Milley Claimed No-One Saw Afghan Collapse Coming – Cables Show Kabul Embassy Warning of Collapse in July

Wednesday during a press briefing, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley was adamant from his podium when he proclaimed: “There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days.” WATCH (25 secs):

Unfortunately for General Milley, Thursday reports surfaced showing that 23 State Department staff at the Kabul embassy informed Secretary of State Anthony Blinken of exactly that…. Kabul will fall quickly to the Taliban:

[Via Wall Street Journal] … “The cable, sent via the State Department’s confidential dissent channel, warned of rapid territorial gains by the Taliban and the subsequent collapse of Afghan security forces, and offered recommendations on ways to mitigate the crisis and speed up an evacuation, the two people said.

[…] In all, 23 U.S. Embassy staffers, all Americans, signed the July 13 cable, the two people said. The U.S. official said there was a rush to deliver it, given circumstances on the ground in Kabul.  The cable was sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Director of Policy Planning Salman Ahmed.

Mr. Blinken received the cable and reviewed it shortly after receipt, according to the person familiar with the exchange, who added that contingency planning was already under way when it was received, and that Mr. Blinken welcomed their feedback.” (link – paywall)

General Mark Milley will likely be the first, perhaps only, person to get removed.   He is positioned as the scapegoat, and that statement he read was almost certainly given to him to read by people with full knowledge of the State Dept. warning.

The crisis is not accidental.  They knew this was coming.  This crisis is intentional to create cover.