U.S. missed warning signs on failure of Afghanistan 'leadership and will' -Milley
Record ID:
1639161
U.S. missed warning signs on failure of Afghanistan 'leadership and will' -Milley
- Title: U.S. missed warning signs on failure of Afghanistan 'leadership and will' -Milley
- Date: 28th September 2021
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 28, 2021) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) WIDE OF SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE HEARING (SOUNDBITE)(English) CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, GENERAL MARK MILLEY, SAYING: "I think the key, senator, that we missed, frankly, we had some indicators, but we didn't have the full, wholesome assessment of leadership morale and will. There were some units, and I don't want to say negative things about these guys of 60, 70,000 of the Afghan service that were killed in action over the last 20 years. And many units did fight at the very end. But the vast majority put their weapons down and melted away in a very, very short period of time. I think that has to do with will, leadership, and I think we still need to try to figure out exactly why that was. And I have some suggestions, but I'm not settled on them yet. But we clearly missed that. I think one of the key factors we missed it for was we pulled our advisers off three years ago. And when you pull the advisors out of the units, you can never, you no longer can assess things like leadership and will." WIDE OF HEARING (SOUNDBITE)(English) CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, GENERAL MARK MILLEY, SAYING: "[RESPONDING TO QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER HE RECOMMENDED KEEPING TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN] Yes, my assessment was, back in the fall of 20 [2020], and it remained consistent throughout that we should keep a steady state of 2,500 and it could bounce up to 3,500, maybe something like that, in order to move toward a negotiated, gated solution." (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SENATOR, TOM COTTON [R-AR], SAYING: "Did you ever present that assessment personally to President Biden?" (SOUNDBITE)(English) CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, GENERAL MARK MILLEY, SAYING: "I don't discuss exactly what my conversations are with the sitting president in the Oval Office, but I can tell you what my personal opinion was, and I'm always candid." WIDE OF HEARING (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SENATOR MAZIE HIRONO [D-HI], SAYING: "So while you testified that you may have had the personal recommendation, I think in your case, General Mackenzie, in the fall of 2020, or might have been General Milley, by the time we were evacuating everyone, that was not a recommendation that you personally held?" (SOUNDBITE)(English) CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, GENERAL MARK MILLEY, SAYING: "Absolutely not. At that point on the 25th of August? No. At the 25th of August, we recommended that the mission end on the 31st." (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SENATOR ANGUS KING [I-ME], SAYING: "Was it the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs that the August 31st date should be observed? And if so, why was that the military advice?" (SOUNDBITE)(English) CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, GENERAL MARK MILLEY, SAYING: "It was, of the Joint Chiefs, plus General Mackenzie, General Miller and General, not Miller, but Admiral Vasley and General Donahue. The reason is risk to force, risk to mission and risk to the American citizens. On the 1st of September we were going to go to war again with the Taliban. Of that, there was no doubt, and we were already in conflict with ISIS. So, at that point in time, if we stayed past the 31st, which militarily is feasible, but it would have required an additional commitment of significant amounts of forces, probably 18TH Airborne Corps, 15, 20, maybe 25,000 troops, we would add to re-seize Bagram. We would have had to clear Kabul of 6,000 Taliban that were already in Kabul. That's what would have happened beginning on the 1st, and that would have resulted in significant casualties on the U.S. side and it would have placed American citizens that are still there at greater risk, in my professional view and in the view of all the other generals. So, on the 25th, we recommended that we transition to a diplomatic option beginning on the 31st." WIDE OF HEARING (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SENATOR, ELIZABETH WARREN [D-MA], SAYING: "So, the military planned the evacuation. Did President Biden follow your advice on executing on the evacuation plan?" (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, LLOYD AUSTIN, SAYING: "He did. [WARREN, OFF SCREEN: "Did President Biden give you all of the resources that you needed?"] From my view, he did." (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SENATOR, ELIZABETH WARREN [D-MA], SAYING: "Did President Biden ignore your advice on the evacuation at any point?" (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, LLOYD