{"id":2202026,"date":"2024-03-19T16:22:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T20:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/milley-and-mckenzie-testimony-exposes-rift-between-defense-and-state-departments-over-afghanistan\/"},"modified":"2024-03-19T16:27:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T20:27:54","slug":"milley-and-mckenzie-testimony-exposes-rift-between-defense-and-state-departments-over-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/milley-and-mckenzie-testimony-exposes-rift-between-defense-and-state-departments-over-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Milley and McKenzie testimony exposes rift between Defense and State departments over Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmilley-and-mckenzie-testimony-exposes-rift-between-defense-and-state-departments-over-afghanistan%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2202026&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Inside Story: Generals Criticize State Department Over Afghanistan \u2064Withdrawal Chaos<\/h2>\n<p>In gripping\u2063 testimony, <strong>two seasoned military leaders pointed fingers at the State Department<\/strong> for the frantic\u2062 scenes\u2064 witnessed during the United \u2064States&#8217; pullout from Afghanistan. This \u2062stark revelation painted a picture of interdepartmental\u2062 rifts and a disjointed\u200b response to a rapidly deteriorating\u2063 situation.<\/p>\n<h3>A \u200cDelayed Reaction with Dire Consequences<\/h3>\n<p>During an\u2062 intense session before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, <strong>Gen. Mark Milley<\/strong>, \u200cprior chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and <strong>Gen. Frank \u2062McKenzie<\/strong>, erstwhile commander of U.S. Central Command, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tony-bobulinski-testifies-joe-biden-participated-in-familys-chinese-business-deal\/\" title=\"Tony Bobulinski confirms Joe Biden's involvement in family's Chinese business deal\">provided firsthand accounts<\/a> of the events leading up \u200cto the August 2021 withdrawal.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cOn 14\u2063 August, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reporter-grills-pentagon-spokesman-on-afghanistan-prediction-how-could-you-get-that-so-wrong\/\" title=\"Reporter Grills Pentagon Spokesman On Afghanistan Prediction: \u2018How Could You Get That So Wrong?\u2019\">noncombatant evacuation operation<\/a> decision was made by the Department of State and the U.S. military alerted, marshaled, \u2062mobilized, and rapidly deployed faster than any military in the world could ever do,\u201d Milley disclosed. \u201cIt is my assessment that that decision came too late.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The\u2064 blame was placed squarely on the timing of the State Department&#8217;s decision to\u200c initiate a noncombatant evacuation operation \u200d(NEO), action\u2063 that Gen. McKenzie deemed\u200c critically\u2063 delayed, contributing \u2063to the hectic withdrawal.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The State Department&#8217;s NEO order came precariously close to the Taliban&#8217;s takeover of Kabul.<\/li>\n<li>Officials testified that the operation should have been instigated months earlier.<\/li>\n<li>Despite President Biden&#8217;s confidence in Afghan forces, military consensus suggested an earlier evacuation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Presidential Plans\u200b vs. Military Insight<\/h3>\n<p>President Joe Biden&#8217;s declaration \u2062of a military exit from Afghanistan \u200bcame with symbolic timing\u2014intended for\u2062 the 20th anniversary \u200dof the 9\/11 attacks. Despite the Taliban&#8217;s advances, the\u2064 expectation\u200d was that Afghan military strength could \u2062repel the insurgents.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe\u2062 general\u200c consensus of \u2062the military\u200b was that the embassy \u200cshould be coming out roughly speaking the \u2064same time\u2062 we \u2062should be coming out,\u201d Milley added, questioning the feasibility of maintaining an embassy without military support.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>While Biden&#8217;s decision ended the U.S. \u2062military chapter in\u2063 Afghanistan<\/strong>, it also clashed with the counsel of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-forgets-numerous-things-during-abc-news-interview-quote-effectively-ends-ability-to-blame-trump\/\" title=\"Biden Forgets Numerous Things During ABC News Interview; Quote Effectively Ends Ability To Blame Trump\">top military advisors<\/a>, who foresaw the potential collapse\u200b of the Afghan government and security forces under a rushed withdrawal.<\/p>\n<h3>Revisiting the Withdrawal: A Lesson \u2064in Interagency\u200b Coordination<\/h3>\n<p>The post-analysis of\u200d the withdrawal serves as a \u2062stark reminder of the need for\u2064 synchronized actions between the Department of Defense and the State\u200b Department. The evidence presented by Gen. Milley and Gen. \u2062McKenzie illustrates the criticality \u2063of \u200daligning diplomatic strategies with on-the-ground realities.<\/p>\n<p>In retrospect, the\u2064 chaotic exit\u200c from Afghanistan highlights both the valor of the\u200d U.S. military in executing \u200drapid deployment and evacuation operations\u2064 and the complexities of \u200binteragency cooperation in \u200dtimes of crisis. The testimonies offered \u2063a clear-eyed assessment of what went wrong, speaking volumes about internal disagreements and the challenging decisions faced by leaders during pivotal \u200dmoments in history.<\/p>\n<p><em>As the \u2064chapters on the\u200c Afghanistan\u200c withdrawal continue to unfold, deeper insights emerge about the intricate dance between military expertise and diplomatic decisions\u2014a\u200c tale \u200bof lessons learned with hopes of better outcomes in future international engagements.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two former top military officials involved with the United States\u2019s withdrawal from Afghanistan blamed the State Department for the chaos that played out due to what they said was a delay in ordering an evacuation. Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former commander of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2671,"featured_media":2202027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP24079678563452-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2202026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP24079678563452-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2671"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2202026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2202027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2202026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2202026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2202026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}