quote:

Although this might feel good viscerally, its all just posturing for the cameras. This entire hearing is a complete waste of time.

This is every congressional hearing, no matter the topic, no matter who controls the committee.

These things are designed for two things: to allow the reporters to generate headlines, and to allow the congress critter's to generate sound bites for re-election campaign ads.

These are not designed to "inform" the public, they are not designed for "congressional oversight", and they are not designed to "get to the bottom" of things or to "hold people accountable".

Kabuki theater. No accountability. No consequences. Hence, no negative outcomes for the guilty parties. Who will be further emboldened to disregard their oaths AND the Constitution, in their future actions. Regards 18DAI

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
These are not designed to "inform" the public, they are not designed for "congressional oversight", and they are not designed to "get to the bottom" of things or to "hold people accountable".

Which I've come to accept in most cases when the two groups of spoiled irresponsible children are squabbling over money or what bathroom people can use. However, they disgust me when the topic at hand (or should be) isn't why 13 American military lives were squandered irresponsibly, and who knows how many others were rendered permanently disabled, while $80 billion dollars of US military equipment was handed over to a global terrorist organization hell bent on killing Americans. These assholes, not unlike the phony generals sitting in front of them, have no GD clue what their jobs are any more. If this country were to ever face a 'real' military threat, we'd be utterly screwed.

By Bigdeal

"If this country were to ever face a 'real' military threat, we'd be utterly screwed"

quote:

Originally posted by 18DAI:
Kabuki theater. No accountability. No consequences. Hence, no negative outcomes for the guilty parties. Who will be further emboldened to disregard their oaths AND the Constitution, in their future actions. Regards 18DAI

There's accountability and consequences...
Look at the Marine Corps Lt Col that's sitting in the Brig right now.

Oh, wait... you mean for the GUILTY.
Oh no, no consequences for them.

State getting the blame...
While Miley gets plenty of attention for their shortcomings and integrity questions, they're not wrong on this, Kabul and Afghanistan as a whole, was State's responsibility

Scoop: Milley's blunt private blame for the State Department

quote:

In a classified briefing with senators on Tuesday, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley directly blamed the State Department for a botched evacuation from Afghanistan, saying officials "waited too long" to order the operation out of Kabul's airport, two sources with direct knowledge of the briefing told Axios.

Why it matters: Those private remarks were far more blunt than Milley's public testimony, in which the nation's top general said the issue of whether the order should have been given earlier is an "open question that needs further exploration."

The big picture: Two days of testimony from Milley, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, underscore the finger-pointing and deep divisions between the State Department and the Pentagon.

* Lawmakers are demanding accountability over the Biden administration's chaotic exit from Afghanistan, including the failure to evacuate thousands of at-risk Afghan allies and leaving without evacuating all Americans.

* The State Department delayed evacuations at the order of President Biden after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani warned that evacuating Afghan allies earlier would destroy morale and lead to the collapse of the government.

* Republicans have called on Milley, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and even President Biden to resign.

Behind the scenes: During a closed session after Tuesday's public testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) directed a general question to Austin about lessons learned from the withdrawal.

* Milley jumped in to say that the evacuation of civilians — which Duckworth had not specifically asked about — needed to happen earlier.

* The top U.S. general acknowledged that there's often disagreement between the State Department and Pentagon in general, but that it was particularly pronounced in this instance.
* A third source, defending Milley, said the general "wasn't blaming anybody per se, but was speaking from a purely military perspective. The quicker we moved out non-combatants, the safer they would be."

How it works: The State Department is responsible for triggering what's called a noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO), which is carried out by the military.

* Austin testified publicly that he ordered CENTCOM to begin preparing for a potential NEO weeks after Biden's announcement in April that the U.S. would withdraw from Afghanistan.

* But the State Department did not order the mission until Aug. 14 — one day before Kabul fell to the Taliban. A senior State Department official pointed to the fact that, as Milley himself repeatedly testified, nobody believed that the Afghan security forces would collapse in 11 days.

* It was only because the military had prepositioned forces in the region and run practice exercises, Austin testified, that thousands of troops were able to arrive in Kabul and secure the airport after 48 hours of chaos.

