Headline Roundup • September 29th, 2021
Perspectives: Military Leaders' Testimony on Afghanistan Withdrawal Contradicts Biden
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Top U.S. military leaders are testifying before Congress this week about the recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, and at times have contradicted the image of the situation put forth by President Joe Biden. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, the nation's highest-ranking military officer, called the withdrawal a "logistical success but strategic failure" on Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. In remarks directly following the withdrawal on Aug. 31, Biden called it an "extraordinary success." Milley and Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, each said they recommended to Biden that 2,500 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan. Biden said previously that his decision to completely withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan did not go against military leaders' advice, and that he was not told of a recommendation to leave a small troop presence behind.
Right-rated voices highlighted how the country's top military leaders seemed to be at odds with much of the president's decision-making, framing it as a sign of Biden's purported incompetence as president. Conversely, some left-rated voices said the leaders' testimonies worked in Biden's favor, arguing that they proved that the narrative of a failed withdrawal was "exaggerated and lacked context" and focusing more on the notion that the entire Afghanistan war was a failure. Others on the left disagreed, and said the leaders' testimonies "punched holes" in Biden's public defense of the withdrawal.
Featured Coverage of this Story
ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES
President Biden hopes the political fallout from his botched Afghanistan withdrawal will fade quickly, but Tuesday’s Senate hearing with the secretary of Defense and two top generals doesn’t cast his decisions in a better light.
The hearing underscored that the President acted against the advice of the military in yanking the residual U.S. force from the country. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie both made clear in their testimony that they recommended that about 2,500 U.S. troops stay in Afghanistan to delay...
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Testimony from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday was enlightening in several respects. The two defense officials may not have persuaded those who wanted to continue an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, but they certainly put President Biden’s decision-making in context.
Much of the media’s attention focused on Milley, who at the beginning of the hearing shattered the notion that he had acted outside the chain of command or usurped civilian control in the waning days of...
FactCheck.org
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, contradicted President Joe Biden’s claim last month that top military advisers didn’t recommend keeping a residual force in Afghanistan.
In a Sept. 28 Senate hearing, both generals said they believe the U.S. should have left a residual force of at least 2,500 troops, and that Biden received those recommendations.
But in an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News on Aug. 18, Biden denied that his decision to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan went against the...
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