Two former top generals in charge of the 2021 military withdrawal from Afghanistan that left 13 service members dead said the orders to evacuate from Biden came too late to avoid disaster.
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and former Commander U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie revealed critical details about the Biden administration's decision-making process behind the withdrawal, including that the president ignored their warnings.
'On 14th August the noncombatant evacuation operation decision was made by the Department of State and the U.S. military alerted, mobilized and rapidly deployed faster than any military in the world would ever do,' Milley said.Former Gens. Mark Milley and Kenneth McKenzie testified that the State Department acted too slow in ordering the evacuation of Americans from Afghanistan
'It remains my opinion that if there is culpability in this attack, it lies in policy decisions that created the environment.'The conversations between Biden administration officials and the generals on when and how to evacuate were ongoing for months before the August withdrawal. 'I'll be candid; I don't know the exact number of Americans that were left behind because the starting number was never clear.''My personal analysis was that an accelerated withdrawal would likely lead to the general collapse of the Afghan security forces and the Afghan government, resulting in a large-scale civil war reminiscent of the 1990s or a complete Taliban takeover,' Milley said.
'I am personally here today voluntarily to help the families of the fallen, the 13 fallen at Abbey Gate,' Milley said. Christy Shamblin and Alicia Lopez, who also lost family members in the Abbey Gate attack, were also in attendance.Caskets for the 13 fallen service members arrived back to the U.S. aboard a military C-17 on August 29, 2021Code Pink protestors demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war were escorted out of the hearing Tuesday
'I think there were mistakes made in the withdrawal,' he said. 'There's no doubt that mistakes were made by multiple administrations over 20 years.'Milley previously referred to the withdrawal as a ‘logistical success but strategic failure’ and has said he has 'lots of regrets' regarding the operation.
In January, the committee held a hearing on the Taliban's reprisal murders of key U.S. Afghan allies.
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