For the record: "Following the president’s decision to withdraw U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, CENTCOM updated contingency planning for a non-combatant evacuation operation, in coordination with the Department of State, including Embassy Kabul," a senior administration official told Axios.

* "Senior leaders from the National Security Council, State, DoD, CENTCOM and the intelligence community discussed the planning during a table-top exercise on August 6."

* "During that exercise, no DoD official, civilian or military, argued for triggering a NEO. If DoD had been pushing for an earlier NEO, we would have expected to have heard those calls during the discussion."

Flashback: Blinken was the first senior Biden official to testify before Congress on Afghanistan. He faced sharp criticism and calls to resign from several Republicans but largely remained calm under pressure.

* "We have to admit it was the State Department and the White House that caused this catastrophe, not the Defense Department," Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the House Armed Services Committee's top Republican, said after hearing the generals' testimony on Wednesday.

This guy... Has no clue which side he is on. Rot in prison for all I care.

Scheller Update...

quote:

Originally posted by bozman:
This guy... Has no clue which side he is on. Rot in prison for all I care.

Scheller Update...

That’s why I don’t send my money to anyone, unless I know them personally, they are a member here, or it’s the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

quote:

Originally posted by bozman:
This guy...

There is a strong tendency to forget that the enemy of my enemy is not always my friend.
Crazies can be enemies of everyone, and often are.

I don’t claim any special skill at predicting who will turn out to be a crazy that is the enemy of everyone, but this one’s story was odd from the beginning. If there is something I have learned it is that withholding judgment about people whom I don’t know and especially if I know little or nothing about what they’ve done to attract unwanted attention is usually wise.

Well, there's nothing like shitting on the people who support you.

And from our side, there's nothing like being made a fool of.

He must be the ultimate lone wolf, huh? Fuck everybody, right, man?

I guess the lesson here is, proceed very cautiously. Be sceptical, and if someone kinda acts like a loon, maybe they're really aloon, no matter how much we like what they're saying or doing.

Well I sure as hell didn't give him any money.

I did however think, for a brief moment, that this may have been the beginning of some God's honest pushback.

Jackass is setting himself up to be the darling of no one. Wrecked his retirement, will live the rest of his life with a Dishonorable, and then he shits on people who would have supported him.

I feel bad for his kids. They have one messed-up father.

Future spokesman for Black Rifle Coffee Company perhaps?

Yeah, he's clearly not all that bright. Anybody who's ever been in knew that they would make an example of him. You just don't do what he did and walk away scot-free.

The smart move would have been to resign first then open your yap.

Animals

I'm not trying to be insulting. They behave like animals, so, they're animals. An old barn would be too nice for these animals.

They don't understand basic sanitation, they have no respect for the property of others, they steal from other guests, they have no concept of how to behave in a public place, they stink, they piss on the floors, they tear up their rooms and common spaces in the hotel, they have zero control over their fucking screaming brats, and that's just for starters.

quote:

Originally posted by bozman:
This guy... Has no clue which side he is on. Rot in prison for all I care.

Scheller Update...

I am beginning to suspect a mental break

https://justthenews.com/govern...-withdrawal-released

The Marine Corps officer who was confined to the brig after making social media comments criticizing the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was freed from confinement on Tuesday.

According to Military Times, Lt. Col. Stu Scheller reached a deal with the Marine Corps, resulting in his release. Scheller remains bound by a gag order that prevents him from making more social media videos discussing his case.

Scheller’s attorneys continue to pursue a deal with the military which allows him to walk away with an honorable discharge, as opposed to a lesser discharge.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

?? Scheller trashes Trump. Scheller freed from confinement. ?? related ??

The Group of 20 (G20) held a video conference on Tuesday at which they agreed the Taliban must be actively involved in distributing humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan. The group insisted this concession should not be construed as formal recognition of the Taliban’s legitimacy.

https://www.breitbart.com/nati...umanitarian-efforts/

What could go wrong ?

^^^^^
Shit...Mogadishu Part Deux. Doesn't take a Rocket Surgeon...

