US Pacific Command boss Adm. Samuel Locklear said the growing air campaign against ISIS extremists in Iraq and Syria should not significantly affect the planned pivot to the Pacific. “It’s not like the world just walked away because of the Middle East,” Locklear told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday. “Certainly the Joint Force is still a global force and is still capable of pursuing the US interest and the rebalance in the way that” the current national strategy outlines. When asked if the US should reconsider that strategy and shift its focus to the new war against ISIS, Locklear said, “It depends on the size and the complexity of it,” though he added, “The Asia-Pacific will remain important to the United States forever. That was the message in the rebalance.” Locklear maintained that much of the US’ future security will be tied to the Asia-Pacific region, “even with a threat like” ISIS. “We can’t walk away from our responsibilities in the Asia-Pacific and as the President mentioned in his speech at the United Nations, we won’t.”
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
