Staff Reports
In a recent House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, two former top military officials, Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Frank McKenzie, didn’t hold back in pointing fingers at the State Department for the chaos that unfolded during the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. According to the generals, the State Department’s delay in ordering an evacuation was the root cause of the turmoil that ensued.
Milley and McKenzie testimony exposes rift between Defense and State departments over Afghanistan https://t.co/qwQIdiv83J https://t.co/qwQIdiv83J
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 19, 2024
General Milley didn’t mince words when he declared, “It is my assessment that that decision came too late.” He emphasized that the State Department’s call for a noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO) was made on August 14, just one day before the Taliban seized control of Kabul and a mere 2 1/2 weeks before the military’s scheduled departure at the end of the month. General McKenzie echoed this sentiment by pointing out that the State Department’s procrastination in initiating the NEO directly led to the catastrophic events in August 2021.
Adding to the drama, President Joe Biden’s lofty announcement in April 2021 about the military’s departure timeline and his reassurance in July that the Afghan army could fend off the Taliban only fueled the fire. It’s evident that the U.S. had no intention of evacuating embassy staff or Afghan partners, and the generals insisted that keeping the embassy operational without a U.S. military presence would have been untenable.
To make matters worse, President Biden’s decision to proceed with the withdrawal despite advice to the contrary from his top military advisers further underscored the administration’s missteps. General Milley was convinced that a quicker withdrawal would result in the collapse of the Afghan security forces and government, a prophecy that came true with devastating consequences.
The blame game is in full swing, with the State Department coming under heavy fire from these former military leaders. It’s clear that their frustration with the handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal knows no bounds, and their testimony serves as a scathing indictment of the State Department’s mismanagement in this debacle.
