The debacle in Afghanistan is so complete, so total – that I honestly can’t believe that the abandonment of Bagram AFB, the withdrawal from Kabul – is due to incompetence. Sorry, the military that I knew and remember just did not swing that way. Orders to destroy or remove essential gear, orders to set up a system to evacuate American, Allied and Afghan employees – should have been given, should have been given weeks or months ago. Anyone of any degree of authority ought to have seen the hazards in the road to an orderly, efficient, and complete withdrawal – and so the logical mind has to fall back upon calculated malice. Which is it, people? Did the Biden administration calculate to give in to the Taliban for purposes of their own, and at the bidding of whoever has bought them? And why have not any of the military officers involved not resigned their commissions over receiving orders to kark up the withdrawal from Afghanistan? Have they all been bought and paid for with comfortable sinecures at various corporate and media establishments?
It's astounding. This should never have happened, and it happened without a hiccup.
3 comments:
And why have not any of the military officers involved not resigned their commissions over receiving orders to kark up the withdrawal from Afghanistan?
Gen Jack Keane (USA, Ret) was asked a very similar question on Fox News' noon:o'clock news/analysis show regarding where were all the resignations from the generals who had serious principled and moral disagreements with Biden's orders regarding our military leaving Afghanistan before all Americans and Afghan supporters had been evacuated.
Keane responded that it's extremely difficult for generals, who are asking their soldiers to take heavy risks, perhaps to die, to themselves then leave those soldiers through resignation.
My attitude is that that's entirely appropriate for officers of any rank, not just flag, who are in the combat chain of command.
However, there is not a single officer in the Pentagon, up to and including the flags on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who are in any combat chain of command.
Where, indeed, are the resignations of the officers--especially the senior and flag officers--in the Pentagon? Especially the JCS and their deputies? Have they no principles?
The flags on the JCS and their deputies are canonical examples of REMFs.
Eric Hines
Malice towards their enemies, certainly--but I suspect their enemies are other deep staters. Other agencies, other internal empires, the guy he's hoping to best for promotions...
The people on the ground are game pieces; matters of indifference. Trouble for them is good if it makes trouble for your real adversary.
The concept of the JCS was to advise the President and to prepare the training and equipage of the military.
The President actually can get better advice from his combatant commanders, and we have the secure com capability to facilitate the President's convening a conference with them. It also wouldn't hurt the President to get out and go visit, more often, the combatant commands, both headquarters and in the field.
It's time to put the JCS back into its staff role of preparing the training and equipage. That can be achieved by a random decimation of the Pentagon, repeating that two or three times, and then start cutting out the unnecessary slots and incumbents. The combat units always are short of manpower; move a bunch of the decimateds into those units. As subordinates.
Eric Hines
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