Military Leaders to Face Questions Over Afghan Withdrawal, Evacuation
Category: News & Politics
Via: vic-eldred • 3 years ago • 92 commentsBy: By Nancy A. Youssef and Gordon Lubold
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Pentagon’s leaders and the Marine Corps general who led the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will testify Tuesday on Capitol Hill in what could be a contentious session over the final days of America’s longest war as well as how a top official has handled talks with Chinese and Russian counterparts.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, who leads U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee. It will be the first time they have testified since the Taliban took control of Kabul on Aug. 15 and the U.S. withdrew from the country two weeks later.
The three officials also will testify Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee.
The withdrawal from Afghanistan, accompanied by an emergency evacuation of Americans, foreigners and Afghan allies, is likely to dominate the hearings. The final days of the war touched nearly every U.S. congressional office as Americans and Afghans alike sought help for Afghans seeking to escape as the Taliban solidified its control of the country.
“We know—and every congressional office who tried to get people out of Afghanistan knows—that there are many U.S. citizens who wanted to leave Afghanistan but couldn’t leave because the Taliban would not let their families go with them,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, the committee’s ranking member, said last week.
They likely will face questions on the preparations for drawing forces out of Afghanistan, including closing Bagram Air Base. Lawmakers also have demanded to know why more wasn’t done to shrink the number of American personnel at the U.S. Embassy and why the military didn’t escalate the evacuation of the tens of thousands of Afghans and Americans at risk before Kabul fell.
The U.S. military has said it would ensure terror threats to the U.S. would not emerge from Afghanistan through what it calls “over the horizon” capabilities, a largely air-dependent defense. But both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have raised questions about the approach, particularly given the difficulties faced by U.S. forces in their closing days in Afghanistan.
On Aug. 26, 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans were killed in a suicide-bomber attack outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, marking the deadliest day for U.S. forces in Afghanistan in a decade. An additional 30 troops and hundreds more Afghans were injured
Three days later, the U.S. launched a drone attack on what it said was a suspected car bomber headed to the airport. Last month, the U.S. admitted it had instead mistakenly killed an aide worker and at least nine other civilians, including seven children. U.S. Central Command hasn’t said whether it would release a declassified version of the internal report that led to its reversal and apology over the mistaken target.
Lawmakers also are expected to question Gen. Milley about revelations in a new book concerning details of two calls to his Chinese counterpart in the last days of the Trump administration. Beijing had grown concerned that then-President Donald Trump was considering attacking China as tensions between the two nations rose in the South China Sea, leading to Gen. Milley’s decision to hold the calls.
Gen. Milley has said he would mount a vigorous defense during Tuesday’s testimony.
Since the U.S. left Afghanistan, military leaders also have faced questions over conversations with Russian officials. Last week, Gen. Milley held a six-hour meeting with Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, in Helsinki and said that dialogue between the two adversaries could help de-escalate a future crisis.
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Today we have them on the hot seat!
But will they actually answer questions or just trade pre-written speeches and tap dance performances?
Excellent
I'm assuming that Milley will be under seige on two counts: the disgraceful Afghanistan withdrawl and his alleged treason via the Woodward book.
Fox News is carrying it live and direct from the Capitol!
Milley did not commit treason.
Whatshisname did.
How so?
Offering to warn an enemy of an incoming attack is not treason?
Since when?
Milley did not commit treason.
Whatshisname did.
Offering to warn an enemy of an incoming attack is not treason?
Repeating the same BS statement repeatedly does not make it any truer than the first time.
It's what one famous lawyer called a smoke screen!
The entire premise of this seed is gaslighting.
If Milley had committed treason he would be in trouble. He's not. Is he going to have a lawyer at his side during this testimony? lol.
Frankly, the voices that promote this gaslighting , on NT and beyond, are the same voices that tell us they would vote for Trump again even though he has lied about the last election every day for going on a year now. It is mind boggling.
They are lucky our country is largely apathetic.
Just like those who rioted in American cities last year would be in trouble?
ALL OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF WERE APPOINTED BY TRUMP.
ALL OF THEM SUPPORT GENERAL MILLEY'S PHONE CALLS TO CHINA !
For God's sake just stop.
Trump is either nuts or extremely evil. Milley did 100% the right thing.
He did, huh?
MIlley is already running rings around his critics.
