Milley moves up terror threat after Taliban gains in Afghanistan
By: Mark Moore (New York Post)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told senators on Sunday that he will move up the assessment of how soon terror groups like al-Qaeda could reform in Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban's swift takeover of the war-torn nation, according to a report.
During a briefing for a bipartisan group of lawmakers, Gen. Mark Milley was asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) if he and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would revise an assessment to Congress in June that there is a "medium" risk of terrorist organizations reconstituting in Afghanistan in less than two years.
"Yes," Milley replied, adding that he would be happy to brief the senators further in a classified setting, Axios reported, citing three sources on the phone call.
The US and its allies launched the war in Afghanistan in October 2001 because the Taliban provided al-Qaeda support and safe harbor while the terror group planned the 9/11 attacks.
The briefing by Milley, Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken came amid rapid developments in Afghanistan.
The US military used helicopters to ferry diplomats and staffers from the US Embassy in Kabul after the Taliban entered the capital city on Sunday, catching the Biden administration flat-footed with their dizzying advance.
Shortly after the insurgent group entered the city, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
As the trio of administration officials briefed them, many of the senators were getting real-time updates of the deteriorating situation on their cell phones, the report said.
In a briefing for House members, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy compared the US's evacuation of the embassy in Kabul to Saigon in 1975 and blasted Ghani for running.
Taliban fighters pose for a photograph while raising their at the Ghazni provincial governor's house.AP
"I have passion and I have anger. I want to know where President Ghani is," McCarthy said on the call, according to Politico.
At the briefings, lawmakers pressed the administration on efforts to evacuate the thousands of Afghans who worked with the US military during the 20-year war to protect them from reprisals by the Taliban.
Politico reported that one source said it's unlikely that the more than 20,000 Afghans who want to flee can do so by the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline because the Taliban controls so much territory.
The person pointed out that many of them aren't in Kabul, adding that "if you're not in Kabul now, how do you get to Kabul?"
"Two takeaways for me," the source said. "We're going to leave tens of thousands of people behind … and the timeline in terms of threats has accelerated."
Blinken noted that the administration's hands were tied to pull out troops because of the May 1 timetable the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban — a deadline President Biden extended to Aug. 31.
Austin said the Pentagon has expected a "number of potential outcomes," but the "lack of resistance that the Taliban faced from Afghan forces has been extremely disconcerting," Politico reported.
"They had all the advantages, they had 20 years of training by our coalition forces, a modern air force, good equipment and weapons," Austin said on the call.
"But you can't buy will and you can't purchase leadership. And that's really what was missing in this situation."
Biden, speaking to reporters in July at the White House to announce the Aug. 31 deadline, dismissed the idea that it is "inevitable" that the Taliban would overrun the country once US forces depart.
Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Kandahar, southwest Afghanistan.AP
"Because you — the Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped — as well-equipped as any army in the world — and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban. It is not inevitable," he said.
Reporters also grilled the president on the intelligence community's assessment that the Afghan government would collapse without the support of the US military.
"That is not true. They did not reach that conclusion, Biden said.
"The Afghan government and leadership has to come together. They clearly have the capacity to sustain the government in place. The question is: Will they generate the kind of cohesion to do it? It's not a question of whether they have the capacity. They have the capacity. They have the forces. They have the equipment. The question is: Will they do it?" he continued.
The president said the US would continue to back the government during the drawdown, "but there's not a conclusion that, in fact, they cannot defeat the Taliban."
At the time, he also rejected any comparisons between the Afghanistan withdrawal and the US pullout of Vietnam.
"The Taliban is not the North Vietnamese army. They're not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy. It is not at all comparable," he said.
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Jen Psaki “on vacation” ?
No one has heard from Lunch Box Joe?
No one has heard from VP?
Any voter's remorse yet?
Yes but they will NEVER admit it openly.
Several days and counting. The Biden Administration owns this debacle (among its many others) lock, stock, and barrel. This is Biden's Vietnam on steroids ... a slap in the face to all who served.
Per reports, President Joe (is it Bejing, Moscow, Tehran or 'fill-in-the-blank") Biden will be making a statement about the current situation at 3:45pm ET. Of course, what situation is unknown. It might be the Afghanistan debacle, or the humanitarian disaster gripping Haiti yet one more time.
I'll note that he will likely speak for a couple of minutes trying desperately to read the megatron display in front of him and then do one of two things. Simply turn and walk away as is common, or call on one or two prepositioned "reporters" with previously scripted questions which he will respond to with the previously scripted responses.
And Harris is still no-where to be found. Will she stand behind him again to show her support?
I didn't feel a slap
I'm thankful that you didn't. But, this man apparently did ...
The U.S. Embassy American flag being removed from Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021.
seriously...what the fuck would you know about it?
Sadly, quite a lot more than many others do. This should explain ...
Were you ever in combat?
Her stupid photo proves that people died in war. But it doesn't prove that she knows anything.
I heard on the radio on the way into work that they are expecting to hold the US Embassy and one airport tower for 14 more days? I don't envy the job of the 3,000 marines that will have to hold the line against a growing Taliban and Al Qaeda force. The longer they are there the more of a direct threat they come under. Biden had better be listening to the people on the ground to get what resources they need so they can get as many people out as we can; while keeping the marines safe.
Some tidbits from this absolute cluster fuck of a withdrawal.
