US general says it's "yet to be seen" if they can stop terrorists from using Afghanistan as a launchpad
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, US CENTCOM commander, said it is "yet to be seen" if the US can deny organizations like al Qaeda and ISIS the ability to use Afghanistan as a launchpad for terrorist activity.
"I think we're still seeing how al Qaeda and ISIS are configuring themselves against the Taliban. We're still seeing whether the Taliban is going to do, so I think — I would not say I'm confident that that's going to be on the ground yet," McKenzie said.
"We could get to that point but I do not have that level of confidence," he added.
12:35 p.m. ET, September 28, 2021
Milley says he spoke with several journalists for books about Trump administration but hasn't read them
From CNN's Ellie Kaufman
(Patrick Semansky/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he spoke with several journalists including Bob Woodward, Carol Leonnig, Philip Rucker and Michael Bender for interviews that were included in different books about the Trump administration when asked by Sen. Marsha Blackburn. Milley also said he had not read any of the books.
Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, asked Milley if he felt he was “accurately represented” in the books, and Milley responded, “I haven’t read any of the books.”
“I’ve seen press reporting of it. I haven’t read the books,” Milley said.
Blackburn asked Milley to read the books and “let us know if you are accurately presented and portrayed.” Milley said he would read them.
12:22 p.m. ET, September 28, 2021
Austin: "Three-star review" underway on strike that killed civilians
Relatives and neighbors inspect the remains of the US drone strike in a residential compound in Kabul on August 30. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the Aug. 29 drone strike by the US military in Afghanistan that killed multiple civilians.
Austin said he has not yet reached out to the aircrew that was operating that aircraft but that the incident is under a "three-star review" by the military.
"I've directed a three-star review of this incident, Gen. Mckenzie did an initial investigation, and I directed a three-star review and so I won't make any comments," he said.
11:58 a.m. ET, September 28, 2021
Top US general calls Afghanistan troop withdrawal a "logistical success, but a strategic failure"
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the non-combatant evacuation mission at the end of August that resulted in over 100,000 people being evacuated from Afghanistan after the capital city of Kabul fell to the Taliban was a “logistical success, but a strategic failure.”
Milley stressed the evacuation of US citizens, other country’s citizens and Afghans from Kabul last month was a “non-combatant evacuation (NEO),” while the actual process of withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan occurred earlier under the direction of Gen. Austin Miller, the former top general in Afghanistan.
Milley called the withdrawal of US troops under Miller’s direction a “retrograde,” and said it was completed by “mid-July.” The NEO was conducted in August after Kabul fell to the Taliban.
“There’s two operations. There’s the retrograde, which Miller was in charge of, and there’s the NEO, which CENTCOM was in charge of. The retrograde was executed and ended by mid-July with a residual force to defend the embassy, the NEO,” Milley said.
12:02 p.m. ET, September 28, 2021
Military leaders' testimony on Afghanistan troop levels appears to conflict with Biden's statements
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler, Christian Sierra and Hannah Sarisohn
President Joe Biden speaks from the East Room of the White House on August 26. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and United States Central Command head Gen. Frank McKenzie said their assessments that the US should maintain 2,500 troops in Afghanistan were their personal opinions, telling lawmakers they would not discuss their specific recommendations to President Biden.
Earlier comments from Milley and McKenzie seemed to contradict remarks Biden made in an interview in mid-August, where he disputed that military advisers told him that he should keep troops in Afghanistan after the withdrawal deadline.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also told lawmakers that he knows Biden “to be an honest and forthright man.”
“Their input was received by the President and considered by the President, for sure. In terms of what they specifically recommended ... they're not going to provide what they recommended in confidence,” Austin said.
Milley told lawmakers that his assessment in fall 2020, which “remained consistent throughout,” was that the US should “keep a steady state” of 2,500 troops.
“I don’t discuss exactly what my conversations are with the sitting President in the Oval Office, but I can tell you what my personal opinion was, and I’m always candid,” he said.
Milley added that at a meeting of top military officials on Aug. 25, they “made a unanimous recommendation that we end the military mission and transition to a diplomatic mission.”
