The Milley and Austin Show (Senate Armed Services Committee hearing what a joke!)

This is the reactions to Milley and SOD’s testimonies on Capital hill pertaining to the Afghanistan withdrawal. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was a doozey. :joy: :rofl: :joy:

https://twitter.com/m_keenum/status/1442991549076451334?s=20

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Top military officials told lawmakers on Tuesday that they had recommended 2,500 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan, contradicting comments made by President Biden earlier this year.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, and Gen. Mark Milley the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, each acknowledged during public congressional testimony that they agreed with the recommendation of Army Gen. Austin Miller that 2,500 troops be left in the country, though they denied to detail what they advised Biden directly.

Biden announced his decision to end U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan back in April.

“I won’t share 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 that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. And I also recommended earlier in the fall of 2020 that we maintain 4,500 at that time. Those are my personal views,” McKenzie told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday under questioning from Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.), the panel’s top Republican.

McKenzie said it had been his view that the full U.S. withdrawal would lead to the collapse of Afghan forces and government.

Milley said he agreed with that assessment and that it was his personal view dating back to last fall that the U.S. should maintain at least 2,500 troops in Afghanistan to move toward a peace agreement between the Taliban and Afghan government. Milley declined to comment directly on his specific discussions with Biden when questioned by Sen. Tom Cotton.

Asked whether Miller discussed his recommendation with Biden, McKenzie told lawmakers he believed his opinion “was well-heard.”

Republican lawmakers repeatedly raised the matter in the context of an interview Biden gave to ABC News in August during which he denied that his top military commanders recommended he leave 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

“Your top military advisers warned against withdrawing on this timeline. They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops,” ABC’s [George Stephanopoulos said to Biden in the interview.

“No, they didn’t,” Biden replied. “It was split. That wasn’t true.”

“Your military advisers did not tell you, ‘No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It’s been a stable situation for the last several years. We can do that. We can continue to do that’?” Stephanopoulos later pressed.

“No one said that to me that I can recall,” Biden replied.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted Tuesday afternoon that leaving 2,500 troops in Afghanistan would have escalated the conflict due to the Trump administration’s deal with the Taliban to withdraw.

“As @POTUS told ABC, ending the war in Afghanistan was in our national interest. He said advice was split, but consensus of top military advisors was 2500 troops staying meant escalation due to deal by the previous admin. @SecDef, the Chairman, and GEN McKenzie all reiterated,” Psaki tweeted.

Psaki further defended Biden’s past comments during an afternoon press briefing, saying he was given a range of advice and that remaining in Afghanistan would have necessitated a further troop increase while risking lives of U.S. service members.

“The president is always going to welcome a range of advice. He asks for candor. He asks for directness. And in any scenario he’s not looking for a bunch of ‘yes’ men and women,” Psaki told reporters, adding that it is up to Biden to ultimately decide “what’s in the best interest of the United States.”

Milley said during the hearing that the U.S. would have been back at war with the Taliban if forces had stayed beyond Aug. 31.

Military generals unanimously recommended that Biden stick to the Aug. 31 withdrawal date on Aug. 25, Milley said, when Biden was considering extending the deadline to accommodate the evacuation mission.

Asked about the ABC News exchange on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called Biden an “honest and forthright man.”

“Their input was received by the president and considered by the president, for sure,” Austin told Cotton when asked if Biden’s statement to ABC was true. “In terms of what they specifically recommended, senator, as they just said, they’re not going to provide what they recommended in confidence.”

Later during the hearing, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) grilled the witnesses on whether Biden made a false statement in the interview.

“That was a false statement, by the president of the United States, was it not?” Sullivan asked.

“I didn’t even see the statement, to tell you the truth,” Milley replied, adding, “I’m not going to characterize a statement of the president of the United States.”

In April, Biden ordered the full U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 11. U.S. forces completed the withdrawal by Aug. 31, capping a chaotic exit and evacuation mission from the war-torn country after the Taliban gained control of Kabul earlier the same month.

Miller appeared before lawmakers for classified testimony earlier this month. Tuesday’s hearing was the first time that top military officials have testified publicly since the August withdrawal.

Full blown dementia!

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Biden just wanted to look like a hero, get troops out on sept 11th. Absolutely no idea the end result, probably say there with his advisers and made the decision.

If you recall he had to be pulled back out of vacation.

20 years, billions of dollars a complete fiasco and he’s on vacation.

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He planned on September 11th for awhile

Poor slow Joe has advanced dementia , he FORGOT AGAIN . :rofl: :rofl:

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This was awesome to watch! Getting roasted by Gaetz!

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While we’re quoting general Milley……:wink:

It should be noted that the agreement between the U.S. government and the Taliban to withdraw all American forces from Afghanistan was struck under then-President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump also continued with the drawdown even though the Taliban increased attacks on Afghan troops and police.

In fact, the Taliban only met one condition of the withdrawal agreement: To not attack U.S. troops, Milley said on Tuesday.

As I be said all along. Trump went around the Afghan government and US ally’s and negotiated directly with the terrorists we’d been fighting these 20 years and this is what you get when you negotiate with terrorists…

The bottom line according to Miller’s testimony is that a full withdrawal of US troops meant a collapse of the Afghan government and security forces……period.

So whether we left Afghanistan 10 years ago or 10 years from now, the result is the same. The Taliban is going to control the country….

Get the hell out and let the chips fall where they may……

Missinformationmonte

Trump gave a guideline to the talibian

If they didn’t follow it the deal was over.

Biden’s dumb ass guidelines were we are leaving sept 11th lol
Hahahah

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The Afghan government were hand picked left wing retards Obama’s team put together.

Trump took control like a real leader and laid down a guide on removal.

Biden fucked it up

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THIS VIOLATES THE LOGAN ACT , REMEMBER ??? ASSHOLE

Some people love to color outside the lines in order to embellish the truth to feed their own confirmation biases. Kind of exposes their ignorance on claiming to be a subject matter expert. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Millry and Austin are the Beavis and Butthead Show.

And general Milley testified yesterday that they abided by none of them save the one not to attack withdrawing US forces.

But no surprise, you negotiate with terrorists you get punked….

The Afghan government was first put together by Bush long before Obama….