AUSTIN, SAYING: "No, senator, he did not." [WARREN, OFF SCREEN: "Did he refuse any request for anything that you needed or asked for?"] No." (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SENATOR, ELIZABETH WARREN [D-MA], SAYING: "So the president followed the advice of his military advisers in planning and executing this withdrawal. As we've already established, the seeds for our failure in Afghanistan were planted many, many years ago." (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SENATOR DAN SULLIVAN [R-AK], SAYING: "On August 18th, in a media interview to the American people, the president said that none of his military advisers told him that he should keep U.S. forces in Afghanistan. General Milley, that was a false statement by the President of the United States, was it not? [MILLEY, OFF CAMERA: "I didn't even see the statement, to tell you the truth."] (SOUNDBITE)(English) CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, GENERAL MARK MILLEY, SAYING: "[SULLIVAN, OFF CAMERA: "That was a false statement?"] Yeah, I'm not. I'm… [SULLIVAN, OFF CAMERA: "I don't have a lot of time. Was that a false statement to the American people?"] I'm not going to categorize a statement of the President of the United States." WIDE OF HEARING (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SENATOR, JOE MANCHIN [D-WV], SAYING: "Do we know where the president, the former president of Afghanistan is today and how much money he took with him? Do we have any idea?" (SOUNDBITE)(English) CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, GENERAL MARK MILLEY, SAYING: "Um… I ac…" [MANCHIN, OFF CAMERA, SAYING: "Secretary Austin, do you have any idea?"] (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, LLOYD AUSTIN, SAYING: "[BEGIN ON WIDE OF COMMITTEE] I think that he may be in the UAE, Senator. I'm not certain of that. That's the last report that I had. [CLOSE ON AUSTIN] And in terms of any money that he may have taken with him, I have no knowledge of any amounts of money." WIDE OF COMMITTEE
- Embargoed: 12th October 2021 19:25
- Keywords: Afghanistan Austin Milley Senate Taliban hearings withdrawal
- Location: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,United States,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001EWMY6O7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said on Tuesday (September 28) that the U.S. missed warning signs about the coming failure of "leadership and will" in its Afghan allies that ultimately led to their collapse and the Taliban takeover on August 15th.
Milley made the remarks in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin were questioned by Republicans and Democrats about the chaotic aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal.
Republican lawmakers accused President Joe Biden of lying about recommendations from his military that some troops should be kept in the country. And even Biden's Democrats expressed frustration with the withdrawal that left U.S. troops dead and American citizens behind.
Milley refused to be drawn on whether Biden had lied when pressed by Republican Senator Dan Sullivan
"I'm not going to categorize a statement of the President of the United States," Milley said.
Biden's approval ratings have been badly damaged by last month's spectacular collapse of the two-decade-old war effort, marked by painful images of Afghans clinging desperately to a U.S. military plane as they tried to escape Taliban rule.
Thirteen U.S. troops also died in an Aug. 26 suicide bombing trying to safeguard the civilian evacuation effort that, ultimately, relied on support from Taliban foes outside the airport walls.
Milley, Austin, and General Frank McKenzie of U.S. Central Command all acknowledged being caught off-guard by the speed of the Taliban takeover following the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Kabul.
McKenzie and Milley both testified that they had believed it would have been best to keep a minimum of 2,500 troops in the country. In an August interview, Biden denied his commanders had recommended keeping 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.
Milley, the top U.S. military officer, noted military warnings since late 2020 that an accelerated, unconditional withdrawal could precipitate the collapse of the Afghan military and government.
Democrats faulted Republicans for blaming Biden, who has been president since January, for everything that went wrong during the 20 years U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan.
"Anyone who says the last few months were a failure, but everything before that was great, clearly hasn't been paying attention," Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said.
Austin praised U.S. personnel who helped airlift 124,000 Afghans out of the country.
But Milley acknowledged that while the evacuation effort was a logistical accomplishment, the U.S. withdrawal was a "strategic defeat" that left the Taliban back in power.
He warned the Taliban "remains a terrorist organization" which has not broken ties with al Qaeda.
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