Focus on Esper after reports that Pentagon privately voiced concerns about Afghan war

Record ID: 1447617

  • Title: Focus on Esper after reports that Pentagon privately voiced concerns about Afghan war
  • Date: 11th December 2019
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 11, 2019) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) SIDE SHOT OF U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MARK ESPER AND ARMY GENERAL MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF AT HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE HEARING FRONT SHOT OF ESPER AND MILLEY (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPRESENTATIVE RO KHANNA, DEMOCRAT OF CALIFORNIA, SAYING: "The second question I have is regarding the bombshell Washington Post report on the Afghan papers. I imagine you read that. The bottom line is that top military officials and civilian officials have known the Afghan war has been un winnable and have been misleading the American public for 20 years. Your predecessor Secretary Rumsfeld is quoted there as saying 'I have no visibility into who the bad guys are.' Are you embarrassed by Secretary Rumsfeld's comments and the other people quoted. And do you believe that they owe the Americans public an explanation and an apology?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MARK ESPER, SAYING: "Congressman, I haven't read all the stories frankly. And so before I comment on what Secretary Rumsfeld reportedly said or didn't say I would like to read it and understand it and actually talk to him. But I di know this much, the story spanned multiple Administrations multiple uniformed and civilian officials and I think it's good to look back. I think at this point where I am looking is forward. And forward tells me is the path to success is, the win is a political agreement between the parties on the ground. " (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPRESENTATIVE RO KHANNA, DEMOCRAT OF CALIFORNIA, SAYING: "But don't you think we need some sort of accountability so we don't make the mistake again. So would you support this committee holding hearings on the Afghan papers and calling in front of Congress every official who has misled the American public over whether this war was winnable or not, with 2,400 American soldiers dead 775,000 Americans deployed, don't you think people owe this country an explanation?" (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MARK ESPER, saying: "Sure, many of these dead are my friends, maybe some of my former solders. But look, it's the Committees responsibility to determine what it has hearings on. I don't think you want the executive branch making that call." (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPRESENTATIVE RO KHANNA, DEMOCRAT OF CALIFORNIA, SAYING: "Mr. Chairman I would request that this committee hold hearings on the Afghan papers, call before Congress with subpoena every person who has misled this country. And just like in the Pentagon papers I think that should be one of our highest priorities, examining what has come out in the bombshell report." SIDE SHOT OF COMMITTEE HEARING (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN ADAM SMITH, SAYING: "I do think it is something we should take a look at and get explanations on because I agree with the overall point. But I don't want to set unrealistic expectations."
  • Embargoed: 25th December 2019 21:53
  • Keywords: Afghan war Afghanistan Bush Obama Rumsfeld Trump war
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES; VARIOUS AFGHANISTAN
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES; VARIOUS AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Defence,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B9JA6VB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:The House Armed Services Committee opened the door to potential hearings on lessons learned from the war in Afghanistan following a Washington Post report that Pentagon officials privately told a watchdog for years about their deep concerns about the U.S. war strategy in Afghanistan, including senior officials who were publicly more hopeful.
    House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, said on Wednesday (December 11) told the Committee, "I do think it is something we should take a look at and get explanations on." He added however, "I don't want to set unrealistic expectations."
    The Washington Post obtained thousands of documents from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, the government's watchdog on the war, which interviewed more than 600 people. The Post obtained the interviews through a Freedom of Information Act and two federal lawsuits.
    The disclosure comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and the Pentagon look to draw down the number of forces in Afghanistan to focus more on battling al Qaeda and Islamic State, as the administration hopes for a peace deal with the Taliban.
    The United States went into Afghanistan in 2001 and ousted its Taliban leaders after they refused to hand over members of the al Qaeda militant group behind the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
    About 2,400 U.S. service members have been killed in the Afghan conflict and many thousands more wounded.
    "We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan - we didn't know what we were doing," Douglas Lute, a three-star general who was given a central role in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan by U.S. President George W. Bush, told interviewers in 2015, the Post said.
    Military commanders throughout the war publicly talked about their hopes that the conflict in Afghanistan was turning a corner, even as the Taliban held on to large parts of the country and killed U.S. and Afghan forces - without having any air combat capability.
    Still, the U.S. military leaders have periodically talked about their concerns about the war, particularly when seeking increases in troops or in capabilities needed to fight the Taliban.
    In 2010, then-Major General Michael Flynn, deputy chief of staff for intelligence in Afghanistan for the U.S. military and its NATO allies, sharply criticized the work of U.S. spy agencies in Afghanistan, calling them ignorant and out of touch with the Afghan people. Flynn later served as Trump's national security adviser.
    The Post also obtained some of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's memos between 2001 and 2006.
    "We are never going to get the U.S. military out of Afghanistan unless we take care to see that there is something going on that will provide the stability that will be necessary for us to leave," Rumsfeld said in one dated 2002.
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