Lol, he hasn't heard from them yet!
They'll have 5 minutes each. Let's see him wiggle through it
If you mean apathetic to the last 5 and half years and counting of Democrat and left wing BS; you are correct. Only a truly apathetic country would ever tolerate a party spying on a political opponent using US intelligence agencies. Countless investigations at every level of a sitting US president. Two impeachments based on bad feelings (rampant TDS) and no evidence. A two tier justice system that seeks to punish alt right rioters from Jan 6th; while turning into a revolving door for left wing rioters from Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and elsewhere guilty of the exact same crimes of assaulting federal officers; destroying federal property; and trespassing on federal property.
"But Trruuummmmppppp!!!!!" The cry of the truly pathetic and demented.
Trump doesn't excuse what Milley did in regards to China; and usurping Trump's power as CiC. It doesn't excuse Biden's fucked up withdrawal from Afghanistan; or the fact that he abandoned US citizens who are still trapped there!
It is time for the Biden administration to answer for just 1 of it's failures; and for Milley to come clean. Is he a traitor deserving of punishment; or a grandstanding egomaniacal liar? Either way he and Austin should be removed sheer incompetence over Afghanistan. More heads should roll; but they will have to wait a while. Chances are nothing will be done until after mid terms. Once Republican assume power, then all a real investigation with real consequences can take place. The Democrats can go pound sand, they will not be needed.
All lies. All.
Your comment is beyond hysterical.
Then lets see your proof.
What is a lie John, point it out and offer proof.
The FBI was used to spy on a political opponent during the Obama administration using the Steele Dossier which was paid for by the Clinton Foundation; and given to the FBI and selected politicians they knew were anti Trump. It was used to get FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign- illegally since the Steele Dossier was completely full of shit.
Or are you arguing that Trump wasn't investigated countless times by the Democrats? Every aspect of his life; and everyone around him was investigated. Or the Democrats impeached Trump twice based on feeling rather than evidence? The first impeachment was based on a whistle blower's account of a meeting he wasn't even at! He pieced together what happened by interviewing some people that were in attendance. Ever heard the old saying tell 10 people the same story and you will get 10 completely different versions of it. It was so full of shit they had to have their questioning behind closed doors and barred Republicans from asking questions or in some cases attending. The second impeachment after the Jan 6th riot was based on their for shit idea that Trump planned it; or was aware of the plans for it. The FBI, no fan of Trump's, exonerated him on that. It was several loosely connected far right groups that did the planning; and it was well thought out, organized, or executed- which is obvious to anyone that doesn't have TDS.
Tell us John did bobble head boy Schiff ever release all of the evidence he had against Trump that would have gotten him impeached and imprisoned?
Or are you denying that left wing rioters aren't being released after committing the exact same crimes as the Jan 6th rioters. I have supplied the proof repeatedly; but some refuse to believe- even when it is from left sources.
So common John where is your damn proof?
Every word of this is nonsense. The "whistleblower" report was based entirely on Vindman's written recollection of the phone call between Trump and Zelensky. A transcript of the phone call was then obtained. They have a transcript of the phone call ! which led to an investigation and further evidence being developed. Trump tried to blackmail Ukraine ! He should have been thrown out on his ass. Many Republicans agreed he was guilty but claimed it didnt rise to the level of impeachment, which was bullshit.
Gen. Milley faces his toughest day yet on Capitol Hill http:// hill.cm/aFMicmz
Grab a seat, General.
AND HERE WE GO!
Lloyd Austin just said: "We wanted to be ready and we were"
Imagine if they weren't "ready?"
125,000 people were evacuated, with 13 fatal causalities among US military.
While tragic, it was by no means a calamity. Austin just defended the withdrawal, as I'm sure Milley will also. The Republican bullshit attacks on the generals will fall short.
No I think they'll hit the Bullseye. You see John, you don't take the military out before you take out the civilians out. You don't make the US Embassy the last place evacuated - you make Bagram AFB the last to be evacuated. A buck private would know that. You know why it went the way it did? A stuburn Biden and his leftist handlers made it that way.
PS: The Generals already pulled a little stunt: they delivered answers to congressional questions late last night, so nobody could really address them.
Based on your countless years of service?
Those people were warned for 4 months or more and no more believed that the Afghan Security Forces would dissolve
than the moon is made of cheese.