[note: pictures and hyperlinks at linked website article]

---------------------------------

ISIS suicide bomber who killed 13 US troops in Afghanistan was reportedly released from prison at Bagram Air Base days before the attack

Ryan Pickrell and John Haltiwanger
Oct 6, 2021, 12:56 PM

•The ISIS-K suicide bomber who killed 13 US troops was a prisoner just days before the attack, CNN and Fox News reported Wednesday.

•The bomber was held at Bagram Air Base, which the US turned over to Afghan forces in July, officials said.

•Thousands of prisoners were freed when Afghan forces in the face of a sweeping Taliban offensive.


The ISIS-K suicide bomber who killed 13 US service members, as well as more than a hundred civilians, was a prisoner at Bagram Air Base just days before the deadly attack, according to multiple reports.

The bomber was identified by ISIS-K as Abdul Rehman Al-Loghri, and two US officials confirmed the dead attacker's identity to CNN.

Bagram Air Base was a key base of operations for the US and its coalition partners until the US military left it in early July, turning it over to Afghan forces the Biden administration said it was confident had the capability and capacity to defend Afghanistan. The prison was already under Afghan authority and had been for years.

But by mid-August, in the face of a sweeping Taliban offensive, the Afghan military and government crumbled.

The bomber who killed so many people at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26 was released from Parwan prison at Bagram Air Base when the Taliban took over the facility on Aug. 15, the same day insurgent forces entered the capital city, Fox News and CNN reported, citing multiple officials and a congressional representative briefed by national security officials.

California Rep. Ken Calvert, the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, told Fox News recently that security officials confirmed "that the Aug. 26 Kabul bomber was a known ISIS-K terrorist that was previously detained at the Bagram prison and was released along with thousands of others just days before the deadly attack."

Both Fox and CNN reported Wednesday that other US officials confirmed Calvert's account, which he said was based on "credible" information from Indian intelligence services.

CENTCOM told Insider that because there is still an ongoing investigation into the incidents at Abbey Gate, it is not in a position to say anything on the matter at this time.

Asked how many ISIS-K prisoners were left at Bagram when the US departed and are believed to have been released in late August, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters that "clearly, it's in the thousands."

The tragic bombing at Abbey Gate on Aug. 26 as the US was carrying out a massive evacuation effort claimed the lives of 11 Marines, one Navy sailor, and one Army soldier. Another 18 American troops were injured. One of the wounded remains in serious but stable condition at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

As the Biden administration continues to face criticism over its handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Republicans have continued to zero in on Bagram, questioning whether keeping a presence there would have made the pullout less chaotic.

During recent congressional hearings on the Afghanistan withdrawal, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley were grilled by lawmakers on the US withdrawal from Bagram.

Austin told the House Armed Services Committee that "retaining Bagram would have required putting as many as 5,000 US troops in harm's way just to operate and defend it. And it would have contributed little to the mission that we'd been assigned, and that was to protect and defend the embassy, which was some 30 miles away."

Austin was also asked by GOP Rep. Vicky Hartzler of Missouri whether the ISIK-K bomber who killed the 13 US service members had been a prisoner at Bagram. Her time expired before Austin was able to answer.

Milley echoed Austin in defending the US leaving Bagram.

"All together securing Bagram would have required approximately 5-6,000 additional troops assuming no indigenous partner force was available," the general said to the Senate Armed Services Committee, adding that Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, not Bagram, was "going to be the center of gravity" for any noncombatant evacuation operation.

[note: pictures at the linked website article]

--------------------------

Exclusive — Rep. Markwayne Mullin: 2- and 3-Year-Old Americans Died in Afghanistan Due to Biden’s Failed Withdrawal

by HANNAH BLEAU 2 Oct 2021

A two-year-old American and 3-year-old American died in Afghanistan as a result of the Biden administration’s failed withdrawal from the country, Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), whose team is working firsthand on the ground to save stranded Americans, told Breitbart News Saturday.

