In a June 6 briefing, Holmes said the policy was drafted by Centcom's
new commander, Adm. William Fallon, Middle East Newsline reported. The brigadier said the command has
sought to establish a force that could build and "sustain joint and combined
warfighting capability and readiness."
Officials said Centcom was discussing increasing cooperation with a
range of allies in the Middle East and Horn of Africa. They said the
partnerships would be based on assisting Iraq, fighting Al Qaida, developing
regional cooperation and providing Centcom with basing access.
"A lot of times I think folks forget that," Holmes said. "That region
provides some ungoverned space where bad actors, extreme actors want to grow
and do what they can to destabilize the region and ultimately destabilize
the international community."
"The key is very vocal support and advocacy that we're committed as a
partner in the [Gulf] region," Holmes said. "It's not to put a stamp, 'Made
in the USA.' I think the encouraging thing we see is dialogue — with the
U.S. being a partner in that dialogue — for regional actors to bring
their powers to bear in the region."
Holmes said Centcom would not deploy throughout the region. Instead, the
command would overcome skepticism as it sought to assist U.S. allies in
security and humanitarian issues.
"I'll be very honest with you," Holmes said. "I'm not so naive as to
think that there [aren't] many eyes watching from our partners in the Middle
East in the Centcom region that are saying, 'What will the U.S. do? What
will the military do?'"
"We have to look at what we do and what we say, and they have to be in
synch with each other," Holmes said. "And for years maybe we haven't done
that very well."
