{"id":670346,"date":"2021-08-21T21:36:08","date_gmt":"2021-08-22T01:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=670346"},"modified":"2021-08-21T21:36:11","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T01:36:11","slug":"reporter-grills-pentagon-spokesman-on-afghanistan-prediction-how-could-you-get-that-so-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reporter-grills-pentagon-spokesman-on-afghanistan-prediction-how-could-you-get-that-so-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Reporter Grills Pentagon Spokesman On Afghanistan Prediction: \u2018How Could You Get That So Wrong?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/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%2Freporter-grills-pentagon-spokesman-on-afghanistan-prediction-how-could-you-get-that-so-wrong%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=670346&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/JK-1-scaled-1.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Fox News reporter Lucas Tomlinson grilled Pentagon spokesman John Kirby during Saturday\u2019s Defense Department briefing over the crisis in Afghanistan and how the administration got the situation \u201cso wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tomlinson reminded Kirby that he said just two days before Kabul fell that \u201cthe city is not, right now, in any imminent threat environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow could you get that so wrong?\u201d Tomlinson pressed.<\/p>\n<p>Kirby responded by claiming that his statement was \u201ctrue\u201d at \u201cthe moment that I said,\u201d even though cities in Afghanistan had been rapidly falling in the days leading up to the fall of Kabul and the Taliban were only miles away from the capital city.<\/p>\n<p>Tomlinson continued by pressing Kirby on issues related to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin\u2019s recommendations being ignored by elected leaders.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the press conference, Tomlinson asked Kirby, \u201cHas the terrorist threat against the United States increased as the Taliban took over the country?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kirby did not respond.<\/p>\n<div id>\n<p><em>REPORTER: John, two days before Kabul fell, you said from that podium, quote, \u2018the city is not, right now, in any imminent threat environment.\u2019 How could you get that so wrong?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MR. KIRBY: In the moment that I said it, Lucas, it was true. And I understand. I\u2019ve seen the reactions out there on social media to what I said.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>REPORTER: The city was surrounded [with] Taliban?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MR. KIRBY: In the moment that I said it, based on what we knew at the time, it was a true statement. And yes, two days later, things dramatically changed. I readily admit that. Things moved very, very quickly, Lucas. And as you heard the chairman up here just a few days ago say that \u2014 you know, that there was \u2014 there wasn\u2019t any indication that, you know, that \u2014 that they had received that things could evolve as quickly as they did. But \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>REPORTER: No indication? Cities have been falling all week, every day.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MR. KIRBY: Yes, I understand, Lucas. I understand. I understand. All I can tell you is in the moment that I made those remarks, they were accurate. [I am] committed 100 percent to being as truthful and as honest up here and as transparent as I can be. And I\u2019m comfortable that while others may ridicule what I say and take issue with it, I\u2019m comfortable that what I\u2019m giving you is the best information I have the moment that I have it. And I would hope and understand that people would see that events have continued \u2014 did and have continued to evolve very, very quickly there.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>To Courtney\u2019s excellent line of questioning, the assessment \u2014 the threat is going to change and it could change literally by the hour. So we\u2019re trying to give you the best we can as \u2014 and lean as far forward as we can in the moment. But that moment\u2019s going to change.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>REPORTER: \u2026but it could be changing by the hour. You said there was no imminent threat of Kabul falling.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MR. KIRBY: That\u2019s \u2014 again, I think I\u2019ve answered the question.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>REPORTER: So 10 years ago then-General Lloyd Austin as head of the U.S. Forces in Iraq recommended to the president not to pull troops out of Iraq. Months ago, now-Defense Secretary Austin recommended the same the same thing in Afghanistan. Is he frustrated that presidents are ignoring him?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MR. KIRBY: The secretary is 100 percent focused on the mission at hand right now, which is a noncombatant evacuation operation. And he\u2019s comfortable that throughout this deliberation, his voice was heard. That he had an opportunity to provide his best advice and counsel to the Commander-in-Chief and to the national security team, as did other leaders here at the Pentagon. It was a very inclusive, very deliberate process, and the Secretary believes that the President was given the benefit of a lot of different views. Not just his, but a lot of different views.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And then the Commander-in-Chief made a decision. That\u2019s how it works. That\u2019s exactly how the process should work. A very calm and deliberate decision-making process. And once that decision is made, you execute. That\u2019s the way this building operates. You execute, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>REPORTER: Is the Secretary frustrated that now not once but twice his advice has been ignored by the \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MR. KIRBY: The Secretary is focused on the mission at-hand, and not revisiting past decisions one way or another. You give your advice and a decision is made and you follow that decision. An order is given, you follow that order, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing. And as you heard the Secretary say, just after the President announced his decision in mid-April that he fully supports that decision. He\u2019s been very clear about that.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>REPORTER: Has the Secretary thought about resigning?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MR. KIRBY: No.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>REPORTER: Quick one.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>(CROSSTALK)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MR. KIRBY: We have to get going, Lucas.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>(CROSSTALK)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>REPORTER: \u2014 Has the terrorist threat against the United States increased as the Taliban took over the country?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>(CROSSTALK)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fox News reporter Lucas Tomlinson grilled Pentagon spokesman John Kirby during Saturday\u2019s Defense Department briefing over the crisis in Afghanistan and how the administration got the situation \u201cso wrong.\u201dTomlinson reminded &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-670346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670346","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}