They Never Let Us Down.
Who never lets us down? The Trumpist GOP in Congress. They constantly seek the opportunity to score what they see as political points, barbs, and "gotchas" against Democrats and, most notably, Biden.
Today, I spent way too much time at my desk finalizing my tax return. Yes, I had to extend, so the deadline is fast approaching.
So, I listened to all of the testimony by Generals Milley, McKenzie, and SecDef Austin in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
I also got to witness (in audio anyway) the rank partisanship, spin, and gaslighting by Republican members of this Committee. As distasteful as that was, I have to admit it brought to the forefront again the nearly unprecedented nature of our political landscape today and caused me to have to recount my impressions. Indeed, we have had acerbic, volatile divisions in Congress in the past. That does not make the current state any less dangerous or troubling.
I heard three-lifetime military professionals, all of whom have served our country in distinguished careers, answer a few relevant and thoughtful questions almost exclusively asked by Democrats. I also had to listen to irrelevant, inarticulate, and factually incorrect grandstanding by most of the Republican members. After sitting through that discomfiture, the witnesses then had to answer unfounded, ridiculous questions from the Trump-infected GOP Senators. They acquitted themselves admirably.
It is not possible to recount 6 hours of testimony here without wearing out my welcome, but I will attempt to highlight the worst. By no means do I claim to have captured all of the puffery or blatant slanted attacks on Biden.
After making an incoherent opening speech, during which she incorrectly stated the 101st Airborne is based in her state, Marsha Blackburn asked General Milley if he had spoken to authors of various books currently in the news and if he was represented accurately therein. He agreed he had, but he had not read the books and could not say if his comments were accurately quoted. She suggested he should read the three books and report back to the Committee? Excuse me, what? Is this an assignment for a book report? Is this what we ask Senators to do? Even in Tennessee?
Senator Tom Cotton asked Milley why, after his advice to Biden was not followed to the letter, he did not resign? Cotton knows better than even raise that issue. The role of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is to advise the Commander in Chief. With his response, Milley put Senator Cotton in a locker and walked away. But, is it acceptable for a Senator who regularly references his military experience to distort the lawful relationship between the Military and the Executive? The explanation is that Cotton is bowing to what he perceives to be his base of GOP supporters, given his ambitions for a Presidential run in 24.
Several GOP Senators selectively quoted from Biden's interview with Geoge Stephanopolous. They claimed that quote, "Biden said we would stay in Afghanistan until we got all Americans out." I have the transcript from the ABC interview here: https://tinyurl.com/5ajwaakw
Although it is, in fact, somewhat mixed, Biden did not say, "We will stay until all Americans are out." Here are the relevant quotes from that interview.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So Americans should understand that troops might have to be there beyond August 31?
BIDEN: No. Americans should understand that we're gonna try to get it done before August 31.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But if we don't, the troops will stay--
BIDEN: If -- if we don't, we'll determine at the time who's left.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And?
BIDEN: And if you're American force -- if there's American citizens left, we're gonna stay to get them all out.
The context in this quote requires an appreciation of nuance. While I recognize this is unclear and could be construed as a commitment to stay, it's clear that Biden was saying he wanted and expected to get out all Americans who wanted to get out by August 31. Of course, no competent, sincere leader would purposely leave citizens behind in a dangerous situation. The facts inform us that State in April 2021 began issuing warnings and strong recommendations to US Citizens in Afghanistan to leave. As late as August 30, Secretary Blinken reported that State had attempted to contact all US Citizens they knew of to find ways to get them to the airport and evacuate. Not all US Citizens took action based on these warnings. In fact, US Citizens are not required to self-report to State what country they are currently residing and working in.
Senators should know these facts. Senators on this Committee should also clearly understand that intelligence about the status of US Citizens abroad could be sensitive and classified, especially in circumstances where we are making covert efforts to evacuate them. Yet, at least 6 of the GOP Senators today demanded the number and status of Americans remaining in Afghanistan or chastised the leaders of Defense and State for deferring the answer.
In what has become a standard Senatorial tactic, Senator Dan Sullivan R Alaska previewed his series of questions to the witnesses as a "lot of simple, yes or no questions." The questions were anything but. The series of questions were open-ended, loaded bombs that could not be answered yes or no. The Senator cut off each attempt at a reasoned answer with: "That's a yes" or "That's a no." "The statement (credited to Biden) was untrue" So, how many of us wish, in some instances, we could answer our own questions?
At times, I think it is appropriate to ask closed-end questions and demand yes or no answers when witnesses prevaricate. These questions at this time were not of those circumstances. Is this what we ask our Senators to do in service or our Democratic Republic?
There is room for criticism of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Objective critiques would infer that we should have anticipated the collapse of the Afghan Military given the rampant corruption of the ranks in this tribal region. We should have foreseen the double-dealing of the Taliban leadership. When in the course of history has any government gotten all contingencies correct?
I came away from these hearings with the sense that our Military is in good hands. I am grateful that General Milley is our Chairman of Joint Chiefs, Austin is our SecDef, and we have Generals like McKenzie in Centcom.
We had to get out of Afghanistan. It was never going to be clean or easy. It did not matter how much longer we stayed; it would only have been more difficult. The Taliban owned Trump and Pompeo in February of 2020 for purely selfish, political motives.
The agreement they signed made it more difficult and dangerous. It is disingenuous to claim that Biden could have overturned this as he has other Trump orders. Overturning Trump on the Paris Climate Agreement, the Iran Nuclear Talks, the various EPA regulations would not have put American troops in harm's way. Of course, this is not something Republicans will admit, but it is the truth. There is a significant difference in these situations. Any competent political leader would understand this. Until we can return to some form of consensus on supporting American democratic norms, we will be fighting against the division currently plaguing our country.