(HorizonPost.com) – The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding hearings about the US withdrawal of military forces from Afghanistan. The inquiry includes the aftermath, particularly the abandonment of American citizens and Afghan nationals who had worked with them in the fight against the Taliban. On Tuesday, September 28, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark Milley, and the Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie, took the stand. Their sworn testimonies before the committee directly contradict President Joe Biden’s statements.
Both men are four-star generals, putting them at the pinnacle of military command. They told the senators that they recommended the president maintain a force of several thousand troops in the country. General McKenzie added he talked to President Biden about a similar recommendation from General Scott Miller, who was the commander on the ground at the time.
Top generals told lawmakers under oath on Tuesday that they advised President Joe Biden early this year to keep several thousand troops in Afghanistan. https://t.co/MhedR3tuRp
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) September 28, 2021
When George Stephanopoulos interviewed the president, airing publicly on ABC on August 18, he repeatedly asked him about receiving such advice. Biden kept answering in the negative, at least to the best of his recollection at that moment in time.
Two things suggest the president’s recall might be a bit foggy. The first is Stephanopoulos knew enough to pursue this line of questioning more than a month before this week’s testimony. The second is an article published by the New York Times on April 17 — just 11 days after September 11 was announced as the final exit date — where the headline read, “Biden Rejected Generals’ Views.”
Copyright 2021, HorizonPost.com
