'Can You Shed Any Light?': Schmidt Asks CENTCOM Head About 'Discrepancy' In Epic Fury Death Toll

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]here and I recognize the gentleman from Kansas, Mr. Schiff.

[00:00:03]>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank all of our witnesses for their testimony today, and particularly for you, Admiral, and you, General. Uh I want to thank uh all the men and women under your command and their families and friends and colleagues, and uh we are grateful for their service as well as your own.

[00:00:18]Um Admiral, let me start with you, or perhaps Mr. Zimmer, just to clarify a fact. I think I've heard two different things over the past several weeks, and I just like to know what the disconnect is. I believe you said today, and I think Mr. Zimmer also you used the number 14 in referencing the number of Americans who have been killed in this operation or these operations. That's the same number that Secretary Heggseth, and I believe General Keane, used at that table a few weeks ago.

[00:00:43]But most of us have been using the number 13, including a number of my colleagues here today. Can you shed any light on where that discrepancy lies?

[00:00:52]>> Certainly, there's uh Congressman, there's simply a uh an individual who who died outside of uh uh he was not killed in action. Uh and I'll just uh uh uh But Inspector's family, uh we honor him along with the other 13.

[00:01:05]>> Thank you very much for clarifying that.

[00:01:07]Uh Admiral, let me ask you uh about the the commerce in and out of the strait, and looking forward, obviously none of us knows what the future holds, but can you discuss a bit uh about uh what should, what might, what could, whatever is appropriate in this setting, a a European role look like in terms of guaranteeing uh maritime transit in the region going forward? There've been the public reports most recently about our our British and French allies talking about some type of role, but can you talk a bit about that?

[00:01:36]>> Congressman, much of that is uh is a policy matter, not a mil- military matter. Uh what I can say is we've continued to work very closely with military partners in the region uh to support future operations and planning.

[00:01:47]That's gone on, and we've also connected at a military-to-military level with our European allies from a planning perspective. How what that looks like in execution is a civilian policy decision.

[00:01:57]>> Would it be fair to say that it would be helpful if there is a European role going forward?

[00:02:02]>> All help uh would be appreciated at the appropriate time.

[00:02:05]>> And Admiral, can you talk a bit about uh our our capacity to uh diminish, degrade, destroy, whatever the right word is, the Iranians' ability to mine uh the straits or the waters in the area? Where are we on that? And what more can we do to be helpful to your efforts in that regard?

[00:02:22]>> Congressman, as I as I stated in my uh my statement for the record, uh we uh eliminated 90% of Iran's mine capability uh during Operation Epic Fury. They still retain 10% of it uh in a in a classified environment. I could talk about the specifics of what that looks like and how we're handling that.

[00:02:40]>> Very good. Thank you.

[00:02:42]Uh General, let me turn my attention to you and to our our work in Africa.

[00:02:46]Um listening to your discussions today, we all have a different recollection of history and and the lessons we draw from it, but uh your discussion about what's happening in West Africa today, our uh inability to see and know as much as we would like to see and know, the operations base that uh many of our adversaries or terrorist adversaries in particular are using, it reminded me of the discussions in the 1990s when Al-Qaeda was organizing in East Africa and Somalia and in Kenya and in Tanzania and was trying to use the failed state in Afghanistan as their base of operation.

[00:03:20]Uh we all know where that led um in 2001. Can Can you describe, in whatever manner is appropriate in this setting, the the nature of the terrorist threat that you see brewing in Africa generally or West Africa in particular and what that means to American homeland security?

[00:03:38]>> Yes, I take this very seriously, uh Mr. Congressman, because of what you highlighted. Terrorists will go to where there is lack of governance, where they have the ability to operate freely, and that's why they have sought the Azawad area in particular of uh what West Africa.

[00:03:53]Without sufficient uh pressure, without the sufficient Western engagement there, we may lose sight of that. And I think we as you said have seen what happens when that occurs. So, we are investing heavily in other means uh to include experimental and and emerging technologies in order to be able to monitor this threat. Uh the concern that I have is that the the terrorist threats have focused on Africa. They see this as their future. They see the the potential of establishing a caliphate there. If a nation uh capital were to fall uh and become uh controlled by a terrorist organization, I think that would be a uh beacon for many of the terrorists that would in energize them. And I think that would be in not in any interest of the United States or of the Western European countries. So, this is why we're focusing a lot of effort in order to provide those indications and warnings so that we can uh adequately address it.

[00:04:45]And as to Congressman Crenshaw's point there, the United States is the gold standard for counterterrorism operations. But it has to be enabled by working with the partner and the intelligence that goes behind it. That allows us to conduct these operations with precision. It allows us to take civilian casualties under consideration. It allows us to work with the partner in ways no other >> Gentleman's time expired. Should I now recognize gentleman from Mississippi