Mullin, who has traveled to Afghanistan and whose team is working firsthand operating what he likened to the underground railroad to get Americans and Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs), and allies out of the Taliban-run country, told Breitbart News Saturday that the Biden administration has failed to assist his team in getting people out of the country, which has resulted in U.S. casualties largely unreported by the Biden administration.

Mullin briefly described what his team is doing in Afghanistan, attempting to get the people Biden abandoned out of the country to safety. Many told him the State Department was not helping them, “So we put a team together real quick. … We had arranged to get them even outside the airport,” he said.

Mullin explained most did not realize many of the people could not even get to the Kabul airport because there were three checkpoints that were “charging between $500 to $1000 to go through.”

“So even to get to the airport for one person, it was $1,500 at the minimum. And you’re talking about a country that didn’t have any banking system,” he said, explaining how his team essentially set up an underground railroad, getting people out of Kabul by transporting them to nearby countries in the region. His team has a full ground operation, operating 20 safehouses and 40 vehicles, and they have been able to move people out “almost every day.”

“I mean yesterday, we got three Americans out and four Brits. The day before that, we got a couple,” he explained, but the successes have not come without devastation. Mullin revealed they have lost a handful of Americans, including a 3-year-old girl and 2-year-old boy.

“The news isn’t reporting it,” he said.

“For instance, we had a 3-year-old girl, that had a severe infection in her legs, and we tried to get her out. We had her in Kabul. We tried to get her out through the airport there … Her parents were LPRs, they’re legal permanent residents of the United States, which means they’re our responsibility,” he said.

Mullin said the State Department would not take them in because the girl’s parents were LPRs.

“And when we realized they weren’t going to let her go through, we took her out on the 31st of August … and started driving her and her family across Afghanistan.”

They eventually got them to the border of Tajikistan, where the ambassador told him that “Washington” told him not to assist Mullin in “any way.”

“And I said ‘excuse me? You can’t — I’m an American citizen. Because he said I wasn’t traveling officially. And I said I know, I’m traveling on a blue passport. I’m not here officially. I’m not here in my official capacity but I’m trying to get somebody, I’m trying to get an American out of a war zone, a war area who needs medical attention. You’re telling me someone from Washington told you not to assist me. Who was it? He said, ‘I can’t tell you that,'” Mullin said.

Mullin said he replied, “If you don’t tell me now, then next time you’re going to hear from me is going to be in another capacity.”

“That’s the only threat, because we’re going to have to find out,” he said, noting that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) promised to have a hearing and investigation on the matter if Republicans take the House back.

“So we may have to wait 15 months, but we’re going to find out,” he added.

“Because they wouldn’t help us get her out, September 10, she passed away from septic,” he said of the American child. “A 3-year-old girl. That was eight days before that that we could have got her out. And she passed away from septic and her parents had to watch her while we could have got her out.”

Her parents, he said, asked him not to reveal her name. He said they do not want anything to do with the U.S. because “they feel like we abandoned their child which we did. Not us, not the guys down there working, but the United States because we could have got her out.”

The congressman said the State Department knows who the girl is. He also revealed that they lost a 2-year-old boy, and his mother on the day 13 U.S. service members died from the attack at the airport, explaining he is certain they were killed at the gate.

“And the State Department hasn’t reported that they were killed at the gate,” he said, explaining they were at the gate because they were going to pull them out. They refused to let them land, but Mullin said “we were already supposed to have them out of that gate.”

“She couldn’t leave, because they couldn’t afford to come back,” he said, noting that CNN reported they died in a rocket attack, which he said is “a lie.” He confirmed these were two American citizens and said the State Department knows because they were approved to pull them out that day.

“Everyone one of these could have got out. It wasn’t like maybe. We could have got them out. We’re getting people out, and we could have got them out. It wasn’t like maybe. We had them in a position to get them out, and the State Department failed to help us. … All they had to do was literally allow them to come in the gate, and we couldn’t get them permission to come in the gate,” he said, explaining that the Biden administration is “not being transparent.”

“They’re not telling the truth of what’s happening. They’re not even telling the truth about why they pull out on the 30th,” he said.

Currently, Mullin said his team is still moving 65 Americans and permanent residents, providing transportation and housing to get them out of the country.