Two of the U.S.’ top military commanders, and the nation’s top Pentagon official, affirmed on Capitol Hill Tuesday that President Biden was advised to leave at least 2,500 troops in Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from overrunning the Afghan army — directly contradicting what Biden told ABC News in an interview after the pullout.
During their testimony, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Frank McKenzie were pressed on Biden’s decision to fully withdraw, and specifically asked if they recommended the president leave any troops in Afghanistan following Aug. 31.
“I won’t share my personal recommendation to the president, but I will give you my honest opinion and my honest opinion and view shaped my recommendation. And I recommended that we maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan,” said McKenzie, who as head of Central Command oversaw the final months of the 20-year U.S. war.
Milley, 63, later agreed with that assessment, adding that in 2020, he believed the number of troops “could bounce up to 3,500, maybe, something like that, in order to move toward a negotiated solution.”
“I am required, and the military commanders are required, to give our best military advice, but the decision-makers are not required to follow that advice,” Milley said.
The revelation comes one month after Biden denied any military advisors wanted troops to remain in Afghanistan, telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: “No one said that to me that I can recall.”
The contradiction was brought up and slammed throughout the hearing, with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) accusing Biden of lying to the American people.
“Here’s what I’ve learned so far, number one, the president of the United States lied to the American people about the advice that you gave to him about the military judgment that you provided. I think you’ve all testified to that effect now repeatedly,” he said.
In his testimony, Milley revealed that he originally believed an accelerated withdrawal would risk “losing the substantial gains made in Afghanistan,” would damage US credibility and “precipitate a general collapse [of] the NSF and the Afghan government, resulting in a complete Taliban takeover, or general civil war.”
“Secondly, the State Department and maybe the White House appear to have pushed back the evacuation to such a time that it became a catastrophe, apparently against your advice, though I’d like to learn more about that,” Hawley continued. “And third, for some reasons we still don’t quite understand, the Pentagon failed to plan for the potential collapse of security forces or the collapse of the Afghan government, despite there being quite a lot of mourning.”
The revelation comes one month after Biden denied any military advisors wanted troops to remain in Afghanistan, telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: “No one said that to me that I can recall.”
“Your top military advisors warned against withdrawing on this timeline,” Stephanopoulos said to Biden on Aug. 18. “They wanted you to keep about 2,500 troops.”
“No they didn’t,” Biden shot back. “It was split. Tha — that wasn’t true. That wasn’t true.”
“They didn’t tell you that they wanted troops to stay?” Stephanopoulos pressed.
The president denied again, saying, “Not in terms of whether we were going to get out in a timeframe all troops. They didn’t argue against that.”
The “Good Morning America” co-host pushed Biden further, asking one more time if any of his military advisors told them the US should keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.
“No,” Biden said. “No one said that to me that I can recall.
“Look, George, the reason why it’s been stable for a year is because the last president said, “We’re leaving. And here’s the deal I wanna make with you, Taliban. We’re agreeing to leave if you agree not to attack us between now and the time we leave on May the 1st.”
“I also have a view that the withdrawal of those forces would lead inevitably to the collapse of the Afghan military forces, and eventually the Afghan government,” McKenzie added.
Earlier, Sen. Tom Cotton pressed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, asking whether Biden’s claim that no military leaders recommended leaving a US troop presence was true or not.
While Austin called Biden an “honest and forthright man,” he confirmed Milley and McKenzie’s advice was “received by the president and considered by the president.”
“In terms of what they specifically recommended, Senator, just as they just said, they’re not going to provide what they recommended in confidence.”
The hearing included questions over the predicted suicide bombing at Kabul airport that killed 13 US service members and 169 Afghans — an event that has been widely criticized as avoidable and a result to unforced errors by top military brass.
Milley, during his opening remarks, acknowledged the 13 soldiers who died and “gave their lives [so] people they never met, have an opportunity to live in freedom.”
“We must remember that the Taliban was and remains a terrorist organization, and they still have not broken ties with al Qaeda,” he added.
Milley later confirmed that he believes the US is still at war with al Qaeda and that the terrorist organization has aspirations to “reconstitute” and “strike.”
In his testimony, Milley revealed that he originally believed an accelerated withdrawal would risk “losing the substantial gains made in Afghanistan,” would damage US credibility and “precipitate a general collapse [of] the NSF and the Afghan government, resulting in a complete Taliban takeover, or general civil war.”
Austin, however, had a different view of the US’s credibility, saying it “remains solid” following the withdrawal.
The military leaders were also pressed on the US revenge drone attack that he hailed as a “righteous strike” against ISIS-K — but had actually wiped out 10 civilians, most of them children. While Austin did not make any comments past the investigation into the drone strike, McKenzie took responsibility for the civilian deaths, calling himself the “responsible officer for that strike.”
