29,559 In addition, we’ve taken most of their leadership off the battlefield. 444 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:34,290 We’ve been incredibly effective at high-value-added targets, high-value targets. 445 00:37:34,289 --> 00:37:41,849 You may have read just yesterday we took out another group of plotters. 446 00:37:41,850 --> 00:37:47,650 We’re effective at staying ahead of many of these plots through our SIGINT and so forth. 447 00:37:47,650 --> 00:37:53,040 So we’re becoming much better at it. 448 00:37:53,040 --> 00:38:01,930 In the Global Engagement Center, we have built a capacity to put advertisements out – or 449 00:38:01,930 --> 00:38:09,080 advertise is the wrong word – narratives, counter-narrative that we put out using people 450 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:17,390 who were previously jihadis but who realized the emptiness of what they were being asked 451 00:38:17,390 --> 00:38:21,780 to do and the false promises that were being made to them, and they come back and tell 452 00:38:21,780 --> 00:38:22,780 the story. 453 00:38:22,780 --> 00:38:24,140 That’s the most effective thing. 454 00:38:24,140 --> 00:38:28,680 One of the things we learned in terms of adaptability is we’re the worst messengers. 455 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:34,910 We need to find people who can validate that message just through who they are and what 456 00:38:34,910 --> 00:38:39,180 their background is and their native language and so forth. 457 00:38:39,180 --> 00:38:43,660 But I think we’re getting pretty skilled at it now, and it has made a real difference 458 00:38:43,660 --> 00:38:44,880 in our effort to isolate. 459 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:51,470 We’ve now taken back about 65 percent of the land in Iraq that Daesh/ISIL had taken. 460 00:38:51,470 --> 00:38:58,760 We’ve liberated Ramadi, Tikrit, Mosul, Fallujah – Mosul, we’re now about 45 percent into 461 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:03,350 the eastern part of Mosul, and I am convinced over the course of the next year we’re going 462 00:39:03,349 --> 00:39:04,349 to defeat Daesh. 463 00:39:04,349 --> 00:39:06,519 No question in my mind. 464 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:10,800 The challenge is there’s a Boko Haram out there, there’s an al-Shabaab out there, 465 00:39:10,799 --> 00:39:16,009 there’s Jaish-e-Mohammad out there, there’s Lashkar-e Tayyiba, there’s countless different 466 00:39:16,010 --> 00:39:17,540 players. 467 00:39:17,540 --> 00:39:22,750 And so this is going to be a long-term effort for us to stay ahead of the curve, protect 468 00:39:22,750 --> 00:39:30,240 the homeland, but also protect our allies and friends and win back the rule of law and 469 00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:34,270 the basic structure by which the world needs to organize itself. 470 00:39:34,270 --> 00:39:36,910 And that’s what we’re going to be working at. 471 00:39:36,910 --> 00:39:42,590 MR KIRBY: I think our next question comes from Midshipman First Class Johnson. 472 00:39:42,589 --> 00:39:49,339 Is that right? 473 00:39:49,339 --> 00:39:56,089 QUESTION: Thank you. 474 00:39:56,089 --> 00:39:59,129 Midshipman First Class Johnson. 475 00:39:59,130 --> 00:40:00,920 I’m from the 16th Company. 476 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:05,070 Sir, my question for you deals specifically with recent threats made by North Korea to 477 00:40:05,069 --> 00:40:10,379 develop and deploy a nuclear ICBM that has a capability to threaten not only our allies 478 00:40:10,380 --> 00:40:13,680 in Asia, but potentially the western United States as well. 479 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:18,270 The statements by the North Korean leadership and continued development of their nuclear 480 00:40:18,270 --> 00:40:23,180 weapons program is in direct violation of UN Resolution 50, as well as past and present 481 00:40:23,180 --> 00:40:25,330 U.S. administration policies. 482 00:40:25,330 --> 00:40:29,780 What specific recommendation or advice would you offer the new incoming administration 483 00:40:29,779 --> 00:40:32,229 to stop the development and deployment of nuclear weapons? 484 00:40:32,230 --> 00:40:35,420 SECRETARY KERRY: Well, my – it’s an excellent question. 