Beat that horse like a drum. The minimum force to operate just one runway is 5,000. Bare bones minimum.
Routinely under rocket attack, 30 miles of open hostile highway from the Embassy and three suicide bombers at the main gate in the last several years.
Not really.
Nothing but opinion of the stubborn opposition.
Well, not actually accurate .. as of January 2021 there were only 2500 soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan - Bagram AFB was in operation up until the president gave the order to close it...
Biden wanted out .. period, full stop! His hands were not tied by the Trump agreement .. the Taliban had broken every aspect of the 'peace agreement' that the Trump administration had made with said Taliban..
I get it that individuals do not want to accept that Biden fuck'd up in a major way ..
Here is a timeline of events starting in February 2020 - it is worth reading .. but I will post snippets
Timeline of U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan - FactCheck.org
Peace
Bagram was "open" but all of the A10s F-15s F16s and C130s had been flown out of country and all of the 18,000 contractors had been sent packing. All of the C-17s and their crews and contractors were removing material from the base until they were ordered to Kabul in July. Technically they were no longer connected to Afghanistan, like all of the Airlift crews assembled from AF reserve officers flying the C-17s sent to assist the airlift.
Decisions were made about which helos would be signed over to the ASC
and which were flown to Pakistan.
Trump ordered the 2,500 removed by 01/15/2021 but it wasn't possible on such short notice. Mostly because there were way more there than 2,500.
Can't image the chaos if that had happened.
I get it that civilians don't understand what happened in Vietnam, and Dunkirk was largely avoided in Kabul.
Shit happens every day in the military that no one ever hears about.
And records of flight operations from Bagram disappeared with the aircraft...
Peace.
Are you saying that as of January 15, 2021 all of this equipment was gone from Bagram?
Do you have dates? I contacted and asked a friend this morning [he was at Bagram] he stated that May 2021 is when the removal of the remaining troops ramped up [those soldiers left through Bagram] .. he also stated that in mid June he took part in the loading of helicopters for transport off the base. In July 2021 Bagram was abandoned .. 600+ soldiers remained in Kabul to protect the embassy .... I learned a long time ago not to ask for specific details.
Okay...? As a civilian I may not know about all the lil details, and I acknowledge that I have more to learn .. but understand? I understand what happened in Vietnam, I understand what happened in Afghanistan .. but I do not have to agree with the actions taken by the government or president of the United States of America .. it was a mistake to not have left Afghanistan when bin Laden was no longer in country, but we stayed and created a safe place for the Afghani people to live and prosper for nearly 20 years... 'our' exit was a disaster, some say a disgrace. I will not be surprised if the US credibility is in the toilet for years to come
Really? unlike Dunkirk, our allies were not cut off .. in Afghanistan the US left allied Afghans to their own devices, of course they would surrender to or flee from the Taliban.. the powers that be knew that Afghanistan [a tribal country] would fall back into the hands of Taliban without US moral support on the ground .. thus generals wanted a force of 2500 to remain in country.
Do you have a link? I could not find one ... I have read the Agreement of Bringing Peace to Afghanistan ... troops would be reduced from 13000 troops to 8600 by July of 2020 .. full withdrawal by May 1 .. when Biden took office there were 2500 troops in Afghanistan .. throughout my reading some say there was 500 to a 1000 more soldiers on the ground, not something that is really confirmable
Split Personality I am not going to argue about this, we see things differently, nor am I accessing blame .. many mistakes were made over the past 20 years. ... yet Biden owns the debacle that was the exit from Afghanistan, he wanted out! Ending the war in Afghanistan was good thing, the way the US did it is the bad thing!
Peace ...
Tragic? It's a fucking national embarrassment. No calamity? The whole withdrawal was a calamity. They abandoned US citizens, left millions in equipment, 13 dead US Service members and hundreds of Afghan citizens injured. Launched a Predator strike on a target with NO POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION, no clearance of fires protocols followed, just shoot? And killing civilians? That right there is a Court-martial level fuck up.
Who the hell cares how many people were evacuated? Do they know who they all are John? Or did they just load every last damn person that made it into the airport onto a plane and evacuate them? That seems to be the case since some of those evacuated were on the terror watch list! Just think about those that they have no record of; how many could be Al Qaeda, ISIS/ISIL, or ISIS-K and we just gave them a free trip out of Afghanistan and are scattering them throughout the world.
