Petraeus shoots down Biden's claim Afghan army wouldn't fight
Category: News & Politics
Via: vic-eldred • 3 years ago • 40 commentsBy: Dominick Mastrangelo (TheHill)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Retired Gen. David Petraeus , who at one time led U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said President Biden 's assertion that the Afghan army had little interest in fighting off the Taliban without the backing of U.S. forces is incorrect.
"Afghan soldiers fought and died in huge numbers over the course of the past two decades," Petraeus said during an interview with NBC News that aired on Monday. "So the idea that they wouldn't fight for their country is something that I think is just not accurate."
Biden, during remarks from the White House East Room on Monday, blamed the fall of Afghanistan's capital city on the government there and the country's security forces.
"The truth is, this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated. So what's happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight," Biden said during the speech. "If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision."
Petraeus also called the outcome of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, where hundreds of American citizens and thousands of Afghan allies are still trapped and the U.S. military is currently conducting extraction efforts, "catastrophic."
"I do think there were alternative approaches, options that we in fact should have considered. I've counseled those for many years," the general said. "But we are where we are now and I think what's most important at this moment in time is to realize that there are many that we have so far left behind. And we must do everything we can with all the resources available to us to ensure that we meet the moral obligation to them."
Former CIA Director General David Petraeus speaks with @LesterHoltNBC about the outcome of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban's quick takeover and more. pic.twitter.com/KN3GbwvPro
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) August 17, 2021
Biden has faced bipartisan criticism for how he has conducted the withdrawal of troops from the country, where the fate of citizens who helped the Western forces occupying the country for the last two decades is uncertain.
Nonetheless, the president said Monday he stands "squarely" behind his decision to leave the country, and is not willing to pass the nation's longest war onto a fifth president.
"I know my decision will be criticized," Biden said during his address to the nation. "But I would rather take all that criticism than pass this decision on to another president of the United States, yet another one, a fifth one. Because it's the right one, it's the right decision for our people. The right one for our brave service members who risked their lives serving our nation. And it's the right one for America."
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Petraeus wasn't alone:
“The White House has no discernible plan other than pleading with the Taliban, the bungled withdrawal, reminiscent of his failed withdrawal from Iraq, is an embarrassment to our nation.”..House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
“Joe Biden’s ill-planned retreat has now humiliated America and put at risk thousands of Americans left in Kabul.”.... Sen. Tom Cotton
Advice for Jen Psaki: When the White House releases their new pronouns and requests for everyone to refer to the president it should be as idiotic/incompetent. If unsure or confused, alternative acceptable pronouns are jackass/moron. Thank you!
Gen. Betrayus
Actually he is among the recently woke cadre of flag officers who are saying the right things.
Question: Where is the Secretary of Defense? You know, the guy whose name Joe Biden can't seem to recall?
Is he still spilling military secrets to his mistress?
Obama made him CIA director.
idiotic/incompetent
Nah, that's reserved for #45, whatshisname
alternative acceptable pronouns are jackass/moron
Again, whatshisname
So did the Afghan military even try to fight the Taliban’s latest offensive to steal their government? No. The answer is no, regardless of their excuses.
Link please.
They folded like a cheap suit. How ironic that the same people here who routinely insinuate that those on public assistance are welfare queens with no work ethic, are defending the total abandonment of the Afghan military the moment the US pulls them away from our tit after 20 years of coddling.
So you don't have a link. They were never much of an army, certainly not the way Biden described them. Many knew they were not up to the task:
"John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction and a lifelong Democrat, explicitly warned that Afghans couldn’t even handle their own re-fueling operations, their soldiers were prone to defections and allegiances to tribes over command structure, and their fighter jets were far less ready than the American military commanders had portrayed.
“Five of the seven airframes experienced decreases in readiness in the last month of the quarter [June],” Sopko wrote in one warning report days after Biden and Milley made their assurances. “This coincided with the Taliban offensive and the withdrawal of U.S. and Coalition forces, including aircraft-maintenance contractors. The combined effect of the two appeared to reduce aircraft readiness rates.”
Biden should have known all that. Did he listen to the military? Or did he dismiss them?
Either way, Biden does get the blame.
I guess you’re in favor of furthering US debt to continue arming and training a religiously based foreign military that is prone to defect from their own cause, and that after 20 years has not amassed the skills to manage the insanely expensive equipment we have provided them to advance their own independence. I feel sorry for the citizens of that country, but tough love has been in order for far too long.