How cute. They think Ghani would have any control over the situation. Ghani fled so the Taliban wouldn't kill him. Pure and simple. Anyone with the means and the brains to do so has already fled. I heard that Karzai is still there with his 3 daughters to try and negotiate with the Taliban. What the hell is he going to negotiate? The Taliban won; and their law will be put back in place as fast as they can get the numbers there they need to enforce it. To negotiate you have to have something to offer; and Karzai doesn't have anything! I hope Karzai gets a brain and gets his daughters out at least, if there is still time.
Dumbass. If the US couldn't meet the May 1st deadline- that we have know about since Feb 2020; then Biden and he should have damn well been in negotiations with the Taliban to get an extension. They also should have been reacting to Taliban repeated violations of the treaty that was signed since he took office. How does this idiot still have a job?
Sorry, anyone that elected Biden is responsible for this hot mess. His disconnect from reality is so damn complete he needs to be checked to see if he is still mentally fit to be in office! Where the hell did he get only 75,000 Taliban from? Maybe that is their organized fighting force; but that doesn't take into account spies, sleepers, and their terrorists that operate behind the scenes. 75,000 Taliban couldn't hope to take and hold the country; but they control all major cities and Kabul- with little to no resistance. So who the hell is giving Biden his numbers, or is he making things up in his head again? As for this not being another "Fall of Saigon"; no this is far fucking worse! We were literally chased down the runway leaving Vietnam; here we are still trying to evacuate our people behind enemy lines! Biden expects to do so for 14 more days!!! Hopefully the Taliban will not attack before we are fully out; but they have nothing to lose, and are already emboldened by our shown weakness. We and NATO are already gone, and they know it!
How is that possible? The ambassador, Ross Wilson, abandoned the embassy yesterday (8/15) and they took down the US flag. From what I understand, the airport is completely closed.
They wisely didn't want another Benghazi on their hands .... i mean, at this point .... it does matter ......
If the Afghans can't manage their own country on their own by now, after all the help that has been bestowed on them by other countries, i guess they never will be able to.
Like it or not that is the hard truth here. With that in mind there will never be a "good" time to extricate ourselves from that country.
It is similar to Vietnam in that we never should have been there in the first place if we didn't have the stomach to prosecute the war as needed to achieve the goal of defeating the Taliban. And make no mistake. If we had, we'd have succeeded in both of those wars. No doubt about it.
There is no concept of 'country' in Afghanistan. Even today, the people speak of their town or village. It was and has been a War Lord controlled feudal land mass for centuries and no country or army has ever conquered it.
In reality, had we simply stayed in place as we had with a small contingent of warriors and supplied the much needed air power and peripheral support, it would have been a controlled chaos type of situation. It was, to be candid, extremely important to America and her national security interests. It was in the middle of enemy territory and gave us a window to China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan that we have lost.
I disagree. We had a reason to go there. To break things and kill people. That's the function of the military, not nation building. We never intended to defeat the Taliban... they are the people, albeit the bad ones, but they are the rulers. We intended to go through them and get Al Qaida who they were protecting. Where we made a massive mistake was to not engage the Taliban once we routed Al Qaida. Had we negotiated a return to quasi power for the Taliban and created long term operational bases to operate from to watch our nation capable enemies, we would have been much in the long run.
I disagree, we had the Taliban (who refused to deal with Al-Qaeda) crushed early on. We allowed them refuge in Pakistan, who refused to deal with the Taliban. Just like Vietnam, we didn't have the stomach to follow them into other countries harboring our enemy to destroy them, so we shouldn't have been there in the first place. Vietnam 101 .... never start a war you aren't prepared to prosecute to the fullest extent.
Full stop!
Yes they were crushed quickly. But don't believe they refused to deal with Al Qaida. As to Pakistan. That shit hole of a country is a frenemy. They'll give you a hug when you arrive while stabbing you in the back.
You also need to remember that while no where near our capability, they are in fact a nuclear power and with the insanity in that shithole, there is a great fear that they would possibly uncork that monster. So our decision to not follow was tempered with sanity. However, we eventually did go into Pakistan, entirely in the dark of their entire military/intelligence operations. They were harboring Bin Laden.
On that I agree. Go in break thing and kill people and get the fuck out. BUT... that last decision sometimes needs to be tempered with ones own needs for current and future endeavors.
As I said, we're now in a position of not having that keyhole right in the middle of our national enemies, and other than satellite, limited options to take a peek at the goings on in those places. There were other ways to handle the situation in Afghanistan, even if total withdrawal was the ultimate result. Biden and company simply fucked up like never before.
Our enemies do not fear Biden
Yep, not good ..... considering who some of our enemies are
No one fears Biden. He and his family owe too much to all others.
The plain simple fact is that our enemies are laughing their asses off at Biden and the US right now. Biden has made us a joke that cannot be trusted by the rest of the world.
Yep
Very much yes!
We could do this all day...
Look at it like an accuracy detector in that if certain people disagree with you, it's empirical evidence that you are spot on.
Which once again you are .... spot on.
Didn't Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chief Mark Milley, and the military brass advise Joe Biden that Afghans trained for more than a decade by the US Marine Corps would fold like a bed sheet? Didn't Secretary Antony Blinken and the diplomatic corps advise Joe Biden that Pres. Ashraf Ghani kept a private jet for a quick get away?
The problem here is not the withdrawal. The real problem is the military and diplomatic advice provided several Presidents over the last 20 years. The real problem is that the technocrats have been incompetent. And 20 years is a career of incompetence.