reporter2
30-09-21, 12:35
Gen. Milley admits America LOST the Afghanistan war and top Republican calls Biden 'delusional' for the withdrawal fiasco during humiliating House hearing
Biden's top brass returned to Congress on Wednesday for second day of grilling
Gen Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: 'The war was a strategic failure'
And he said that the Afghan war had been 'lost' as he described 20 years of missteps in testimony to the House Armed Services Committee
Milley, Gen Frank McKenzie and Lloyd Austin appeared before Congress
Republican Mike Rogers said he wanted answers on their Afghan strategy
'I fear the president may be delusional,' he said about Biden's claim the withdrawal was a success
Biden's handling of the withdrawal is under intense scrutiny following last month's withdrawal
By Rob Crilly
9 September 2021
President Biden's top military adviser offered a devastating verdict on the U.S. war in Afghanistan during congressional testimony on Wednesday, saying for the first time that the 20-year conflict ended in defeat.
Administration officials have repeatedly claimed the conflict achieved its objective of degrading Al Qaeda in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and ensuring Afghanistan could not be used to launch attacks against the U.S.
But Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a different view.
'The war was a strategic failure,' he said during his opening statement to the House Armed Services Committee.
He was later asked whether Biden's decisions were to blame.
Milley answered by describing 20 years of missteps and saying for the first time that the war had been lost.
'There's a whole series of decisions that take place over 20 years,' he said.
'I don't think that when you ever you get some phenomena like a war that is lost - and it has been, in the sense of we accomplished our strategic task of protecting America against Al Qaeda, but certainly the end state is a whole lot different than what we wanted.'
His unvarnished assessment came during a second day of hearings on the administration's handling of the U.S. withdrawal and weeks of scrutiny of Biden's decision-making.
The president has been accused of ignoring advice to leave a small contingent behind to support a fragile government.
The end result is that the Taliban control the country just as they did when the U.S. went to war in 2001.
Milley also said the result would invigorate extremists all around the world.
'I think the Taliban sitting in Kabul significantly emboldens the radical jihadi movement globally,' he said.
'The analogy I've used with many others, is it likely will put a shot of adrenaline into their arm.
'Their grandfathers defeated the Soviet Union in the war in Afghanistan many, many years ago, and they are taking this on their own networks, right now, and declaring it a major victory, so I think it's a big morale boost.'
Earlier, the top Republican on the committee condemned President Biden as 'delusional' on Wednesday for claiming the U.S. exit from Afghanistan was a success.
Rep Mike Rogers said the exit came at the cost of 13 service members' lives and left behind hundreds of American citizens.
'I fear the president may be delusional,' he said.
'This wasn’t an extraordinary success; it was an extraordinary disaster.
'It will go down in history as one of the greatest failures of American leadership.'
Administration officials have repeatedly said the end of the U.S. war and the civilian evacuation, airlifting 124,000 people to safety, were a logistical triumph.
'The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals,' said Biden at the end of August when the last U.S. troops had left.
But the episode has severely tested Biden's claim to be a foreign policy expert.
His approval ratings collapsed amid images of Afghans clinging to U.S. transport planes as they desperately sought to escape their new Taliban rulers.
A suicide blast killed 13 U.S. service personnel and 169 Afghans in the last days of the chaotic evacuation. Days later a drone strike killed 10 civilians despite U.S. claims the missile targeted terrorists in the final stages of launching an attack.
Rogers said he wanted answers from Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Frank McKenzie, head of Central Command, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on their future Afghan strategy to prevent the country becoming another springboard for attacks on the U.S.
'We want to know what capabilities we need, where they’ll be based, and how they’ll be used,' he said.
'In other words, we want to see the plan and we want to see it today.
'Because frankly, after this debacle of a withdrawal, I don’t think anyone can trust what this President says about Afghanistan.'
The hearing came during intense scrutiny of President Biden's handling of the Afghan withdrawal.
Austin defended the decision to leave Afghanistan. He declined to discuss the advice he gave the president but said there was no 'risk-free status quo' option.
'I think that the Taliban had been clear if we stayed there longer, they were going to recommence attacks on our forces,' he said.
'I think while it's conceivable that you could stay there, my view is that you would have had to deploy more forces in order to protect ourselves and accomplish any missions we would have been assigned.'
Later in the hearing, Austin said he could not rule out having to send troops back into Afghanistan.
'I would just say that obviously that's a decision that has to be made by the president,' he said.
'While I won't rule anything out, I would just say it's not preordained that we will go back or have to go back into Afghanistan again.
'But if we do, the military will provide good, credible options to be able to do that and to be effective.'
A day earlier, senators heard from the nation's top generals and defense secretary that Biden had been warned that pulling out all troops would lead to the collapse of the Kabul government.
Their testimony prompted Republicans to accuse Biden of lying during an August interview when he said he had heard no such advice.
Milley declined to describe his advice to the president.
However, he said his personal opinion was that a minimum of 2,500 U.S. troops were needed to prevent a collapse of the Kabul government.
On Tuesday Gen. Frank McKenzie, who as head of Central Command oversaw the final days of the U.S. war, said he shared Milley's view a residual force was needed to prevent a Taliban takeover.
'I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, and I also recommended early in the fall of 2020 that we maintain 4,500 at that time, those were my personal views,' McKenzie said.
