In March, House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel Chair Jim Banks (R-IN) asked Austin, “Do you have regrets about the withdrawal from Afghanistan?” Austin answered, “I support the President’s decision.”
Trying again, Banks asked, “Do you have regrets about the withdrawal or how the withdrawal occurred from Afghanistan that cost the lives of thirteen of our servicemen?”
This time, Austin’s answer was straightforward: “I don’t have any regrets.”
Banks next wanted to know if anyone in the DOD had faced consequences for a withdrawal he characterized as “deadly, botched, and embarrassing.” Austin responded by boasting, “Our troops evacuated 124,000 people off that airfield.”
Banks again tried to get a responsive answer. “Has anyone been held accountable? If a Navy captain grounded a ship, what happens immediately?”
Austin reluctantly acknowledged the second question, not the first. “Typically, that captain is removed.”
Closing in, Banks asked, “Has anyone been held accountable for what happened in Afghanistan?”
And then the truth came out. “To my knowledge, no.”
Austin’s boasting aside, the Afghanistan withdrawal was a complete failure. Thirteen American servicemen died unnecessarily. An estimated $80 billion of useable military weaponry was left behind for our enemies. There was no success. Whatever number of people were safely evacuated was a result of our enemy letting us leave. And why wouldn’t they? After all, it was in their best interests to have us go, especially in such a humiliating way.
The truth is that thousands of Americans and our allies were left behind, abandoned by the Biden administration. In fact, private Americans organized rescue operations when our government refused to go after those left behind. Can you imagine anything more disgraceful? But the Former military leader and our current Secretary of Defense stands with his president!
What’s even worse was that the disaster was predictable and predicted. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) wants to have made public a dissent cable from 23 American Embassy employees arguing for a more realistic plan of withdrawal. McCaul argues for its declassification because it doesn’t reveal secrets but only confirms how corrupt and incompetent Biden and his military leadership are. The word corruption is justified here because the lives of American servicemen were deliberately sacrificed for political purposes.
In September 2021, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and U.S. Central Command leader General Kenneth McKenzie testified under oath that, contrary to Biden’s claims, “they recommended against Joe Biden’s withdrawal timeline and warned of the impending collapse of the Afghan government. Defense Secretary Austin was in this loop of discussion. Again, sworn testimony from America’s highest military leadership holds that we could and should have avoided the loss of life and weaponry.
Milley’s self-serving testimony might be a bit suspect. In July 2021, shortly before the withdrawal and while in Austin’s presence, Milley assured reporters that despite the narrative that the Taliban are winning, the Afghan security forces “have the capacity to sufficiently fight and defend their country.” Our highest military officials lie with impunity. Why shouldn’t they? Who is going to call them out?
There is one more point to make concerning Austin. Many will recall President Obama’s infamous declaration that the terrorist organization ISIS was not a serious threat. In 2014, he likened them to a “Jayvee team (junior varsity).” Shortly afterward, ISIS proved him shockingly wrong. The basis of his colossal error in judgment was counsel from then-General Lloyd Austin.
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