11:33 a.m. ET, September 28, 2021
Defense secretary: "We certainly did not plan against a collapse" of the Afghan government in 11 days
(Patrick Semansky/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about "potential scenarios" that were discussed regarding what would happen in Afghanistan after the US pulled out. He said they discussed "a range of possibilities."
"The entire collapse of the Afghan government was clearly one of the things that, if you look at the intel estimates and some of the estimates that others had made, that could happen," he said.
He added that they did not plan against the possibility of that collapse happening as quickly as it did.
"We certainly did not plan against a collapse of the government in 11 days," Austin said.
11:49 a.m. ET, September 28, 2021
Memos from Milley show timeline of communications between Trump's Defense Department and Chinese officials
From CNN's Zachary Cohen and Ellie Kaufman
(Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times/Pool/AP)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley submitted two unclassified memos to the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding phone calls he had with his Chinese counterpart during the final months of the Trump administration.
Here's what the memos outline:
One of the memos includes a timeline of events regarding when calls between Trump administration Department of Defense officials and Chinese officials took place from November 2019 to January 2021.
The timeline shows Milley talked with General Li in December 2019 and April 2020 as well as the October 2020 and January 2021 calls that had previously been reported.
The January 8 calls between Milley and General Li and Milley and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were first reported in the book Peril from journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. Milley has faced criticism for the calls.
The other memo submitted to Congress provides background information about Milley’s call with Speaker Pelosi on January 8, two days after the insurrection on Capitol Hill. The memo says that Milley “immediately informed” then-Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller about his call with Pelosi. The memo says Pelosi asked for an “immediate phone call to discuss undefined ‘urgent matters,’” with Milley on the morning of Jan. 8. During the call, Pelosi was “concerned and made various personal references characterizing the President,” the memo said.
“I explained to her that the President is the sole nuclear launch and he doesn’t launch them alone, and that I am not qualified to determine the mental health of the President of the United States,” Milley said in his opening statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday.
“At no time was I attempting to change or influence the process, usurp authority, or insert myself into the chain of command, but I am expected to give my advice and ensure the President is fully informed,” Milley said in the memo.
The memo with the timeline of calls between Chinese officials and DoD officials also provides relevant statutory guidance about the Chairman’s role in advising the President of the United States.
“Communication between the President or the Secretary (or their duly deputized alternates or successors) and the CCDRs ‘will be transmitted through the Chairman unless otherwise directed,’” the memo states.
"I'm not going to resign, there's no way," Milley says
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley told Republican Sen. Tom Cotton "there's no way" he would resign after US withdrawal from Afghanistan led to chaos and his recommendations to President Biden on the matter were rejected.
"As a senior military officer, resigning is a really serious thing. It's a political act if I'm resigning in protest. My job is to provide advice," he told Congress. "The President doesn't have to agree with that advice. He doesn't have to make those decisions just because we're generals. It would be an incredible act of political defiance for a commissioned officer to just resign because my advice is not taken."
Additionally, Milley said he feels a sense of duty toward his troops.
"In addition to that, just from a personal standpoint, you know, my dad didn't get a choice to resign at Iwo Jima, and those kids there at Abbey Gate, they don't get a choice to resign. And I'm not gonna turn my back on them...They can't resign, so I'm not going to resign. There's no way."
"If the orders are illegal, we're in a different place. But if the orders are legal from civilian authority, I intend to carry them out," he added.
1:18 p.m. ET, September 28, 2021
Doha Agreement impacted morale and performance of Afghan forces, top military officials say
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
Top military commanders said the Doha Agreement between the US and Taliban inked under the Trump administration negatively impacted the morale and performance of the Afghan security forces.
US officials said the quick collapse under the advance of the Taliban came as a surprise.
However, CENTCOM Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie told lawmakers Tuesday, “it’s my judgement that the Doha Agreement did negatively affect the performance of the Afghan forces in particular by some of the actions the government of Afghanistan was required to take as part of that agreement.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley said it was his assessment that the Doha deal “did affect the morale of the Afghan security forces.”
McKenzie also indicated the removal of US military contractors who supported the Afghan Air Force was also detrimental.
“We had plans in place to try to conduct those operations from over the horizon, they were not as effective as having contractors on the ground, on site, with the aircraft,” he said.