Top Military Leaders Contradict Pres. Joe Biden’s Statement on U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks ahead of receiving a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the South Court Auditorium in the White House September 27, 2021 in Washington, DC. Last week President Biden announced that Americans 65 and older and frontline workers who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine over six months ago would be eligible for booster shots. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Republican officials are lashing out at President Joe Biden, saying that "Biden lied." This is after top military leaders had contradicted the president's statement regarding U.S.'s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and head of U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie testified under oath in front of Senate Armed Services Committee over the nation's withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to The Daily Wire report.

McKenzie said that he recommended to the president to maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, adding that pulling out all of the forces would inevitably lead to the fall of the Afghan military and government.

Milley noted that he agreed with that assessment.

McKenzie added that he recommended earlier in the fall of 2020 that the U.S. should have 4,500 troops stay in the country at that time.

Biden earlier said in an ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos that no military advisors told him to sustain a small military presence in the country and reconsider the withdrawal deadline, according to a National Review report.

Biden said that no one advised that to him that he can recall.

Biden Under Scrutiny

Some Republican lawmakers have lashed out at Biden, dubbing the original televised statement as a lie, and have criticized Milley for continuing to serve despite Biden snubbing his military assessment.

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse said that Biden lied when he claimed that nobody had recommended having 2,500 troops stay in the war-torn country. Sasse added that it is the worst American foreign policy disaster in a generation.

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton asked Milley why he had not submitted his resignation if his guidance was ignored. Milley replied and said that the president is not obliged to agree with or adopt military service.

He said that it would be an "incredible act of political defiance" for an officer to resign just because his advice was not taken.

Milley noted that the principle of civilian control of the military is absolute, adding that it is critical to this republic.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki took Twitter to express her comments on the matter.

Psaki said that leaving 2,500 troops in Afghanistan would have further the conflict with the Trump administration's deal with the Taliban in mind, according to The Hill report.

The press secretary added that the president is always going to welcome advice. She also said that it is up to Biden to ultimately decide what's in the best interest of the U.S.

U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Pew Research Center noted that 54 percent of U.S. adults say the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan was the right step, while 42 percent say that it was wrong. The survey was conducted on August 23-29.

However, the survey also found that the military pullout was deemed to have failed in achieving its goals, with 69 percent of the public saying so.

Only 26 percent have said that the Biden administration has done an excellent job, while 29 percent say the administration has done a fair job. Forty-two percent said that it has done a poor job.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

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