485 00:40:35,420 --> 00:40:40,240 I mean, my advice to the next administration is that this is at the top. 486 00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:46,230 I don’t get into first or second or third, but this is at the top of a short group of 487 00:40:46,230 --> 00:40:48,020 major priorities. 488 00:40:48,020 --> 00:40:51,650 This is one of the most serious, if not the most serious. 489 00:40:51,650 --> 00:41:05,010 There’s a reckless dictator who holds his country effectively in a gulag, in a kind 490 00:41:05,010 --> 00:41:06,400 of prison. 491 00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:18,960 We don’t – he’s unpredictable, and recklessness and unpredictability for somebody who has 492 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:27,170 their hands on nuclear weapons is a very genuine threat, and particularly as they pursue intercontinental 493 00:41:27,170 --> 00:41:32,490 ballistic capacity, which would threaten the United States of America. 494 00:41:32,490 --> 00:41:38,890 We have made it crystal clear to the Chinese, the Japanese, the Koreans, who are most immediately 495 00:41:38,890 --> 00:41:46,950 also threatened, and to the – to North Korea, that we will not accept them as a nuclear 496 00:41:46,950 --> 00:41:48,650 state. 497 00:41:48,650 --> 00:41:56,840 Now, we will make it clear to the incoming administration that there are diplomatic ways 498 00:41:56,839 --> 00:42:00,499 of increasing the pressure, which we’ve been ratcheting up. 499 00:42:00,500 --> 00:42:07,420 We’ve now passed two United Nations Security Council resolutions that are focused on the 500 00:42:07,420 --> 00:42:13,500 nuclear weaponry, and we’ve increasingly been able to bring China to the table to increase 501 00:42:13,500 --> 00:42:20,220 its pressure on North Korea with the hopes that we can get back to the Six-Party Talks 502 00:42:20,220 --> 00:42:28,180 – with Russia included, and Japan, and Korea, ourselves, and China – so that we can try 503 00:42:28,180 --> 00:42:32,690 to negotiate a way out of this predicament, as we did with Iran. 504 00:42:32,690 --> 00:42:39,960 Now, the distinction is that Iran did not have a nuclear weapon. 505 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:44,020 But we had a very tough sanctions regime on them because of their activities that were 506 00:42:44,020 --> 00:42:47,020 heading in that direction. 507 00:42:47,020 --> 00:42:52,720 North Korea has nuclear weaponry, and less of a competent sanctions regime. 508 00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:53,720 Why? 509 00:42:53,720 --> 00:42:57,300 Because North Korea doesn’t have much of an economy and they don’t have a terrific 510 00:42:57,299 --> 00:43:02,059 set of tentacles out there in the global community that you can bring the hammer down on. 511 00:43:02,059 --> 00:43:08,559 That’s why we think China is so critical to a resolution of the North Korea problem. 512 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:09,560 Why? 513 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:18,580 Because China provides 100 percent of the fuel that goes to North Korea – every airplane, 514 00:43:18,580 --> 00:43:24,010 every truck, every car that moves in North Korea gets its fuel from China – and because 515 00:43:24,010 --> 00:43:33,510 China also is the facilitator, through Beijing, for the banking system and for whatever movement 516 00:43:33,510 --> 00:43:39,010 of commerce there is, of money, et cetera, for the North Koreans. 517 00:43:39,010 --> 00:43:44,630 So we really think China needs to increase its focus. 518 00:43:44,630 --> 00:43:47,200 We’ve got them to do it twice now. 519 00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:52,840 My counsel to the next administration will be to work with China very, very closely and 520 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:57,570 try to get the Chinese to, in fact, have a greater impact on the North in order to affect 521 00:43:57,570 --> 00:43:58,570 their behavior. 522 00:43:58,570 --> 00:44:02,690 Now, there is a point here where this gets dangerous, and it’s getting close to it 523 00:44:02,690 --> 00:44:04,580 right now. 524 00:44:04,579 --> 00:44:10,279 Because if he persists, as he said he would the other day, in moving forward on the intercontinental 525 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:17,990 ballistic missile front, it more immediately drags the United States into an immediate 526 00:44:17,990 --> 00:44:27,280 threat situation, to which we then may have to find other ways or more forceful ways of 527 00:44:27,279 --> 00:44:30,299 having an impact on the choices that he is making. 