Milley: Waiting to Evacuate American Citizens, Afghan Allies Was a Huge Mistake

[Donald H]

The Taliban did everything asked of them except to bake cookies to cheer up the troops during the long ride home.
And America was super generous on not even asking the Taliban to allow little girls to go to school!

Everybody on both sides walked away from the war as happy as they could be!

Now we all need to just let it go and allow the history books to decide it's success or failure.

 

[Yarddog]

For our troops who were protected by the Truce. Not for the Afghanis. This is probably mostly behind a paywall but here goes

Afghan War Casualty Report: October 2020 (Published 2020)

At least 369 pro-government forces and 212 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in October, marking the highest civilian death toll in a single month since September 2019.

www.nytimes.com

Afghan War Casualty Report: October 2020​

At least 369 pro-government forces and 212 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in October, marking the highest civilian death toll in a single month since September 2019.

Well ok? but would you say its better for them all now? it was still their fight to fight we only had to be there to help let them take over their own fight and give them support. Letting the Taliban take over is not comparable to other "police actions" by a military in a foreign nation... simply because the Taliban and other radical groups there are going to export more terrorism and its only a matter of time.
This was probably the one and only chance Afghanistan had in their history to get some self determination.. build their own government and military... but true the problem is with so many tribal factions, it takes time to build the idea of national identity. But still, if a good number of them were willing to pay the price for their own freedom , then it was worth it.

 

[BlindBoo]

What it really comes down to is this. Afghanistan was really making progress but they needed another generation of time maybe for it to really sink in. their military was basically new and hadnt had enough time to build up a tradition of discipline.. but it would have gotten there. We could see it already happened with their elite special forces. Their civilian population was making great strides in modernization and education.. those kids going to school.. given a few more years to grow up... the Taliban would eventually become an obsolete and marginalized force in Afghanistan once the people realized their true power and got a little determination.
Our men and women on the ground in Afghanistan were not tired of the effort. Politicians were tired of it.. media people were tired of it and fed us negativity all the time. Staying longer would have meant that all those lives and effort our soldier gave would not be simply wasted. All that effort became for nothing because politicians couldn't handle the pressure.
Now you can see the results.. Taliban and ISIS have a nice breeding ground where they can train and grow.
Its simply going to mean more war someday and even more lives lost than if we had stayed a bit longer.

I have all the sympathy in the world for the victims of the Taliban. For the record, it comes down to this imho.

Gen. Milley: (29:51)
"Beginning in 2011, we sternly drew down our troop numbers, consolidated and closed bases and retrograded equipment from Afghanistan. At the peak in 2011, we had 97,000 US troops alongside 41,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan. 10 years later when Ambassador Khalilzad signed the Doha agreement with Mullah Baradar on 29, February, 2020, United States at 12,600 US troops with 8,000 NATO and 10,500 contractors. This has been a 10 year multi administration draw down, not a 19 month or 19 day NEO. Under the Doha agreement, the US would begin to withdraw its forces contingent upon Taliban meeting certain conditions, which would lead to a political agreement between the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan. ........

When president Biden was inaugurated, there were approximately 3,500 US troops, 5,400 NATO troops and 6,300 contractors in Afghanistan with a specified task of train, advise and assist along with a small contingent of counter terrorism forces."

Military Leaders, Gen. Milley Testify on Afghanistan Exit: Full Hearing Transcript | Rev Blog

Gen. Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan during a Senate hearing on September 28. Milley addressed his calls with China. Read the transcript of the hearing below.

www.rev.com

Sure he could have deployed tens of thousands of fresh bodies to do what? The Afghan people were sick of war and were ready to back the Taliban because the war was crueler than Taliban rule.

 

[BlindBoo]

The Taliban did everything asked of them except to bake cookies to cheer up the troops during the long ride home.

Contrary to known reality. They only fully complied with 1 of the 7 conditions they agreed to.

"There were seven conditions applicable to the Taliban and eight conditions applicable to the United States. While the Taliban did not attack US forces, which was one of the conditions, it failed to fully honor, any, any other condition under the Doha agreement."