Forgetting about all of the US citizens abandoned; and all of our Afghan allies that were left behind to face the not so tender mercies of the Taliban and even more extreme factions? Seems you are always forgetting about them; along with every other person on the left.
What about all of the military technology and hardware left behind. All of which now belongs to the Taliban; and will be reversed engineered by Russia and China? How about the data bases they forgot to destroy that show every last Afghan that aided the US?
There is no turning this into a win for Biden. But glad to see that you condone the needless waste of 13 US servicemen/women lives in Lyin Sleepy China Joe Biden's massive fuckup.
Right now Milley is disputing Woodward!
How many Americans are still there?
Nobody wants to answer
I certainly would like to know that answer.
I honestly believe they have no idea how many are still there hiding from the taliban.
So would Mr Wicker and he doesn't want to wait for the State Department
I honestly believe they have no idea how many are still there hiding from the taliban.
I wouldn't be surprised
Go Deb!
So General Milley, did everything you feared happen?
Answer: Yep
Our voices were heard but not followed.
Many of these senators appear to have bad complexions. They need to stay away from closeups !
It must be a really stressful job that causes their skin to falter.
The Speaker of the House, in particular, is showing signs of stress
And now you Lloyd: What about requesting Russian assisstance?
Lloyd is having trouble answering....Go ask Milley
Whatch out...Here comes Cotton
Did Biden say it or not?
Did Biden get the recommendations?
Milley is trying to eat up time
What about the female soldier who was assaulted by refugee Afghans on a US military base?
One final question:
Why haven't you resigned, General Milley?
Here comes crazy Hirono.....
How come nobody believed the Afghan army could collapse? Why wasn't action taken when things began to get so bad?
Milley says we tried to encourage them!!!!!!
(As we waved goodbye)
The Republican senators are hammering on the idea that the generals recommended keeping 2500, or more troops in Afghanistan.
How many was Trump planning to leave had he won re-election ? That figure is zero, isnt it?
Um, WTF difference would it make, seeing as how Trump wasn't responsible for Biden's fuck up?
Biden owns the mess, and spinning it at Trump won't fly with people grounded in reality.
I think the question was did Biden hear General Miller's evaluation?
Absolutely correct. Bottom line: Trump wasn't in charge for the withdrawl and clearly Trump is not a weakling like Biden.
Because the Republican senators are trying to criticize Biden for something that we all know Trump would have done as well (remove ALL the troops).
Happy to have cleared your confusion up for you.
Not fucking first FFS.
Please stop fantasizing about your ability to 'clear up" anything.
You can never explain how Trump made Biden do such a piss-poor job at withdrawing.
Biden owns the fuck up that was the Afghanistan withdrawal, which quickly became an evacuation.
Looks like the majority of Americans know that already, according to polls, and the ones that don't see that don't matter.
He wouldn't have removed troops before civilians.
He wouldn't have left $85 Billion in military equipment behind
He wouldn't have left Bagram AFB in tact
He wouldn't have left people behind,
JOE BIDEN DID THAT
progressives should probably make up their minds.
Is Biden responsible for anything at all, or is EVERYTHING Trump's fault?
If it is all Trump's fault, what the fuck has Biden actually done then??????
There is no way Trump would have acted like a Taliban loving progressive
Marine officer who blasted leaders over Afghanistan withdrawal now in the brig
As a former Marine all I can say is that this fu^%er SHOULD be in the brig. I hope he gets screwed by the JAG. He deserves a Dishonorable Discharge. You don't make public statements like that against your chain of command and especially against the CinC. Dumbass should have waited 'til he was out of the service.
Even a boot private knows that. This prick should in no way be in command of training Marine infantry, he's a traitor to the Corps and his Oath.
That goes double for flag officers. They shouldn't be talking to writers doing political books.
The only thing he did wrong was speak out on video in uniform. If he were in civilian clothes, nothing would have been done. Pretty much the same thing with a military person at a political rally in uniform. Not allowed.
Ms Joni Ernst: Joe Biden put a cheap political objective on his calender, set for the 20th aniversary of 9/11.
Is Joni Ernst wearing a wig? She looks like she has aged tremendously recently. She's only 50 years old for petes sake and her hair is gone grey? Maybe the stress of being a good wacko GOP soldier has caught up with her.