528 00:44:30,299 --> 00:44:35,129 So this is a very big issue, but for the moment, I think we need the international community 529 00:44:35,130 --> 00:44:41,440 continuing to put pressure and to try to make it clear of all the benefits that could accrue 530 00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:44,220 to North Korea if they made a different set of choices. 531 00:44:44,220 --> 00:44:49,160 Specifically, we’ve told them we’re prepared to negotiate economic assistance. 532 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:53,580 We’re prepared to negotiate their normalization of a relationship with the world. 533 00:44:53,580 --> 00:44:55,410 We’re prepared to lift sanctions. 534 00:44:55,410 --> 00:45:00,830 We’re prepared to work on the issue of peace between North and South in Korea and the whole 535 00:45:00,829 --> 00:45:04,639 issue of the demarcation line and the armistice. 536 00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:07,670 Remember, there’s no peace agreement in North Korea. 537 00:45:07,670 --> 00:45:09,350 It’s an armistice. 538 00:45:09,349 --> 00:45:17,069 So that is yet a war to be fully ended, and we have offered literally peace. 539 00:45:17,070 --> 00:45:22,360 And conceivably, depending on what happens in the long run, re-deployment of forces and 540 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:23,360 other kinds of things. 541 00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:27,820 In the meantime, we’ve deployed Aegis in the region. 542 00:45:27,819 --> 00:45:33,699 We’re contemplating the deployment of THAAD in order to protect ourselves. 543 00:45:33,700 --> 00:45:38,090 And we will do what we need to do to protect the United States of America and our friends 544 00:45:38,089 --> 00:45:39,089 and allies. 545 00:45:39,089 --> 00:45:43,379 MR KIRBY: The next question comes from Midshipman First Class Larkin. 546 00:45:43,380 --> 00:45:46,520 QUESTION: Good afternoon, sir. 547 00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:52,790 Midshipman First Class David Larkin from Fourth Company. 548 00:45:52,790 --> 00:45:58,600 Sir, you and the admiral mentioned how in Vietnam you served as an OSC of a swift boat 549 00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:02,930 and you were awarded the Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. 550 00:46:02,930 --> 00:46:06,280 When you returned, you joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War organization and 551 00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:11,590 spoke openly against the war, despite or perhaps because of your involvement in the war. 552 00:46:11,590 --> 00:46:15,640 Can you explain what led you to that decision to speak against the war and how we, as future 553 00:46:15,640 --> 00:46:17,510 officers, might face a similar decision? 554 00:46:17,510 --> 00:46:23,690 SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I hope you never face a similar decision, because I hope that one 555 00:46:23,690 --> 00:46:29,980 of the lessons we all learned in Vietnam and during that long period of time, which was 556 00:46:29,980 --> 00:46:34,850 extremely difficult in this country – I hope we learned that we’re not going to 557 00:46:34,850 --> 00:46:42,910 lie to the American people, and I hope we learned that we will do due diligence in figuring 558 00:46:42,910 --> 00:46:49,740 out what is going on in a particular country before we decide to go in and before we commit 559 00:46:49,740 --> 00:46:55,070 the lives and the treasure of our nation into combat. 560 00:46:55,070 --> 00:47:00,910 We kind of drifted into Vietnam, with all due respect. 561 00:47:00,910 --> 00:47:04,730 And you need to – in your history courses, maybe some of you have already studied this, 562 00:47:04,730 --> 00:47:09,720 et cetera, but you should go back and read Bernard Fall; you should read about the French 563 00:47:09,720 --> 00:47:15,970 experience; you should read about – one of the best books in the world on the subject 564 00:47:15,970 --> 00:47:21,830 of Vietnam is “A Bright Shining Lie” by Neil Sheehan. 565 00:47:21,829 --> 00:47:28,409 But there just were – it began in the late 1950s really, and into the ’60s. 566 00:47:28,410 --> 00:47:30,110 The CIA was involved, others. 