Gen. Milley: (31:22)

 

[Foxfyre]

Milley: ​

Waiting to Evacuate American Citizens, Afghan Allies Was a Huge Mistake​

Milley: Waiting to Evacuate American Citizens, Afghan Allies Was a Huge Mistake

During a portion of an interview with ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz set to air on Sunday's edition of "This Week," Chairman | Clips

www.breitbart.com

14 Sep 2023 ~~ By Ian Hanchett

During a portion of an interview with ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz set to air on Sunday’s edition of “This Week,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley stated that he agrees with former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie (Ret.) that it was a massive mistake to not evacuate American citizens and at-risk Afghans sooner.
Raddatz asked, “Gen. McKenzie said it was a serious mistake not to begin to evacuate our embassy personnel, our American citizens, and at-risk Afghans earlier. Do you agree with that?”
Milley answered, “Yeah, I agree with that, sure.”
Raddatz then asked, “So, that was a mistake in the withdrawal?”
Milley responded, “I think as you look back on it, I think that some decisions with respect to moving the embassy and Department of State could have been made a little earlier, sure.”

​

Commentary:
Hmm...., admitting they screwed up LONG after a vast majority of Americans have forgotten about Afghanistan, aided by a Quisling MSM who stopped reporting about it.
Milley was, is, and will continue to be a complete disaster for the military and our country. His pathetic leadership has left our military in ruins and chaos. While he's calling the Chinese and keeping them informed on our country's military, he's complicit in allowing them to steal our most top secret information and weapon systems.
Joe Biden and his appointee Tony Blinken were responsible for the evacuations was the State Department’s call. They had the lead on that operation and as usual they screwed the pooch.
That doesn't justify the deaths of thousands left behind by the hands of the Taliban after September 2021.
Milley! No competence. No honor. His legacy could've been the General that resigned in protest to try and prevent a military disaster. Instead, it's the disaster.

View attachment 829270​

Evacuation of Afghanistan was not only a total screwup by our government, but was caused by earlier screwups that allowed the Taliban to regain power. Not only did we needlessly lose 13 American servicemen but the Taliban has been tracking down and summarily executing the Afghan allies we left behind.

Opinion | The Taliban Promised Them Amnesty. Then They Executed Them. (Published 2022)

An Opinion Video investigation reveals the Taliban have been on a crusade of revenge killings against former U.S. allies.

www.nytimes.com

That was a shameful and indefensible chapter of the Biden administration and on a par of our shameful evacuation of Saigon in 1975 in which we intentionally left behind faithful Vietnamese allies to be captured and tortured to death by the enemy who rushed in to seize power.

In both cases unconscionable blood and treasure was wasted for decades and accomplished nothing.

For the record, if Donald Trump was President now, the Taliban would never have been able to seize the government and our embassy would still be there, Russia would not have invaded the Ukraine, and all the bad actors would not be saber rattling all over the world. Trump policies gave us the closest thing to world peace any of us had ever experienced. Biden has undone all of that, has destablised all that has been accomplished and we again find ourselves teetering at the brink of WWIII.

I don't know what it will take to get Biden supporters to wake up to how destructive this administration is to both America and the world.

 

[BlindBoo]

For the record, if Donald Trump was President now, the Taliban would never have been able to seize the government and our embassy would still be there,

So what do you think he meant when he said this:

Worse than Afghanistan, where, by the way, I started the process. All the troops are coming back home. They couldn’t stop the process.

Donald Trump: (22:53)
21 years is enough. Don’t we think? 21 years. They couldn’t stop the process. They wanted to, but it was very tough to stop the process when other things…yeah. Thank you. Thank you. It’s a shame.

Donald Trump Wellington, Ohio Rally Speech Transcript: First Rally Since Leaving Office | Rev Blog

Donald Trump held a rally in Wellington, Ohio on June 26, 2021. It was his first rally since being president. Read the full speech transcript from his rally here.

www.rev.com

What did Benedict Donald do to sabotage the next CiC and our military in Afghanistan?

 

[Yarddog]

I have all the sympathy in the world for the victims of the Taliban. For the record, it comes down to this imho.

