Key Points
- Gen. Mark Milley is testifying before the Committee on Armed Services.
- The GOP want answers on the botched Afghanistan withdrawal and calls to China.
- Milley contradicts Biden, says he recommended 2,500 troops should have remained.
The news cycle has been rife with epic missteps and disastrous chyrons for President Biden and his administration. At the center of the storm sits General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Today, members of the Committee on Armed Services are asking Milley for details surrounding the botched withdrawal in Afghanistan and the back-channel calls to China.
Starting with Afghanistan, the worst foreign policy disaster in nearly 50 years…
“Although we have completed the withdrawal of American military personnel and over 100,000 civilians from Afghanistan, I remain deeply concerned about the events that accompanied our withdrawal and the ongoing humanitarian crisis,” committee Chairman Sen. Jack Reed said. The “events” of course being the murder of 13 U.S. Service Members by ISIS-K members.
“It was a logistical success, but a strategic failure,” Milley said during the hearing. “And I think those two are different.” Milley also implied he told Biden to keep 2,500 troops in the country.
“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,” Milley told the Committee.
Biden has said that he can’t “recall” that advice; Milley has no plans to resign over the snub.
“Resigning is a really serious thing. It’s a political act, if I’m resigning in protest,” Milley said. “My job is to provide advice. My statutory responsibility is to provide legal advice or best military advice to the president. And that’s my legal requirement. That’s what the law is. The president doesn’t have to agree with that advice.”
Milley was also grilled about the infamous China calls made without President Trump’s knowledge, in which Milley told Chinese officials the U.S. military would not attack.
“At no time was I attempting to change or influence the process, usurp authority, or insert myself into the chain of command, but I am expected to give my advice and ensure that the president is fully informed,” he said.
“My task at that time was to de-escalate.”
According to Fox News, ”The top U.S. military officer said he “routinely” communicated with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, and that such communications are critical to national security.”
Milley also told lawmakers he spoke with journalist Bob Woodward for his most recent book “Peril,” which has many calling for his resignation, including Sen. Marco Rubio who has called the move “treasonous” and “reckless.”
This story is developing.