'I also had a view that the withdrawal of those forces would lead inevitably to the collapse of the Afghan military forces and eventually the Afghan government.'
Biden's top brass returned to Congress on Wednesday for second day of grilling
Gen Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: 'The war was a strategic failure'
And he said that the Afghan war had been 'lost' as he described 20 years of missteps in testimony to the House Armed Services Committee
Milley, Gen Frank McKenzie and Lloyd Austin appeared before Congress
Republican Mike Rogers said he wanted answers on their Afghan strategy
'I fear the president may be delusional,' he said about Biden's claim the withdrawal was a success
Biden's handling of the withdrawal is under intense scrutiny following last month's withdrawal
By Rob Crilly
9 September 2021
President Biden's top military adviser offered a devastating verdict on the U.S. war in Afghanistan during congressional testimony on Wednesday, saying for the first time that the 20-year conflict ended in defeat.
Administration officials have repeatedly claimed the conflict achieved its objective of degrading Al Qaeda in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and ensuring Afghanistan could not be used to launch attacks against the U.S.
But Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a different view.
'The war was a strategic failure,' he said during his opening statement to the House Armed Services Committee.
He was later asked whether Biden's decisions were to blame.
Milley answered by describing 20 years of missteps and saying for the first time that the war had been lost.
'There's a whole series of decisions that take place over 20 years,' he said.
'I don't think that when you ever you get some phenomena like a war that is lost - and it has been, in the sense of we accomplished our strategic task of protecting America against Al Qaeda, but certainly the end state is a whole lot different than what we wanted.'
His unvarnished assessment came during a second day of hearings on the administration's handling of the U.S. withdrawal and weeks of scrutiny of Biden's decision-making.
The president has been accused of ignoring advice to leave a small contingent behind to support a fragile government.
The end result is that the Taliban control the country just as they did when the U.S. went to war in 2001.
Milley also said the result would invigorate extremists all around the world.
'I think the Taliban sitting in Kabul significantly emboldens the radical jihadi movement globally,' he said.
'The analogy I've used with many others, is it likely will put a shot of adrenaline into their arm.
'Their grandfathers defeated the Soviet Union in the war in Afghanistan many, many years ago, and they are taking this on their own networks, right now, and declaring it a major victory, so I think it's a big morale boost.'
Earlier, the top Republican on the committee condemned President Biden as 'delusional' on Wednesday for claiming the U.S. exit from Afghanistan was a success.
Rep Mike Rogers said the exit came at the cost of 13 service members' lives and left behind hundreds of American citizens.
'I fear the president may be delusional,' he said.
'This wasn’t an extraordinary success; it was an extraordinary disaster.
'It will go down in history as one of the greatest failures of American leadership.'
Administration officials have repeatedly said the end of the U.S. war and the civilian evacuation, airlifting 124,000 people to safety, were a logistical triumph.
'The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery, and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals,' said Biden at the end of August when the last U.S. troops had left.
But the episode has severely tested Biden's claim to be a foreign policy expert.
His approval ratings collapsed amid images of Afghans clinging to U.S. transport planes as they desperately sought to escape their new Taliban rulers.
A suicide blast killed 13 U.S. service personnel and 169 Afghans in the last days of the chaotic evacuation. Days later a drone strike killed 10 civilians despite U.S. claims the missile targeted terrorists in the final stages of launching an attack.
Rogers said he wanted answers from Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Frank McKenzie, head of Central Command, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on their future Afghan strategy to prevent the country becoming another springboard for attacks on the U.S.
'We want to know what capabilities we need, where they’ll be based, and how they’ll be used,' he said.
'In other words, we want to see the plan and we want to see it today.
'Because frankly, after this debacle of a withdrawal, I don’t think anyone can trust what this President says about Afghanistan.'
The hearing came during intense scrutiny of President Biden's handling of the Afghan withdrawal.
Austin defended the decision to leave Afghanistan. He declined to discuss the advice he gave the president but said there was no 'risk-free status quo' option.
'I think that the Taliban had been clear if we stayed there longer, they were going to recommence attacks on our forces,' he said.
'I think while it's conceivable that you could stay there, my view is that you would have had to deploy more forces in order to protect ourselves and accomplish any missions we would have been assigned.'
Later in the hearing, Austin said he could not rule out having to send troops back into Afghanistan.
'I would just say that obviously that's a decision that has to be made by the president,' he said.
'While I won't rule anything out, I would just say it's not preordained that we will go back or have to go back into Afghanistan again.
'But if we do, the military will provide good, credible options to be able to do that and to be effective.'
A day earlier, senators heard from the nation's top generals and defense secretary that Biden had been warned that pulling out all troops would lead to the collapse of the Kabul government.
Their testimony prompted Republicans to accuse Biden of lying during an August interview when he said he had heard no such advice.
Milley declined to describe his advice to the president.
However, he said his personal opinion was that a minimum of 2,500 U.S. troops were needed to prevent a collapse of the Kabul government.
On Tuesday Gen. Frank McKenzie, who as head of Central Command oversaw the final days of the U.S. war, said he shared Milley's view a residual force was needed to prevent a Taliban takeover.
'I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, and I also recommended early in the fall of 2020 that we maintain 4,500 at that time, those were my personal views,' McKenzie said.
'I also had a view that the withdrawal of those forces would lead inevitably to the collapse of the Afghan military forces and eventually the Afghan government.'