Maybe she should get all the plastic surgery that das leader Pelosi has had done over the years.
yeah, that shit is SO FUCKING RELEVANT to the discussion.
Grow up, it isn't about appearances.
I suppose there is no other way to defend a cognitive mess, who never should have been elected and a treasonous General.
To my recollection she has always had a gray hue to her hair. BFD I'll take her over any liberal any day.
The gray hue appeared after a long night of sex. I did manage to uncross her eyes!/s
[deleted]
Isn't it just pitiful that the very best argument to be made was about her physical appearance?
How enlightened!
How tolerant!
How inclusive!
How misogynist!
Pelosi is 80 years old and basically looks great for her age.
You are just clueless. Oh well.
We can disagree on that, but what does it have to do with Biden or Milley?
Hey, I get that hearing the truth must be painful for you.
Novel experience, eh?
What I recognize is that you are simply incapable of producing anything even close to sarcasm.
Not unless someone spoon-feeds it to you and you manage to copy and paste it.
Thom Tillis is going right after Biden and all the murder now taking place in Afghanistan.
Crazy Liz Warren is now going to tell us the history of the Afghan war.
Now she's asking Biden's Secretary of Defense what he thinks of Biden.
Sen Sullivan just did what democrats used to do to Trump officials:
He asked them all to defend an obvious Biden lie..
Well done sir!
The president is the commander in chief. He's free to reject the recommendation of any military advisor and suffer the consequences. But lying about it to avoid responsibility is an abuse
Steady Joe Manchin:
What have we learned from all of this?
And now the man who was maxed out of terms as Governor of Florida:
It was your plan to do all these things before we take all our civilians out?
Secretary of Defense: The plan was to leave the Embassy there and American citizens with it.
Wow!
Imagine leaving the Embassy there after we left, for ongoing diplomacy!
What an insane progressive kind of idea!
Gen. McKenzie: "I recommended we keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan." Gen. Milley later said same thing.
Defense Secretary Austin later told Sen. Cotton this "input was received by the president.
" President Biden told ABC last month: “No one said that to me that I can recall.”
Now, really, that part IS believable. Joe probably DOESN'T remember that far back.
The eternal question with Biden, is he lying or so mentally addled that he doesn’t remember the discussions leading up to one of the most important decisions of his presidency?
I'm going to go with he was just determined to end America's presence there. He had been around for the entire 20 years we were there and he didn't want to listen to the military any longer. He had planned to use the anniversary for his own benefit, but he botched it so badly that it all backfired.
And we have this................
Must have learned red line drawing from Mr. Obama..............
Yep, the same red ones Obama routinely drew with water colors in a surf line!
I dont know who it was because i'm listening to it , not watching it, but someone on MSNBC just said that the withdrawal was negotiated by Trump and Pompeo last year, and if the US did not leave by the agreed date the Taliban told the US that they would reignite attacks on US personnel.
Trump is the one who negotiated this shit and part of the negotiation is we would leave in entirety or the enemy would launch offensive attacks on our troops. Biden got it delayed until Aug 31.
Pompeo negotiated the surrender of the United States to the Taliban, and negotiated with terrorists.
Spin it!!! Of course if it was MSNBC SMH
See how I did that shoot the messenger thing? I learned from one of the masters right here at NT
Trump wanted to leave Afghanistan as badly or more so than Biden did. He negotiated with terrorists. The US could have stayed and had the Taliban attack our troops, or they could have left with a pledge from the Taliban to not attack us as we left. The bomb at the airport was not done by the Taliban, it was done by ISIS.
No one likes it, but to put all the blame on Biden is just silly.
You are just too funny sometimes... So let me get this straight, Trump and Pompeo are responsible for President Biden's fucked up withdrawal and surrender to the Taliban? The same President Biden who came in with a pen and a plan to undo as much "Trump" as he could in his first week in office? The same one that couldn't be bothered by the advice supposedly given to him before the debacle?
Biden could have done any number of things besides fuck it all up.
he could have delayed longer and everyone knows Joe was anxious as hell to undo any Trump policies, like he did regarding the border and immigrants.
When will Biden ever become responsible for anything during his term?
And exactly how did Biden accomplish that?
I'm sure that either Trump or Pompeo or somebody from the previous administration authorized it...