Austin and Milley finally stuck their heads out in a joint presser.
Austin flatly stated there is NO plan to send forces out to retrieve people. He obfuscated and hemmed and hawed, about ‘coordination’ with unspecified people.
Milley refused to answer, saying he was not going to divulge operational plans.
When pushed, he added “That is a State Department function. We have a ‘capability’ and will execute however directed.”
Austin then muddied the waters by saying there was no capability to go collect ‘large numbers’ (undefined) of people.
Meanwhile, the Brit SAS folks are going out in town and ‘collecting’ their folks…
Austin was then pushed on his answer and said, “That is a State Department function. We will ‘facilitate’ the entry points 24/7.”
When asked about the missing weapons, neither would own up to that either, or the issue of closing Bagram before the civilians were evacuated!
And more interesting, when asked then pressed about the ‘timeline’ of failure, neither would say anything about what the ‘military’ thought.
Milley said, “There was nothing, that I or anybody else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days,” Bulls**t! They had the Lead Inspector General report on Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS) in hand, and it spelled things out!!!
Talk about dereliction of duty, and leaving US citizens and others in the lurch! Damn… They should resign IF they had any honor… but they don’t…
And what did Xiden do yesterday? Snuck in, gave a presser on the WuFlu update, and bolted again without answering a single question! HE should also resign, if he had an ounce of honor, but we know he doesn’t…
And what’s really irritating — as if all that weren’t enough — I’ll bet the guys and gals lower in the chain — say, perhaps, E8 or E9 and below, know perfectly well they could go with their Brit friends (and real cheers to those folks, by the way — they understand loyalty and commitment) and get folks out, but the upper commissioned ranks won’t let them. It might embarrass someone…
Not my fault, I voted for Trump. This is worse than the Vietnam fiasco. Do not trust the career politicians. I watched as my service in Nam and others that made the ultimate sacrifice was wasted and now another generations sacrifice is wasted by cowardly politicians. The whole Afghan situation was mishandled from the beginning.
“There was nothing, that I or anybody else saw that indicated a collapse of this army”
Funny, that was exactly the reason they gave for sneaking out of bases in the middle of the night, that the Afghan forces were so riddled with spies that they would collapse like a rotten porch with a hippo dancing on it.
They knew.
Well done to the blades from Hereford. I’m sure they would have welcomed the company of your guys. It’s just a shame your upper ranks, both military and political traded their balls in for promotions and shiny decorations.
Seriously, is anybody really surprised by this?
The fun part is watching the press try and cover for Biden during this.
And it’s with high confidence that we can predict if it gets worse, Biden and State will be sheltered and DoD will take the hit.
Sounds a lot like the Benghazi “stand down” of the QRF, doesn’t it? Honor is not a word in any of these idiots’ vocabulary – damn them all! You know the boots on the ground would go out in a heartbeat to retrieve the folks…
x2
Just another brick in the wall, the wall of lies that is.
We have been lied to endlessly about almost everything.
Another ‘little’ thing not discussed is the taliban going house to house taking all civilian firearms. Disarming the people.
Sound familiar? If you are disarmed, you cannot resist. The taliban clearly have learned from our dimocrats.
This s**t storm is so big even the American Media Maggots (h/t BZ) can’t make it look like ice cream.
We Viet Nam Veterans hoped, at least, that our “leaders” had learned something from that chaotic failure.
We did not.
I’m getting DAMNED tired of repeating the George Santayana quote.
And I wonder at what point our young living treasure will no longer feel comfortable going to a recruiting office. 🙁
My son graduated high school in 2013 with the US Marines on his mind. While I would have been proud to see him do it, I talked him out of it instead. I could see that we were pouring our blood and treasure into the sand and it was being swallowed up without a trace.
I’d be uncomfortable with any of my grandchildren selecting a military career.
I wouldn’t have said that a year ago, but today, it’s not the way to go.
Treachery and gross incompetence at the highest levels. It’s just where we are now.
All- Thanks and as usual, NO disagreement. The embarrassment is not going to be able to be swept under the rug! And yes, the troops would have been out there in a heartbeat!
What LL said about military career. Between feckless leaders and stupid bullscat and a coming enforced dictat of ‘Jab or Out!,’ what hope is there?
