Are the Joint Chiefs of Staff largely to blame for this Afghan fiasco?

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When I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2001, it was clear to me that the cultural divide between America and Afghanistan was as deep as the English Channel.

So it’s no surprise to me that 20 years later the Taliban are more powerful than ever and that the American and allied house of cards is collapsing like a sand castle swept away by the rising tide.

I’ve been writing about this for years now.

Who is to blame?

Lots of blame to go around

Ultimately, the president is responsible, but it’s easy to blame him. This is especially true if you make an emotionally charged decision, which is understandable given the current fiasco: 12 dead Marines and a member of the Marine Corps, and our political duopoly which also divides us into two teams in America.

However, it is not that simple.

The top US military leadership shares much, if not most, of the blame for decades of poor decision-making.

The most senior military officer who advises the President and Secretary of Defense on military affairs is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), General Mark Milley.

General Milley and the rest of the JCS staff are tasked with advising the president and his superiors on Afghanistan, and I think it’s fair to assume that their advice has been terrible given what is going on. passes in front of us right now.

President Biden said in his press conference yesterday: “There has been complete unanimity from all commanders on the objectives of this mission and on how best to achieve those objectives. “

It is a stunning admission. Wasn’t there a single commander who expressed a different opinion? Not one? The best military decisions tend to be those where dissenting opinions are sought and carefully considered. If no one disagrees, something is wrong with the way you chose the people to advise you. Say what you want about President Trump, but he seemed to pick people who often disagreed with him. Even in public. Where are all the open letters, resignations and press leaks from national security and military professionals who have graced the pages of newspapers over the past four years?

Did those same military leaders unanimously approve the decision to provide the Taliban with a full list of Afghan American citizens who have cooperated with the United States? You would think that it would be impossible for a group of people to collectively do something so stupid and deadly dangerous, but it happened.

The most powerful military fighting force the world has ever seen not capable of removing American and Afghan loyalists in a dignified and orderly manner?

Shame on the Joint Chiefs for the current debacle. And shame on you, Mr. President, for burying your head in your notebook in what was anything but an act of leadership. The leader of the free world can never look so weak, shaken and desperate in front of our enemies, let alone the entire planet.

Read more: Can the Afghan army defeat the Taliban? The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs thinks so

Who is General Mark Milley?

As his biography says,

“Prior to becoming the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark A. Milley was the Army Chief of Staff. He has held a number of staff and command positions, including as the commanding general of the Joint Command of the International Security Assistance Force and deputy commanding general of US forces in Afghanistan. Originally from Massachusetts, Milley graduated from Princeton University in 1980, where he received his Army ROTC commission. He holds two master’s degrees: in international relations from Columbia University and in national security and strategic studies from the US Naval War College.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff consist of the President, Vice President, Chief of Staff of the Army, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the Army of the air force, commander of the Marine Corps, chief of the National Guard Bureau and chief of space operations.

Other Joint Chiefs of Staff currently serving are: USAF Gen. John E. Hyten, Army Chief of Staff James C. McConville, Marine Corps Commander, Gen. H. Berger, Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael M. Gilday, Chief of Air Force Personnel Charles Q. Brown Jr., Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John W. Raymond, and Chief of the Bureau of the National Guard, General Daniel R. Hokanson.

How did we get here?

In 20 years, two trillion dollars and thousands of American lives have been sacrificed, and now 13 more names are added to a long list of American fighters lost to the Afghan meat grinder.

I find it hard to believe that President Biden is not doing what his military leaders, especially President Milley, a regular in Afghanistan, and the director of the CIA (who apparently met the Taliban in secret). recommend.

In the video above, General Milley says, “There is a possibility of a complete takeover by the Taliban or a possibility of a number of other scenarios, breakdowns, warlords, all kinds of things. ‘other scenarios.

Could the chiefs of staff not choose the most likely scenario as the Taliban advanced on Kabul at highway speed, or did they give this “scenario” the same weight as a Another possible “scenario” like an alien invasion of the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy landing in Kabul? The Joint Chiefs are supposed to assess the most likely scenario and advise the president on it, not just imagine endless scenarios to contemplate.

The president is not up all night moving pieces across the chessboard and planning a withdrawal himself. It must rely on the advice of its senior military leaders on the best course of action, which they clearly did not do in this case.

The same military leadership that wrongly advocated staying in Afghanistan is still making the same bad (now fatal) decisions we are on how to leave.

If the JCS were a state-owned company, the management would be fired and the company would go bankrupt and be investigated by the SEC like ENRON.

So let’s try to keep things in perspective as the Afghan fiasco continues and the end of the game is now set in stone contrary to General Milley’s statements in the YouTube video above.

Thinking lucidly about the root cause of what got us here in the first place and who did it will help hold the right people accountable and ensure Americans make better decisions. Especially when it comes to choosing who we elect in the future and choosing to promote the military chain of command.

President Biden is to be blamed for taking horrible advice from the Joint Chiefs, but that, “Buck That Stops Here” also went through the offices of the Joint Chiefs, who gave him that advice.

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