WASHINGTON – US general, and Biden’s top military adviser said theAfghanistan war was lost, but mentioned that keeping forces in the war-torncountry would not have led to a ‘different outcome’.
It was the first time that any US general has bluntly stated that the20-year war ended in defeat. He made the statements during the House ArmedServices Committee meeting as he along with Secretary of Defense LloydAustin were grilled about the decisions they made amid the chaoticevacuation effort in the Afghan capital.
Gen. Milley, who termed the war a strategic failure, didn’t hold troopsindividually responsible saying around 6,000 of them helped evacuate124,000 people in the final weeks. He also added that the US ‘forever war’was lost due to a number of factors spanning over 2 decades.
“It is clear, it is obvious to all of us, that the war in Afghanistan didnot end on the terms we wanted, with the Taliban in power in Kabul”,however, mentioned that “It wasn’t lost in the last 20 days or even 20months”.
On Tuesday, Gen Milley and McKenzie told the Senate committee that theypersonally recommended Us President keep around 2,500 troops on the groundin Afghanistan. Gen Milley added that the US had been taken by surprise bythe sudden Afghan government’s collapse.
Read Top Stories
The hearing of the top US general comes around a month after the chaoticwithdrawal in Afghanistan. Around 182 including 13 US troops also gotkilled in a suicide attack from IS.
Amid the bold statement from US generals, US President Biden defendspullout and declares an end to nation-building. He offered a glimpse of adifferent American foreign policy in the world after the September 11attacks, one that he said would be guided more by competition with Chinaand Russia.
