Brass At The Pentagon Reveal President Biden Ignored Troop Recommendations Concerning Afghanistan
Michael Cantrell
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New reports reveal that President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops stationed in Afghanistan went against the personal judgment of two of his highest-ranking military officials.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is not a good look for Biden. Then again, nothing since the very start of his administration has looked good, which is why his approval rating is in the toilet.
Here’s more from The Washington Examiner:
Both Gen. Mark Milley , chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, said on Tuesday during testimony on Capitol Hill that they believed roughly 2,000 troops should have remained in Afghanistan.
McKenzie, during testimony in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, explained that he “recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan” because he believed that pulling the troops would “inevitably” lead “to the collapse” of the Afghan military and government.
Milley indicated his agreement, though neither leader was willing to answer specific questions about their recommendations to the president and only spoke to their opinions.
“The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff acknowledged that ‘my assessment was, back in the fall of [2020], and remain consistent throughout, that we should keep a steady state of 2,500 [troops] and it could bounce up to, to 3,500 maybe, something like that, in order to move to a negotiated gated solution,'” the report went on to reveal.
It’s not clear when, exactly, they came to these conclusions and whether it was during a point at which more troops would have to be recommitted.
Milley then went on to note that on Aug. 25, which was six days before the withdrawal deadline, military officials were unanimous about moving forward and leaving Afghanistan due to the fact it would require recommitting to the war.
“Gen. Scott Austin Miller, the former commander of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan , testified in front of the committee approximately two weeks ago in a closed-door hearing. Sen. Jim Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Miller told lawmakers that he was also against a complete withdrawal,” the WE report stated.
The president then decided to have all U.S. troops moved out of Afghanistan by the last day of the month, which was a date he held to despite facing massive pressure to extend the deadline.
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