You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Afghanistan
Military expert says General Scott Miller gets the lion's share of blame for Afghanistan debacle
2021-08-26
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] ... claiming by abandoning Bagram he prioritized politics instead of questioning Biden's flawed decision to reduce US troops to just 700
  • Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a war on terror think tank, has blamed the Afghanistan debacle on US General Scott Miller

  • But Generals Kenneth Mackenzie and Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and ultimately President Biden share in the blame, the defense analyst said

  • 'I think Milley understands what a mess this is and what a mistake that was. He's certainly trying to let the s**t roll downhill,' he told DailyMail.com

  • General Miller was behind the decision to abandon the Bagram airbase and use Hamid Karzai International Airport for the evacuation

  • 'Miller was the ground commander at the time and proposed the plan, worked on it with [General Kenneth] Mackenzie, then they pushed it up,' he added

  • Roggio said Biden also insisted on a reducing US forces to just 700 troops - a flawed plan that he believes should have been challenged by military leaders

  • The move backfired when the Taliban swarmed into Kabul within days, surrounding the airport and thwarting the evacuation of US citizens and Afghans

  • 'No one had the vision to say if the Taliban is able to run through Kabul before we execute our withdrawal we're going to be in a world of hurt,' Roggio added

  • Roggio said generals have the duty to stand up to potentially flawed ideas but claimed some are 'climbers' and have 'largely become political'
Related:
Bill Roggio: 2021-07-03 23 Killed in Taliban Attacks in Badakhshan, Baghlan: Sources
Bill Roggio: 2021-06-11 US troops pull-out from Afghanistan likely to ignite Pak-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir
Bill Roggio: 2020-10-13 Gov’t Deploys Additional Soldiers to Lashkargah Amid Clashes with Taliban
Related:
Scott Miller: 2021-08-16 Biden Rejected Advice of Military Generals Ahead of Afghanistan Withdrawal: Report
Scott Miller: 2021-07-14 Britain to leave 100 troops beyond military mission end in Afghanistan
Scott Miller: 2021-07-07 Afghan troops filmed laying down arms
Posted by:Skidmark

#16  /\ ...leaders of the Democratic Party like Nancy Pelosi.
Posted by: magpie   2021-08-26 17:43  

#15  This debacle goes right to the top. So far it has been blamed on everyone else.
Posted by: JohnQC   2021-08-26 14:46  

#14  Now, let's see...where is the buck supposed to stop?
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2021-08-26 14:11  

#13  At this point it is important to prevent documentation from being lost.

Plenty of time to investigate this. Beginning in a few weeks.
Posted by: Lord Garth   2021-08-26 14:06  

#12  "If Trump had only ordered mandatory Drag Queen Shows 3 years ago, we'd be 3 years ahead of our current decision making!"
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-08-26 12:22  

#11  If Miller suggested closing the airbase he should be placed alongside Custer.

If Miller was ordered to do so he should have resigned his commission to make a point of how stupid the move was. The fact that Mackenzie went along with it shows we have a problem in our high ranks.
Posted by: ruprecht   2021-08-26 11:34  

#10  #7 Possible suicide bombing at the Kabul airport.
Posted by Besoeker

Looks like we lost the race against time...it was, unfortunately, inevitable. The initiative has shifted to ISIS in that AO...cementing the fact that this is a major symbolic disaster as well on the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

And in those 20 years we haven't even mustered the political will to try and convict the 9/11 masterminds (KSM et al) in in the military commissions in GTMO.
Posted by: Tennessee   2021-08-26 10:51  

#9  This is a political fuckup and not military. The commanders do what they're told. Sure, some can be self-serving but ultimately they're soldiers, not independent campaigners like the tribals there.

Any blame rests on the entire process... the Doha talks, that Khalilzad fellow, Biden, his Secretary Llyod Token and the CIA buffoons trusting in ANSDF intel and ISI goodwill.

If the military was really let loose on Afghanistan, sans 'hearts and minds' bullshit and ROEs dictated out of some EU thinktanks, American forces could cull every militant minded sasquatch and put an end to any Pakistani ambitions for AFG.
Posted by: Dron66046   2021-08-26 10:18  

#8  Ref #6: Spot on. CENTCOM has OGA reos on senior level staff. Nothing gets out of there without OGA check off.
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-08-26 10:10  

#7  Possible suicide bombing at the Kabul airport.
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-08-26 10:03  

#6  Miller was the USFOR-A Commander...without planners and tasked to close the bases...more or less a tactical guy with a withering staff being told to do more with less. Not defending him but good grief.

The SECDEF and CENTCOM Commander have the planners and political weight and are responsible for the strategic duties...where the catastrophe happened. This is on Austin and Biden.
Posted by: Tennessee   2021-08-26 09:57  

#5  The Daily Mail has fairly good coverage. Our MSM is worthless. Worse, they are aiding and abetting a criminal organization.
Posted by: JohnQC   2021-08-26 09:23  

#4  /\ Talks about Open Source Center.
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-08-26 07:55  

#3  Blaming General Miller is short-sighted. He could only have done what he was told to do.

More from the FDD: 'Sarah Carlson - The Evacuation of Libya.'

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies is a 501 non-profit think tank and registered lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C., United States. Its political leanings have been described as hawkish and neoconservative, though it is officially nonpartisan. Wikipedia
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-08-26 07:31  

#2  Roggio said generals have the duty to stand up to potentially flawed ideas but claimed some are 'climbers' and have 'largely become political'

Given that the military leadership challenged Trump at every turn - but rolled over and played dead for Biden* - this is kind of a 'No shiat, Sherlock' moment.

Mike

*I don't give a rat's behind what leaks are coming out that the military 'pushed back' and warned Biden that this would happen - if they'd have treated his plan the same way they treated Trump's, we wouldn't be in this up to our necks.
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2021-08-26 07:30  

#1  Success has a thousand fathers, Failure is an orphan

Roggio said generals have the duty to stand up to potentially flawed ideas but claimed some are 'climbers' and have 'largely become political'


Some?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2021-08-26 07:18  

00:00