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

[Donald H]

Right. I personally did not agree with this one by Trump. Many politicians have given into pressure to leave Afghanistan in an untimely manner. It was a mistake all the way.

The enemy allowed the greatest and most successful evacuation of a defeated force in the history of warfare, in return for being permitted to unconditionally claim victory.

Now come to terms on what it is, and let it go.

 

[BlindBoo]

but look how long we left forces in Europe after WW2... they are still there.

We didn't continue to fight any insurrections in occupied Germany. The Russians did......As a counter to the USSR, the Americans were welcome as liberators. Not so in Iraq or Afghanistan.

I was all for punishing Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but I opposed the occupation and nation building exercise from the beginning.

 

[BlindBoo]

It was a political and military fuck up... and it belongs soley to Joe Biden. He was president, not Trump.

Under Benedict Donald we ignored the Taliban's lack of compliance with the conditions that our troop reduction were suppose to be based on. Allowing the Taliban to continue to attack the Afghan Army and government workers put them is an advantageous position to take over when we finally evacuated. Benedict knew what he did too. He blurted it out in his first pep rally after leaving office. What did he mean? "They couldn't stop the process"? What did he do to hamstring America and the next CiC?

"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

 

[Yarddog]

We didn't continue to fight any insurrections in occupied Germany. The Russians did......As a counter to the USSR, the Americans were welcome as liberators. Not so in Iraq or Afghanistan.

I was all for punishing Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but I opposed the occupation and nation building exercise from the beginning.

Once we were in there however..and got so many Afghan people to buy into the idea of freedom and education and human rights... we then at that point had a responsibility to not pull the rug out from under them. Which is why I am going against the grain and saying I did not agree with Trump at all on this one.

Towards the end we were giving more and more responsibility to Afhgan forces... we didnt have to go on patrols any more. They really just needed us for our air support, recon and our presence. U.S. casualties were very few... we probably have more deaths in training exercizes in Europe and the United states than we had die in Afghanistan.... so why not just disband our military completely? people sign up for that, its a volunteer military.

And I disagree...towards the end as well we were no longer nation building but just allowing the Afghan people to operate without pressure from the Taliban. The Taliban doesnt even represent the people of Afghanistan..and thats the shame of it. they are a radical group who is simply the most agressive and violent who could dominate a mostly peaceful population.
It's not like we were forcing our will on the Afghan people... they were in the process of taking control of their own destiny.

 

[The Duke]

Bullshit. the point is we should have kept the airbase. Not be dependant on Taliban forces. It was a political and military fuck up... and it belongs soley to Joe Biden. He was president, not Trump.

I had to disagree with that based on the facts. Trump negotiated the deal, it was Biden's and his military's policies

that led to the yuge fuckup.

I do agree that they should have held onto, and evacuated everyone and everything out of Bagram and left that for last.

A couple things I failed to mention about when Trump made this deal.

It was from a position of power, he had just killed Iran's top general and showed the Taliban pictures of their homes and

wives at the negotiation.

It was a given that the "Aghan forces" would fold like a cheap suit. The Taliban are literally their cousins and uncles.

That's why Trump did not include them in the negotiations.

If the withdrawal had been final by May 1st, it would have been nice and peaceful, and the Taliban did keep their

part of the bargain. Some of the generals, warhawks, (/cough/ Milley) and Biden wanted to keep the war going, but

Trump had tied their hands on that already. So yeah, they didn't have a choice, and did not honor the US's

obligations of the deal, or evacuate people and equipment in a timely manner like they should have, so the Taliban started ruling their

country again after the May 1 withdrawal date was reneged on by Biden.

 

[BlindBoo]

Why not use Afghan troops along with our own? As it is we left them high and dry. We left the base in the middle of the night without even notifying the Afghan commander..or our allies for that matter..

I dissagree that the base was of no use. In an emergency situation to save American lives on the ground..we could always re-deploy troops for a limited amount of time... seeing how the taliban was being overly aggressive.

We would have ordered them to stand down while our citizens make their way to the base for evacuation and if not we obliterate their forces.

Hindsight is always 20/20.

 

[Yarddog]

Under Benedict Donald we ignored the Taliban's lack of compliance with the conditions that our troop reduction were suppose to be based on. Allowing the Taliban to continue to attack the Afghan Army and government workers put them is an advantageous position to take over when we finally evacuated. Benedict knew what he did too. He blurted it out in his first pep rally after leaving office. What did he mean? "They couldn't stop the process"? What did he do to hamstring America and the next CiC?

"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

Trump may have made a mistake, but guarantee you he wasnt acting on his own and he had taken political advice on this. Our media had been crying that we were all but defeated for years in Afghanistan..calling it a failure and we had to go. Most of the pressure for withdrawal was coming from the Left, ignoring any progress. Everyone was saying we were tired of it all and had to go.... but you know who wasnt? our service members who were there... those are the ones who wanted to stay because they were seeing the actual progress and not listening to the liberal media.

 

[Yarddog]

I had to disagree with that based on the facts. Trump negotiated the deal, it was Biden's and his military's policies

that led to the yuge fuckup.

I do agree that they should have held onto, and evacuated everyone and everything out of Bagram and left that for last.

A couple things I failed to mention about when Trump made this deal.

It was from a position of power, he had just killed Iran's top general and showed the Taliban pictures of their homes and

wives at the negotiation.

