Page 725 - Commanders News Today

Ill just say from my experience, especially when i was in afghanistan, the input that i got from our commanders was that this years going to be different, were going to be able to do things better. but i got a completely different assessment when i went to the mess hall and ate with the soldiers and marines and folks on the ground who said, i dont trust these folks that were with. i dont know if theyre going to fight. they dont even show up. they get their paycheck, but they dont show up. did we...

You gentlemen have spent your lives -- and i completely respect it, troops in combat, youve had troops under your command killed in action, you have been part of an institution where accountability is so critical, and the american people respect that up and down the chain. commanders get relieved up and down the chain. we see it. the mccain incident, the fitzgerald incident, the aab incident with the marine corps. three-star, four-star flag officers all relieved of duty. but on this matter, on t...

Potential connection about whom we know nothing and cannot be effective vetted. you now have female troops who have been assaulted, afghan evacuees committing sex crimes at ft. mccoy. what are we to make of this? what steps are we taking to ensure that thousands of afghans about whom we know nothing are not going to be a menace to our troops and our military bases and to the communities in sto which theyll be released? >> im aware of the allegations and take them seriously. i can assure you that...

Said. the other thing about these committee hearings that often happens is that it becomes very partisan. the fire that the military commanders were under, both from friendly and hostile sources. there is huge displeasure atjoe bidens handling of all of this. just is huge displeasure at joe bidens handling of all of this.— handling of all of this. just a reminder— handling of all of this. just a reminder that _ handling of all of this. just a reminder that you _ handling of all of this. just...

Coming from afghanistan. a reconstituted al qaeda or isis with aspirations to attack the united states is a very real possibility. and those conditions to include activity and ungoverned spaces could present themselves in the next 12 to 36 months. that mission will be much harder now but not impossible, and we will continue to protect the american people. strategic decisions have strategic consequences. over the course of four presidents, 12 secretaries of defense, 7 chairman, 10 centcom command...

The frustration on this committee about the chaotic and deadly withdraw from afghanistan is not and should never be directed towards our troops. it was president biden and his advisers who put them in that situation. even worse, this was avoidable. everything that happened was foreseen. my colleagues on this committee, on the commanders in charge, we saw it coming and so we were here -- here today to understand what happened and why that advice was ignored. general mckenzie, you said in february...

That commanders on the ground should be listened to. would you agree with that? >> i would and i would tell you they were listened to. i think theres a difference between us having an opportunity to have a voice and i think its very important that the military has a voice, but i firmly believe its in the control of the military and i am required and the military commanders are required to give our best military advice but the decisionmakers are not required to follow that advice. >> no, they are...

Otherwise. we need to consider some uncomfortable truths. that we didnt fully comprehend the depth of corruption and poor leadership in the senior ranks. we didnt grasp the damaging effect of frequent and unexplained rotations by president ghani of his commanders. that we didnt anticipate the snowball effect caused by the deals that the taliban commanders struck with local leaders in the wake of the doha agreement and that the do ha agreement had a negative effect on afghan soldier and failed to...

Did you know it? and the answer seemed to be, well, we did not know very much at any particular time, we did not know the afghan army was going to collapse, sometimes without firing a bullet, we did not know there would be chaos in kabul, that we would be leaving americans behind, how much it would be in the hands of the taliban when they took over. most damaging of all i think was the admission by general mark milley that he had made it clear that he thought 2500 troops should remain behind to ...

Was that an accelerated withdrawal, without meeting specific and necessary conditions, risks losing the substantial gains made in afghanistan, damaging u.s. worldwide credibility and could precipitate a general collapse of the ansf, and the afghan government, resulting in a complete taliban takeover or general civil war. that was a year ago. my assessment remained consistent throughout. based on my advice and the advice of the commanders, then secretary of defense esper submitted a memorandum on...