567 00:47:30,109 --> 00:47:34,979 And then the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu, and the United States sort of came 568 00:47:34,980 --> 00:47:36,380 into it. 569 00:47:36,380 --> 00:47:43,130 And we came into it significantly because we saw the world then in the context of the 570 00:47:43,130 --> 00:47:48,590 Soviet Union and the United States, the West and the big bear and the whole concept of 571 00:47:48,590 --> 00:47:53,740 communism, and communism and the domino theory taking over Southeast Asia. 572 00:47:53,740 --> 00:48:00,700 And I went over there to ostensibly fight against communism and stop the – to be part 573 00:48:00,700 --> 00:48:06,440 of this effort to deal with the alleged attack that took place in the Gulf of Tonkin and 574 00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:07,930 so forth. 575 00:48:07,930 --> 00:48:14,710 So the war was raging in 1964, ’65, ’66, ’67. 576 00:48:14,710 --> 00:48:21,540 I didn’t get over there till ’68, and I came back in ’69, and I didn’t protest 577 00:48:21,539 --> 00:48:24,589 the war until ’71. 578 00:48:24,589 --> 00:48:29,949 And when I did protest it, it was the longest war in American history, and we were losing. 579 00:48:29,950 --> 00:48:34,700 We’d lost, by that period, some 50,000-plus lives. 580 00:48:34,700 --> 00:48:40,080 And many of us who fought over there – not everybody, people had different views – but 581 00:48:40,079 --> 00:48:46,299 many of us who fought over there came back with a sense that we were not, in fact, fighting 582 00:48:46,299 --> 00:48:51,929 for what we had been told we were going to fight for. 583 00:48:51,930 --> 00:48:52,930 And I saw that. 584 00:48:52,930 --> 00:48:54,520 I mean, I saw that in the villages. 585 00:48:54,519 --> 00:48:59,899 I saw that when I was on that boat in the rivers, and we’d go into a hamlet and you’d 586 00:48:59,900 --> 00:49:04,340 see the way people were looking at you, and you began to learn and feel how the enemy 587 00:49:04,339 --> 00:49:05,339 was behaving. 588 00:49:05,339 --> 00:49:10,769 And the enemy there was principally Vietcong who were the southern part of the front of 589 00:49:10,769 --> 00:49:12,539 their effort. 590 00:49:12,539 --> 00:49:17,629 And what I discerned – and I think most people, if you go back and read the history, 591 00:49:17,630 --> 00:49:22,550 had earlier discerned – was that this was a civil war. 592 00:49:22,549 --> 00:49:28,199 This was a war for liberation from the French initially, and then from us. 593 00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:38,650 And that no amount of troops was going to ultimately make the difference. 594 00:49:38,650 --> 00:49:45,840 And so those of us who came back, a number of us who came back, became part of an effort 595 00:49:45,839 --> 00:49:54,199 of people who really felt that we were patriotic, that we were acting as patriots to stand up 596 00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:58,670 for our country, to stand up for a better policy, to stand up for what we thought was 597 00:49:58,670 --> 00:50:00,180 right. 598 00:50:00,180 --> 00:50:05,490 And at that point in time – and I think the books since then, the analysis of General 599 00:50:05,490 --> 00:50:13,960 Westmoreland’s experience, of Robert McNamara who was the defense secretary at the time, 600 00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:19,330 Melvin Laird was defense secretary before him – I just saw too many things that didn’t 601 00:50:19,329 --> 00:50:21,799 pan out. 602 00:50:21,799 --> 00:50:26,109 I can remember missions we were sent on and I’d read about them in Stars and Stripes 603 00:50:26,109 --> 00:50:30,869 or somewhere and I’d say, “Boy, that wasn’t the mission I was on.” 604 00:50:30,869 --> 00:50:32,579 But I was on it. 605 00:50:32,579 --> 00:50:40,759 And we saw too many of those kinds of deceptions, and if you read Bright Shining Lie and a great 606 00:50:40,760 --> 00:50:45,720 warrior, John Paul Vann’s story in the war, you’ll really understand how things can 607 00:50:45,720 --> 00:50:46,810 go awry. 608 00:50:46,809 --> 00:50:52,109 Now, we thought we’d made all the decisions not to sort of repeat that and we saw what 609 00:50:52,109 --> 00:50:58,759 happened in Iraq, where it turned out there weren’t weapons of mass destruction. 