My nephew/Godson has gone career National Guard. I so worry about him daily. Under the 2nd Worst President Ever he sat on base and did nothing for 4 years while in the Air Force, but he got out and joined the Nat Guard and has been sent here and there almost continuously (he said Puerto Rico was, in some ways, worse than Iraq.)
Over at Chant du Depart, I stated that we’ve become France. Good people, good soldiers, feckless leaders and socialist city folk who control everything.
And I stand by that statement. We aren’t the United States, we have become the états-Unis.
Hell, we can’t even control Mexico. Oh, God, we really are France.
Not ‘los Estados Unidos’? The rate your demographics are changing under Biden, than can’t be too far away.
Habla Espanol, BadFrog?
How long before “Spanish as the National Language” is on the ballot?
Si, un poco, vato. Benefits? Green card? SNAP? That seems to be enough to get in, I mean ‘by’ these days.
My grandson has just entereed the Army and is in basic training. I worry about him with the cowardly leadership from the White House to the Pentagon. I hope they do not get the US into another fiasco.
Based on their current form, I believe it is more likely ‘when’ rather than ‘if’. I can only hope they do not precipitate an civil war through over-reaction to this debacle, a war that no-one wins.
Everything said here is spot on. But what no one mentions is the repeat in the years of training, money, equipment, blood spent in an attempt to help people defend their homeland from the bad guys. Vietnam was the not the first. The Marshall Plan was. This is another. Our Foreign Policy has to stop this lunacy. We want what others have, minerals, resources, just like China does today.
No one asks for Democracy. But we offer it because. And they will take whatever we are “willing” to give them and we give so generously, don’t we? Politicians and Bureaucrats, career Diplomats give freely because it is not theirs but they cash in in so many other ways that they betray their oaths. The stupidity has to stop somewhere. Right now, the enemy, both foreign and domestic is in the gates and we face an existential threat, an eminent threat and it is time to focus on that as the primary one. Not over there! Right here, right now.
The truth and nothing but the truth.
To me, these creatures must intend the harm they do to America, both at home and in the world, because they could not do evil in so many ways by accident or incompetence.
Our allies know that we can no longer be trusted, as our leaders have been bought by our enemies.
Our military now knows that they can not trust their commanders to spend their lives well, or for good purpose, and this will show in retirements / ETS and in recruiting dropping to near zero.
Our key mioitary technology will be in China next week, and the IFF coding will be in their equipment next month.
With Afghanistan as an example, China will probably move against Taiwan in late October / November, as soon as the Northern Pacific is clear of storms.
Russia will likely move on the Baltic States in Spring, and if theybhave the troops available, on the Stans as well.
We are having a bad year for feed / food grains, and are still wasting food to make fuel alcohol.
I fear that the Four Horsemen are saddling up.
John in Indy
They should have gotten the civvies out, and then blown the every lovin’ shit out of anything and everything “left behind”.
Like the Navy did to Sandy Eggo in the Calexit book….scorched earth, and nothing less.
This. Why did no one at least toss a parting grenade into the vehicles, or booby-trap the weapons stocks. (OK, yeah, I know, international law about leaving mean surprises or something, but . . .)? There is NO excuse for the excuse makers.
All- You’re ALL correct… dammit…
Official name is, Estados Unidos Mexicanos
These uSA went from a voluntary union of sovereign States to a unitary centralized government a la Mexico.
These uSA are/is already Mexico. The rest will follow in time with the help of the guilt ridden idiots.
Jamie- Probably… dammit…
On the one hand, I’m glad I’m an old man. But oh, my children and grandchildren!
Yes, our children but that just proves Santayana was right about history repeating itself. The human creature is ignorant and too full of himself to learn from the past. Short sighted planning and actions lead to ignoring and avoiding the hard stuff. Isn’t it any wonder that only the 1-3% actively serve this country in military service? And with numnuts running the show, why would anyone in his right mind join a failing institution? They’d be better off getting ready to fight as part of the militia.
What’s with all you guys blaming the “beaners?” The fault lies with the political crooks making bank on all this crap! Your anger should be directed at them. Most of them are Attoooorneys, Lawwwwyers, those who think they know better than the rest of us. Stop picking on the little guys. Who is it that makes the laws, pays the lobbyists, and hangs the fruit of “free stuff” in their face and then cares not about protecting the border? Cut the crap bunch of cowards!