“We acted based on the intelligence read that we saw on ground. We acted several times on intelligence that we saw, and we were successful in other occasions in preventing attacks,” McKenzie said. “This time, tragically, we were wrong.”
And Milley was challenged over damning reports in a new book that he went behind then-President Trump’s back to deal with China — assuring Beijing officials he would warn them of any planned military actions his commander-in-chief planned.
On Tuesday, Milley defended his calls to his Chinese counterpart, calling the military communications critical “to the security of the United States in order to deconflict military actions, manage crisis, and prevent war between great powers.”
“My loyalty, this nation, its people, and the Constitution hasn’t changed, and will never change,” Milley added — avoiding addressing the allegation that he concealed the communication from then-President Trump.
The general revealed that the calls were generated by “concerning intelligence,” which caused him to believe the Chinese was concerned about an attack on them from the US.
Milley claimed it was his “direct responsibility” to convey to the Chinese that there was no intent to attack.
“My message again was consistent: stay calm, steady and de-escalate. We are not going to attack.”
He later told the committee that he would be “happy to lay out every detail” to any individual member of congress or committee on the Chinese calls.
Milley previously declined to comment on details in the book, “Peril” by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, saying he was saving his answers for the congressional hearings starting Tuesday.
During the hearing, Milley confirmed that he spoke with Woodward for the book, as well as several other reporters including Carol Leonnig, Phil Rucker, and Michael Bender for their books. Milley was unable to say whether he is accurately portrayed in them, as he said he hasn’t read them.
Some questions may also be raised over the military’s apparent use of controversial “woke” policies such as teaching critical race theory — with sources telling Fox News on Tuesday that the obsession with “culture war” issues had “distracted” top brass from the clear impending crisis in Afghanistan.
“They never met once on readiness. But they met every week on transgender issues, extremism, racism, sexual assault, sexual harassment, et cetera,” a former official told the outlet.
“There’s only 168 hours in a week … Yes, they were distracted,” the official said.
Milley faced politicians who have already called for his resignation, accusing him of disloyalty — leading observers to predict the hearings will be among the most contentious hearings in memory.
Others are also comparing its importance to when Gen. David Petraeus was grilled over Iraq in 2007.
Cotton also pressed Milley on why he hasn’t resigned in light of the chaotic Afghanistan crisis.
“It would be an incredible act of political defiance for a commissioned officer to just resign because my advice is not taken,” Milley responded, later hammering down that he has no plans to resign.
Austin and Milley have defended the widely-criticized Afghanistan withdrawal that President Biden ordered in April.
In his opening remarks, Austin stood by the US’s decision to end all evacuation efforts before September, saying extending beyond the end of August would have “greatly imperiled our people in our mission.”
“The Taliban made clear that their cooperation would end on the first of September,” Austin said. “And as you know we face grace and growing threats from ISIS-K. Staying longer than we did would have made it even more dangerous for our people, and would not have significantly changed the number of evacuees we could get out.”
Regarding the fall of Afghanistan’s government, Austin simply said, “We could not forge a nation.”
Hawley also slammed Austin during Tuesday’s hearing, calling the decision to leave Americans in Afghanistan past the withdrawal deadline a “disgrace.”
“We have people who are desperately, frantically, trying to get out of this country — coming to me, coming to members of this committee asking for help — they can’t get that help,” the Republican said. “They’re stuck behind enemy lines, so please don’t tell me that we’re not leaving Americans behind. You left them behind, Joe Biden left them behind, and frankly, it was a disgrace.”
Hawley later called for both Milley and Austin to resign, calling the mission a “catastrophe.”
“I think there’s no other way to say it, and there has to be accountability,” he said.
When pressed on what led to the fall and how US intelligence could miss the warning signs, Milley admitted there was a “lot of intelligence that clearly indicated that after we withdrew, that it was a likely outcome of a collapse of the military and collapse of the government.”
That intelligence, however, indicated a collapse in the fall or early winter.
“There is no intel assessment that says the government’s gonna collapse and the military’s gonna collapse,” Milley added.
The general put blame for this on pulling advisors three years ago, leaving the US unable to assess leadership.
“We can count all the planes, trucks, and automobiles, and cars and machine guns, everything else. We count those who have space and all the other kind of intelligence, but you can’t measure the human heart of the machine.”
All three witnesses were asked several times how many Americans are remaining in Afghanistan following the end of the troop withdrawal, and all declined to provide specific numbers. Austin told the committee that the State Department would have the most accurate number of Americans left, however that department has also declined to provide a specific number in recent weeks.
“The Biden administration’s avalanche of incompetence has damaged our international reputation and humiliated the United States on the world stage,” Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, both Republicans, wrote in the Des Moines Register.
“Yet, our president and secretary of state continue to pretend that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was a historic success.”