610 00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:03,120 And I will just tell all of you today, half of what we’re dealing with in the Middle 611 00:51:03,119 --> 00:51:15,759 East comes out of the residual effects, the fallout of the war in Iraq. 612 00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:21,810 The place was not divided by Shia and Sunni before that war. 613 00:51:21,809 --> 00:51:30,179 We didn’t have the topsy-turviness of what you see in the region until then, and it has 614 00:51:30,180 --> 00:51:37,690 highlighted sectarianism and other challenges in the region – proxy players and other 615 00:51:37,690 --> 00:51:41,550 kinds of things – in a very, very negative way. 616 00:51:41,549 --> 00:51:45,659 So I believe what we did was the right thing to do to this day. 617 00:51:45,660 --> 00:51:51,310 I will tell you that, obviously, some people were very angry at me for it. 618 00:51:51,309 --> 00:51:57,779 It even came up in the course of my race for the presidency, so you can pay a price for 619 00:51:57,779 --> 00:52:02,289 doing what you think is right, but I’m convinced that what I did was the right thing. 620 00:52:02,290 --> 00:52:07,870 I stood up for the truth and I think the truth has been documented in many different places 621 00:52:07,869 --> 00:52:10,709 over the course of time. 622 00:52:10,710 --> 00:52:11,710 Thank you. 623 00:52:11,710 --> 00:52:20,200 MR KIRBY: Sir, we’ve got time for one last question and that will be from Midshipman 624 00:52:20,200 --> 00:52:23,640 First Class Lee. 625 00:52:23,640 --> 00:52:28,230 QUESTION: Good afternoon, sir. 626 00:52:28,230 --> 00:52:30,820 I’m Midshipman Fourth Class Austin Cradle, Second Company. 627 00:52:30,819 --> 00:52:31,819 SECRETARY KERRY: Good afternoon. 628 00:52:31,819 --> 00:52:36,529 QUESTION: My question for you, sir, is: Are private morality and political morality distinct? 629 00:52:36,529 --> 00:52:40,089 And if so, what principles should govern political action? 630 00:52:40,089 --> 00:52:51,219 SECRETARY KERRY: Well, they shouldn’t be extinct, or distinct, but there are times 631 00:52:51,220 --> 00:52:55,430 when you wonder. 632 00:52:55,430 --> 00:52:58,430 Right is right and wrong is wrong. 633 00:52:58,430 --> 00:53:04,430 Now, there is a distinction between digging into somebody’s personal life in ways that 634 00:53:04,430 --> 00:53:09,420 has no business being somehow part of the public discourse – that’s different. 635 00:53:09,420 --> 00:53:14,150 But that’s not necessarily, I think, the question of your test between private morality 636 00:53:14,150 --> 00:53:16,440 and public morality. 637 00:53:16,440 --> 00:53:18,390 I mean, stealing is stealing. 638 00:53:18,390 --> 00:53:22,330 Telling a lie is telling a lie. 639 00:53:22,329 --> 00:53:33,179 And all the things in between that constitute morality absolutely belong on somebody’s 640 00:53:33,180 --> 00:53:39,220 sleeve in terms of public behavior, and I don’t think it should be separated. 641 00:53:39,220 --> 00:53:44,850 Now – but I do separate from that – I think people have the privilege and right, 642 00:53:44,849 --> 00:53:50,939 obviously, of privacy of their home and I don’t think – and I think a lot of stuff 643 00:53:50,940 --> 00:54:00,020 that people try to throw into politics is sometimes irrelevant to their capacity to 644 00:54:00,019 --> 00:54:01,019 govern effectively. 645 00:54:01,019 --> 00:54:12,299 But if you can’t tell the truth and you don’t know how to be moral as a person, 646 00:54:12,299 --> 00:54:18,999 it’s hard to stand up for the morality of a nation and for the immorality of other people’s 647 00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:20,000 choices. 648 00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:23,550 And so I think that they are not particularly distinct writ large. 649 00:54:23,550 --> 00:54:25,980 QUESTION: Thank you, sir. 650 00:54:25,980 --> 00:54:28,150 SECRETARY KERRY: Is that it? 651 00:54:28,150 --> 00:54:29,730 I’m getting the anchor here, the pull. 652 00:54:29,730 --> 00:54:35,040 MODERATOR: Sir, (inaudible) the hook, but on behalf of the brigade of midshipmen and 653 00:54:35,039 --> 00:54:41,279 the entire Naval Academy, I want to say thank you for taking such special time and care 654 00:54:41,279 --> 00:54:45,379 to come and talk, your candor, and not just your service to the United States Navy, but 655 00:54:45,380 --> 00:54:46,380 to our nation. 656 00:54:46,380 --> 00:54:47,380 Thank you all very much. 657 00:54:47,380 --> 00:54:48,380 Let’s please give the Secretary a round of applause. 658 00:54:48,380 --> 00:54:49,180 SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you very much.