But Welsh also acknowledged that the Air Force recorded a disturbing number of reports of sexual assault last year even as it worked to curb misconduct.
"I think it's particularly disturbing to see security forces use force to break up a graveside demonstration, " State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.
More troubling, unemployment in the past two years would have been even higher but for a disturbing lack of growth in the labour force: that is, the number of people either working or searching for work.
Most disturbing was a late-September Chinese air force exercise with the Turkish air force (which included a stop in Iran) that probably compromised sensitive NATO air-war-fighting tactics.