Gen. Milley: (29:51)
"Beginning in 2011, we sternly drew down our troop numbers, consolidated and closed bases and retrograded equipment from Afghanistan. At the peak in 2011, we had 97,000 US troops alongside 41,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan. 10 years later when Ambassador Khalilzad signed the Doha agreement with Mullah Baradar on 29, February, 2020, United States at 12,600 US troops with 8,000 NATO and 10,500 contractors. This has been a 10 year multi administration draw down, not a 19 month or 19 day NEO. Under the Doha agreement, the US would begin to withdraw its forces contingent upon Taliban meeting certain conditions, which would lead to a political agreement between the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan. ........

When president Biden was inaugurated, there were approximately 3,500 US troops, 5,400 NATO troops and 6,300 contractors in Afghanistan with a specified task of train, advise and assist along with a small contingent of counter terrorism forces."

Military Leaders, Gen. Milley Testify on Afghanistan Exit: Full Hearing Transcript | Rev Blog

Gen. Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan during a Senate hearing on September 28. Milley addressed his calls with China. Read the transcript of the hearing below.

www.rev.com

Sure he could have deployed tens of thousands of fresh bodies to do what? The Afghan people were sick of war and were ready to back the Taliban because the war was crueler than Taliban rule.

Well ok. Everyone has an opinion... but I think whether the people were so sick of war that they thought it was crueler than Taliban rule is pretty subjective. That depends on who you are in Afghanistan.
I'm sure that during the American Revolution as well, there was a good sized faction who felt a war with England was not worth it...and I suppose they had a good argument but that was also subjective as well.

I didn't want to be there forever either, and I'm not a war hawk by any means, quite the opposite. maybe Im wrong but I believe we just needed to see it through longer..giving the Afghans more time. They have never had a chance before to develop a national identity so this was a bit of unchartered water it was going to take a bit more time... but now, there is a greater possibilty with that place being handed back to Taliban that there will be more terrorism and more lives lost and the chance someone may have to go there all over again.
I also factor in the fact that we are a volunteer military, we arent drafting anyone who does not want to go... and from all accounts that I have heard from our people over there... they wanted to stay and try see it through.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Milley's mistake was trusting Trump in the midst of it all.

We should have evacuated our people and material and all in October 2020,

October 2001, Instead of Making It an Outpost Against Russia

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Well ok.. if Trump made a mistake here, then he did. But things did not fall apart until later troop strength was always reversible as needed for the situation...especially if the Taliban was violating their agreement.
Trump made a mistake... but Im not giving Biden a pass.. he was overseeing the complete withdrawal and had complete control.. not Trump. When Trump left office the Afghan military still had a good grip on things despite our drawback. Biden could have done so much more to support them but he did nothing.. we pulled the rug out from under them catching them flat footed as well as our European allies

The Boat People Were Chickenhawks

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

It was a police action in which there is no winner.

A Stakeout Against Russia

 

[BlindBoo]

Well ok. Everyone has an opinion... but I think whether the people were so sick of war that they thought it was crueler than Taliban rule is pretty subjective. That depends on who you are in Afghanistan.

Granted it was a poll from the fall of 2020, and a signification % still supported US occupation.

A Stakeout Against Russia

A stepping stone to Iraq.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Well ok? but would you say its better for them all now? it was still their fight to fight we only had to be there to help let them take over their own fight and give them support. Letting the Taliban take over is not comparable to other "police actions" by a military in a foreign nation... simply because the Taliban and other radical groups there are going to export more terrorism and its only a matter of time.
This was probably the one and only chance Afghanistan had in their history to get some self determination.. build their own government and military... but true the problem is with so many tribal factions, it takes time to build the idea of national identity. But still, if a good number of them were willing to pay the price for their own freedom , then it was worth it.

Those Mountain Monkeys Are Crooks, Incompetents, and Collaborators

 

[Yarddog]

October 2001, Instead of Making It an Outpost Against Russia

I would agree that when we first went in we should have probably just made it quick and stayed just long enough to take out the Taliban's operation maybe arm up the Northern Alliance and then get out of there
before they became dependent on us. Maybe we would have left a few units behind to try take out Bin laden which we tried, but once we had decided to stay in and go that other route, I think we had to see it through.

