US Military Admits Withdrawal from Afghanistan Is ‘Strategic Failure’
Top US military officer admits that the withdrawal from Afghanistan amounts to a “strategic failure” that did not go as planned.
Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, called the withdrawal and evacuation operation of US nationals, Afghans, and allies from Kabul during the last weeks of America's longest war a "logistical success but a strategic failure."
A new Wall Street Journal report added that Milley's remarks were made during a contentious Senate session on Tuesday, during which Republicans called for his resignation.
Furthermore, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee slammed General Milley along with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and US Central Command Commander Marine General Kenneth F. McKenzie over the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Lawmakers interrogated the generals' recommendations to President Biden concerning the troops' numbers and whether leaving the country harmed US security and prestige, particularly in light of how the pullout occurred.
The report went on to say that General Milley and others defended the US troop pullout from Afghanistan last month, despite the fact that it did not go as planned.
Milley and McKenzie both stated that they would have liked to keep tens of thousands of US troops in Afghanistan until the war ends.
On his part, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned on Tuesday that future threats from Afghanistan will be difficult, but not impossible, to contain. Under the Taliban's rule, Austin noted that terrorist factions could once again constitute a threat to the US in the coming months.