I'm only for an orderly withdrawl. Something Joe Biden was incapable of.
How disingenuous. There could be no withdrawal orderly enough for [RWdeleted] to not use it as a partisan cudgel. Even if there were, your camp would never in a million years be in favor of accepting into our country those Afghans who did help further our interests. Now you will giddily use their impending extermination as another partisan cudgel.
An orderly withdrawl would have been welcome. This wouldn't have been the story it became. As for our Afghan allies, I stand with the widow of Chris Kyle - We need to get them out of there. And of course, that all should have gone into the withdrawl plans.
Would you welcome an Afghan refugee living next door to you?
Yes, would you?
Is this the way you intend to defend Joe Biden's incompetence?
With a thinly veiled smear?
They will attack Biden 24/7 zealously and for some fanatically as revenge for people telling the truth about Donald Trump.
I have no preference for ethnicity of neighbors.
But you suggested that I did.
I'm still asking: For what reason?
They will not accept that the withdrawl was a disaster.
a asked a question vic. you are the one who is anti-immigrant. but there are exceptions of course. such as people who are in fear for their lives in their home countries.
Save that for your defenders.
you are the one who is anti-immigrant.
I'm in favor of legal immigration. And I still don't know what that has to do with Biden's withdrawl from Afghanistan?
Funny that your equate Telling the truth about Biden’s as “attacking him”
reality hasn’t been very kind to the biden presidency has it?
What does the right know about reality?
What will the Biden voters say when they see the pictures of Americans abandoned in Afghanistan being killed by the Taliban?
There are thousands of Americans begging for help to escape. What does the Biden administration do? Text them to shelter in place.
I can't imagine trying to do that right now. What a nightmare. Of course, with the Taliban now controlling all access to the airport, they are trapped.
So what did he want, Biden to go over there and personally give the Afghan army pep talks ?
I think he wanted Biden to perform an orderly withdrawl.
The Obama like false choice between leaving thousands of Americans and allies behind in a chaotic, disastrous withdrawal and an eternal war seems to be the extent of a number of people on the left's understanding of the situation.
No. To not pull the rug out from under them by abandoning Bagram air base and all the equipment there in the middle of the night.
Who cares what retired General Betrayus has to say?
In the end, the Afghan army ran away like cowards!
But the military knew they were weak.
Joe Biden disagreed:
"The likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely," Biden said during a news conference on July 8, underscoring that the Afghan armed forces were "as well-equipped as any army in the world."
"I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and ... more competent in terms of conducting war, " the president said at the time, responding to questions about whether withdrawing the roughly 2,500 remaining US troops would precipitate a civil war or a Taliban victory.
Two hundred fifty years ago we Americans whooped the British Empire in a gorilla war...
Since Alexander Afghanistan is ungovernable!
I just wanted an orderly withdrawl
Do you think that the Taliban follows International Law when it comes to their military?
The Taliban will not only kill the Afghan soldier but his entire family. Brutally rape any women in the family and torturing the children.
You can call them cowards for wanting to save the lives of their families but what would you do?
Some of the idiotic sh*t people spit out of their mouths is unbelievable.
Yes they most certainly did.
Biden pulled the rug out from under the fighters.
Yes one did, but one moved inland to join the resistance.
The military collapsed because of YOU Biden. WE as in America and our allies trained them to fight and they did very well when they had the SUPPORT we trained them to depend on. They fought and had many successes over the years, and they also lost tens of thousands of their fighting brothers. When they encountered situations that overwhelmed them on the ground, they did as AMERICAN fighting forces have been trained to do and we in turn trained them..... Call in air support.
Biden, YOU cut them off at the knees when YOU shut Kandahar air base and ran in the middle of the night. YOU are entirely responsible for the collapse of the Afghan military. YOU pulled the support WE trained them to depend on. It's that simple. YOU Joseph Biden are entirely responsible for what we see unfolding.
You Joseph Biden furthered the American embarrassment on the world stage by cutting and running while AMERICAN citizens are still BEGGING for help in enemy held territory. What is the US State Department and by extension YOUR response to those Americans begging for help? Sent out text messages to SHELTER IN PLACE and then to TRY TO MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE AIRPORT for evacuation.
If anything, the developments of the last several days reinforce the fact that YOU and your entire administration are complete fools and idiots.
I never thought I would agree with President Obama, but now I find I must. Obama - "Don't underestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up." President Obama, I totally and fully agree. Well said.
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