SecDef Austin and Gen. Milley Defend Operational Decisions That Led to Chaos in the Fall of Afghanistan

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered their first briefing on Afghanistan since Kabul fell on Sunday. The two both delivered statements indicating that the situation in Afghanistan is “personal” to them because they served on the ground in Afghanistan during the 20-year war, as Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said during her briefing shortly before theirs.

Austin was stumped by a reporter’s question outlining the options facing the U.S. forces deployed to Afghanistan over the weekend.

Gen. Milley twice scolded Americans that now is not the time to criticize the decisions made or their consequences, saying there will be time for “AAR” — “after-action reports” — later. . .

Another reporter asked why the military command chose to abandon Bagram Air Base in the month prior to the fall. Austin demurred as if he did not understand or didn’t want to answer the question, and Milley took up answering.

Milley said that based on the number of forces needed to secure both Bagram Air Base and the embassy in the heart of Kabul, the in-country command made the decision to “collapse Bagram” and move forces to concentrate on securing the embassy and that decision was briefed up the chain all the way to the White House. Securing both would have required more forces than the 2,500 that were in country at the time. (Read more from “Secdef Austin and Gen. Milley Defend Operational Decisions That Led to Chaos in the Fall of Afghanistan” HERE)

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