Gen. Mark A. Milley, the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Conmy Hall, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia, August 31, 2021. (U.S. Army photos by Spc. Laura M. Stephens)
After investing hundreds of millions of dollars into the vast complex of Afghanistan, the United States military, in its hast to end a 20-year presence, abandoned the U.S.’s largest airbase in Central Asia.
After investing massive sums to retrofit the vast complex, the United States military in the middle of the night abandoned Afghanistan and the largest airbase in Central Asia.
Ignoring Advice?
As three senior Pentagon officials testified yesterday before Congress, the extent to which the Biden administration’s withdrawal plans ignored the advice of Biden’s top generals is staggering.
CENTCOM Commander Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie to Congress:
I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, and I also recommended earlier in the fall of 2020 that we maintain 4,500 at that time.
I also have a view that the withdrawal of those forces would lead inevitably to the collapse of the Afghan military forces, and eventually, the Afghan government.
Victor Davis Hanson in American Greatness outlines what was at stake in the remaining hours of America’s chaotic withdrawal:
- Lose of 13 soldiers to a suicide bomber, while guarding our final escape route,
- Retaliate for the killing by accidentally blowing up a civilian relief worker and killing 10 of his family and friends including 7 children
- Wait almost 2 weeks to disclose said disaster
- Abandon a $1 billion embassy, dismiss 8,000 NATO-allied troops in Afghanistan to fend for themselves
- Leave behind for Taliban terrorists some $80 billion worth of weaponry and training investment in their usage
- Fly into the United States some 100,000 unvetted, unvaccinated Afghan refugees in the midst of a pandemic
- Leave behind among the Taliban thousands of Afghans loyal to the U.S. mission—and likely 100-200 Americans.
In an ABC interview, George Stephanopoulos pressed President Biden on what his military advisers told the president Stephanopoulos asked the president if his advisers didn’t tell him: “No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It’s been a stable situation for the last several years. We can do that. We can continue to do that’?”
“No,” answered Biden. “No one said that to me that I can recall.”
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