WASHINGTON - Today, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at the hearing entitled, "The Evolution of Hybrid Warfare and Key Challenges." For testimony and other information and to watch the hearing click here.
"The Committee meets today to examine the challenge posed by unconventional forms of warfare. A variety of terms are used to describe it: hybrid warfare, indirect warfare, the gray zone, and others.
Americans are used to thinking of a binary state of either war or peace. That is the way our organizations, doctrine, and approaches are geared. Other countries, including Russia, China, and Iran, use a wider array of centrally controlled, or at least centrally directed, instruments of national power and influence to achieve their objectives.
Whether it is contributing to foreign political parties, targeted assassination of opponents, infiltrating non-uniformed personnel such as the 'little green men,' traditional media and social media influence operations, or cyber connected activity – all of these activities and more are used to advance their national interests and most often to damage American national interests.
These tactics may not be new. Indeed as Professor Williamson Murray has written, 'the historical record suggests that hybrid warfare in one form or another may well be the norm for human conflict rather than the exception.' But they pose a particular challenge to us and our system.
I believe that it is essential for us to help shine a light on these methods being used against us and for the U.S. to develop better capabilities to counter them. That is the topic for today’s hearing."