 

[Yarddog]

Those Mountain Monkeys Are Crooks, Incompetents, and Collaborators

Thats an over simplification for a country of 40 something million people, and its ignoring the benefit of what a free Afghanistan could have meant to the world if they actually could have made it independently.
They could have been more of a stablizing force in the region.

 

[Foxfyre]

So what do you think he meant when he said this:

Worse than Afghanistan, where, by the way, I started the process. All the troops are coming back home. They couldn’t stop the process.

Donald Trump: (22:53)
21 years is enough. Don’t we think? 21 years. They couldn’t stop the process. They wanted to, but it was very tough to stop the process when other things…yeah. Thank you. Thank you. It’s a shame.

Donald Trump Wellington, Ohio Rally Speech Transcript: First Rally Since Leaving Office | Rev Blog

Donald Trump held a rally in Wellington, Ohio on June 26, 2021. It was his first rally since being president. Read the full speech transcript from his rally here.

www.rev.com

What did Benedict Donald do to sabotage the next CiC and our military in Afghanistan?

Your understanding of what actually happened, what Trump actually said about it, and your characterization of him is honestly so stupid and clueless it doesn't merit a response. Have a nice evening.

 

[BlindBoo]

Your understanding of what actually happened, what Trump actually said about it, and your characterization of him is honestly so stupid and clueless it doesn't merit a response. Have a nice evening.

Hahahahaha. I never really expect a cognizant answer to why Benedict Donald said that. It always puts the Rabid Right in a state of cognitive dissonance and they must lash out. Have a great weekend.

 

[Independentthinker]

Milley: ​

Waiting to Evacuate American Citizens, Afghan Allies Was a Huge Mistake​

Milley: Waiting to Evacuate American Citizens, Afghan Allies Was a Huge Mistake

During a portion of an interview with ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz set to air on Sunday's edition of "This Week," Chairman | Clips

www.breitbart.com

14 Sep 2023 ~~ By Ian Hanchett

During a portion of an interview with ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz set to air on Sunday’s edition of “This Week,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley stated that he agrees with former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie (Ret.) that it was a massive mistake to not evacuate American citizens and at-risk Afghans sooner.
Raddatz asked, “Gen. McKenzie said it was a serious mistake not to begin to evacuate our embassy personnel, our American citizens, and at-risk Afghans earlier. Do you agree with that?”
Milley answered, “Yeah, I agree with that, sure.”
Raddatz then asked, “So, that was a mistake in the withdrawal?”
Milley responded, “I think as you look back on it, I think that some decisions with respect to moving the embassy and Department of State could have been made a little earlier, sure.”

​

Commentary:
Hmm...., admitting they screwed up LONG after a vast majority of Americans have forgotten about Afghanistan, aided by a Quisling MSM who stopped reporting about it.
Milley was, is, and will continue to be a complete disaster for the military and our country. His pathetic leadership has left our military in ruins and chaos. While he's calling the Chinese and keeping them informed on our country's military, he's complicit in allowing them to steal our most top secret information and weapon systems.
Joe Biden and his appointee Tony Blinken were responsible for the evacuations was the State Department’s call. They had the lead on that operation and as usual they screwed the pooch.
That doesn't justify the deaths of thousands left behind by the hands of the Taliban after September 2021.
Milley! No competence. No honor. His legacy could've been the General that resigned in protest to try and prevent a military disaster. Instead, it's the disaster.

View attachment 829270​

Americans have mostly forgotten about the disastrous Afghan withdraw because they can't afford groceries anymore. But everything's going just great. And, orange man bad.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

I would agree that when we first went in we should have probably just made it quick and stayed just long enough to take out the Taliban's operation maybe arm up the Northern Alliance and then get out of there
before they became dependent on us. Maybe we would have left a few units behind to try take out Bin laden which we tried, but once we had decided to stay in and go that other route, I think we had to see it through.

Cowboy Bushwhack on Boot Hill

Ignore the civil war, which the Taliban were going to win again no matter what we did. No ultra-liberal nation-building. Nuke Tora Bora, since 9/11 was another Pearl Harbor and that's how we responded to that.

But George Global was only concerned with tightening the noose around Russia. Ironically, the Taliban might cause trouble in Russia's Central Asia allies now. I hope that instead they attack their Shiite enemy, Iran.