Page 7 - Biden Whether News Today

Consequential matter. let me move onto another recommendation theyre reported to have made. it was the unanimous recommendation of the joint chiefs that we not maintain a military presence beyond august 31st. when was that unanimous recommendation sought and presented to the president? >> are you talking about the 31 august? >> yes. >> on 25 august i was asked to make an assessment and provide best military advice. >> august 25th. >> correct. >> kabul fell on august 15th. >> that is correct. >> ...

The deputy assistant secretary of defense for asia pacific policy helped coordinate my call which was then scheduled for 8 january and he made a preliminary call on 6 january. 11 people attended that call with me and read-outs of this call were distributed to the interagency that same day. shortly after my call ended with general lee, i personally informed both secretary of state pompeo and white house chief of staff meadows about the call among other topics. soon after that, i attended a meetin...

Ties to al qaeda and were at the mercy of pakistan government to get into the afghan airspace. even if we can get there, we cant strike al qaeda in afghanistan because were worried about what the taliban will do to the americans who are still there. and americans are still there. the administration needs to be honest because the -- because of president bidens dishonest decision the terrorist threat to american families is rising significantly while our ability to deal with these threats has decl...

That they are now on without the support that they have been used to for many years. throughout this spring we saw many districts quickly fall to the taliban, many without firing a shot. this is why i urged president biden in june to rethink his approach and maintain a small force in afghanistan in order to prevent the collapse we ultimately saw. it was also why the members of this committee on both sides of the aisle spent months urging the administration to evacuate americans and our afghan pa...

My personal recommendation to the president but i will give you my honest opinion and my honest opinion and view shaped my recommendation. i recommended we maintain 5,200 troops in afghanistan and recommended earlier in the fall of 2020 that we maintain 4,500 at that time. those are my personal views. i also have a view that the withdrawal of those forces would lead to the collapse of the afghan military forces and eventually the afghan government. >> understand that. general milley i assume you...

Leave a small troop presence in afghanistan. is that true? >> senator cotton, i believe -- first of all, i know the president to be an honest and forthright man. >> its a simple question, secretary austin. he said no senior military leader advised him to leave a small troop presence behind. is that true or not? did the recommendations get to the president personally? >> their input was received by the president and considered by the president for sure. in terms of what they specifically recommen...

President biden was wrong on that. we told our interpreters, our drivers, our friends, the people who had had our backs during this entire period of time that we would not abandon them and thats exactly what we did. and in an interview thats already been referred to on network news, president biden says and i quote, if there is american citizens left, we are going to stay and get them all out. two days later, the president of the united states said well stay and get them out. the president of th...

>> yes, my assessment was back in the fall of 20 and it remained consistent throughout we should keep a steady state of 2500 and bounce up to 3500, something like that in order to move toward a negotiated gated solution. >> bill: did you ever present that assessment personally to president biden? >> i dont discuss exactly what my conversations are with a sitting president in the oval office but i can tell you what my personal opinion was and im always candid. >> general mckenzie, do you share th...

That started long before doha. there are some commentators who have suggested that since 2014, the taliban have been surrounding provincial capitals, insinuating themselves into the politics of the local communities, striking bargains. is that your impression, too, general mckenzie? >> i think it is a good assessment, from 2014 on, the taliban did pursue that strategy, and they had some success. and the government of afghanistan also had success, holding on to centralized urban areas and populat...

Started firing healthcare workers who refuse to get the vaccine. in a moment how the new governor plans to address staff shortages as a result of that. >> dana: as the crises pile up for president biden his approval keeps going down. karl rove on whether he is up to the challenge. >> bill: gabby petitos family will hold their first news conference today as the search continues for brian laundrie. he hasnt been seen and parents say they dont know where he is. dog the bounty hunter is watching a t...