It was a given that the "Aghan forces" would fold like a cheap suit. The Taliban are literally their cousins and uncles.

That's why Trump did not include them in the negotiations.

If the withdrawal had been final by May 1st, it would have been nice and peaceful, and the Taliban did keep their

part of the bargain. Some of the generals, warhawks, (/cough/ Milley) and Biden probably wanted to keep the war going, but

Trump had tied their hands on that already. So yeah, they didn't have a choice, and did not honor the US's

obligations of the deal, or evacuate people and equipment in a timely manner like they should have, so the Taliban started ruling their

country again after the May 1 withdrawal date was reneged on by Biden..

I agree with this. And once Biden became the new president, it should have been understood that he had complete control to alter things as needed. He and his administration claimed to be supreme experts in foreign policy.

 

[The Duke]

Regime change never works. It hasn't worked well not once since 1953.

 

[The Duke]

I agree with this. And once Biden became the new president, it should have been understood that he had complete control to alter things as needed. He and his administration claimed to be supreme experts in foreign policy.

He did, but he should not have. If for nothing else but to show that America is honest.

Many lives and much treasure would have been saved if Biden had honored the deal made by the preceding president

instead of trying to make the thing a photo op for himself.

Well, they got photos alright.

Videos of Taliban’s weapons seizure in Afghanistan embarrass Washington

Videos of Taliban fighters parading in US-made armored vehicles, wielding US-supplied firearms and climbing on American Black Hawk helicopters after the

english.alarabiya.net

 

[BlindBoo]

Trump may have made a mistake, but guarantee you he wasnt acting on his own and he had taken political advice on this.

He was warned by the Generals that the Taliban was not in compliance, but he continued to reduce our troop strength, evacuated 5 bases, and force the Afghans to accept a 5 to 1 prisoner exchange.

 

[John Edgar Slow Horses]

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,

 

[Yarddog]

I had to disagree with that based on the facts. Trump negotiated the deal, it was Biden's and his military's policies

that led to the yuge fuckup.

I do agree that they should have held onto, and evacuated everyone and everything out of Bagram and left that for last.

A couple things I failed to mention about when Trump made this deal.

It was from a position of power, he had just killed Iran's top general and showed the Taliban pictures of their homes and

wives at the negotiation.

It was a given that the "Aghan forces" would fold like a cheap suit. The Taliban are literally their cousins and uncles.

That's why Trump did not include them in the negotiations.

If the withdrawal had been final by May 1st, it would have been nice and peaceful, and the Taliban did keep their

part of the bargain. Some of the generals, warhawks, (/cough/ Milley) and Biden wanted to keep the war going, but

Trump had tied their hands on that already. So yeah, they didn't have a choice, and did not honor the US's

obligations of the deal, or evacuate people and equipment in a timely manner like they should have, so the Taliban started ruling their

country again after the May 1 withdrawal date was reneged on by Biden.

I think yes, the time of year was also a big factor. maybe in May or earlier... mountain passes were still filled with winter snow.. the Taliban would not have so easily been able to mobilize

 

[BlindBoo]

it should have been understood that he had complete control to alter things as needed.

I'm pretty sure he was aware that we have the most powerful military in the world and if he wanted to go back to war with the Taliban our military could drive the Taliban out, again. He also understood that if we tried to keep 2,500 troops in country, they would be a lightning rod and couldn't be sustained without deploying more troops.

 

[Yarddog]

He was warned by the Generals that the Taliban was not in compliance, but he continued to reduce our troop strength, evacuated 5 bases, and force the Afghans to accept a 5 to 1 prisoner exchange.

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

 

[22lcidw]

You're failing to understand that America had no intention of rewarding it's Afghani accomplices.

The object of the operation was to get Americans out safely and the deal with the Taliban accomplished that perfectly.

The Taliban wasn't even responsible for the 13 that were whacked.

Are Americans thinking that the Taliban loved America's military personnel?

This success story is a war story that no American should be bringing back to life.

America fought for over twenty years, just to end up handing the country over to their enemy.

The war ended long before 20 years. It was a police action in which there is no winner.

 

[Yarddog]

I'm pretty sure he was aware that we have the most powerful military in the world and if he wanted to go back to war with the Taliban our military could drive the Taliban out, again. He also understood that if we tried to keep 2,500 troops in country, they would be a lightning rod and couldn't be sustained without deploying more troops.

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.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

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​

Milley and Ausneed to be removed

 

[BlindBoo]

But things did not fall apart until later

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.

 

[Yarddog]

The war ended long before 20 years. It was a police action in which there is no winner.

The Taliban was and is a rogue force that only represents a fraction of the Afghan people.
Afghanistan has a population of 42 Million people..and the Taliban has a force of about a 100,000.
They only dominate because they are ideologicaly motivated and radical... and that whole population
is predominately peaceful.. not fighters at all. It may have been a police action but we were trying to transition their military to take control for themselves. Ripe with corruption and illiteracy, they needed more time... but still they were making strides. Look how many years we have kept tens of thousands of troops stationed in Europe.. I would say keeping those few In Afghanistan would have been more beneficial. Hell we still have troops stationed in the M.E. anyways so why is that? to offer stability? whats the difference?

It was an ongoing WIN for all those civilians who were taking part in government, starting up new businesses... going to school, having their kids go to school.... all of that is no more... so yes, NOW there is no winner.