Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan

[Jolly]

Pin the tail on the Trump.

[George K]

Biden Wanted to Leave Afghanistan. He Knew the Risks.

The president’s top generals, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley, urged Mr. Biden to keep a force of about 2,500 troops, the size he inherited, while seeking a peace agreement between warring Afghan factions, to help maintain stability. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who previously served as a military commander in the region, said a full withdrawal wouldn’t provide any insurance against instability.

In a series of meetings leading up to his decision, military and intelligence officials told Mr. Biden that security was deteriorating in Afghanistan, and they expressed concerns both about the capabilities of the Afghan military and the Taliban’s likely ability to take over major Afghan cities.

Other advisers, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, raised the possibility of Taliban attacks on U.S. forces and diplomats as well as the Afghans who for two decades worked alongside them. Ultimately, neither disagreed with the president, knowing where he stood.

Mr. Biden, however, was committed to ending the U.S. military role in the country. The president told his policy advisers the U.S. was providing life support for the Afghan government, which, in his view, was corrupt and had squandered billions of dollars in American assistance, according to current and former administration officials. He wanted to reorient American foreign policy onto what he sees as more pressing international matters, including competition with China, and domestic issues including infrastructure and battling Covid. “I am deeply saddened by the facts we now face, but I do not regret my decision,” he said Monday.

Remember when "Listen to the generals" was an idea?

[Mik]

@jolly said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:

Pin the tail on the Trump.

Exactly. But it won’t work except for those who have already done so. There was no reason at all for Biden to adhere to the existing agreement if he found it flawed. He rescinded plenty of Trump’s work so that dog won’t hunt.

[LuFins Dad]

Pelosi is trying to cover the fact that moderate Dems are going to force her hand on the infrastructure bill and not tie it to the 3.5Trillion giveaway.

[Axtremus]

Investigate, yes. The Afghan war of the last 20 years costs thousands of American lives and multitude of treasure. Why shouldn't Congress investigate?

[Mik]

Because it has been going on for 20 years. If they did not know what was going on the shame lies on them.

[Copper]

@george-k said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:

ask "tough but necessary questions" about why the U.S. wasn't "better prepared for a worst-case scenario involving such a swift and total collapse of the Afghan government and security forces."

But Mr. Biden has already told us it was all his fault.

[Mik]

[kluurs]

@mik said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:

@jolly said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:

Pin the tail on the Trump.

Exactly. But it won’t work except for those who have already done so. There was no reason at all for Biden to adhere to the existing agreement if he found it flawed. He rescinded plenty of Trump’s work so that dog won’t hunt.

No need to fight over this - plenty of blame for everyone. Just stand in line with your plate and wait your turn. Kind of fun for congress to do this - as they too own a piece of this.

[Loki]

@kluurs said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:

@mik said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:

@jolly said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:

Pin the tail on the Trump.

Exactly. But it won’t work except for those who have already done so. There was no reason at all for Biden to adhere to the existing agreement if he found it flawed. He rescinded plenty of Trump’s work so that dog won’t hunt.

No need to fight over this - plenty of blame for everyone. Just stand in line with your plate and wait your turn. Kind of fun for congress to do this - as they too own a piece of this.

Agreed. Way too early as well to draw any conclusions yet.