For the past couple of weeks I have been attempting to draw attention to this segment from a June 23rd congressional hearing. Given the events of the last 24 hours, that specific segment gains a higher level of importance. {Direct Rumble Link} PLEASE WATCH:
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley:
“Bagram is not necessary, tactically or operationally for what we are going to try to do here with Afghanistan. Consolidate on Kabul in defense of their government“.
Full Video Segment Below:
BACKGROUND: People have wondered how the Biden administration could get the collapse of Afghanistan so horribly wrong and botched completely the withdrawal of U.S. forces. To that point there is a little known Question and Answer session by Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO, CD05) that deserves some attention.
On June 23rd, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley testified in front of the House Armed Services Committee about their budget requests. Rep Doug Lamborn took this opportunity, he only had 4 minutes, to ask some very specific questions about Afghanistan and his concerns for early reports of the Taliban surging back into control.
Lamborn asked about the hazard of closing Bagram AFB given the tenuous nature of reliance on one airport in Kabul. Lamborn also asked about the evacuation of U.S-Afghan allies and the risk to women and girls if the Taliban were successful.
What Def Sec Austin and General Milley said in response totally explains why the White House was blind-sided by the Taliban. [WATCH Video at 01:06:56, Prompted]
Given the nature of what has happened in Afghanistan, those totally wrong estimations of the situation in the region should be enough to see both Secretary Austin and General Milley fired. At the very least, reliance on this inept and totally wrong outlook explains why the Biden administration had no idea what was about to happen.
Congressman Doug Lamborn’s questioning was directly on point, and in hindsight, stunningly prescient. Great job by Lamborn!
Hopefully, Austin was wrong when he said that any defense of women and girls in Afghanistan will be contingent upon the U.S. embassy in Kabul. The U.S. embassy in Kabul is no longer there, the Taliban have it.
