1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,889 Senator . Sullivan thank you . Mr 2 00:00:01,889 --> 00:00:04,000 Chairman . And just to my colleague's 3 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:05,944 statement , it's a little bit rich 4 00:00:05,944 --> 00:00:07,944 coming from one of my colleagues on 5 00:00:07,944 --> 00:00:07,840 this committee wants to gut the 6 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,450 military and its readiness . So but 7 00:00:10,450 --> 00:00:12,617 that's a whole other issue . I want to 8 00:00:12,617 --> 00:00:15,600 get back to my line of questioning from 9 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,544 this morning . And I will tell you 10 00:00:17,544 --> 00:00:19,600 again gentlemen , I've never seen so 11 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:21,267 much anger , at least from my 12 00:00:21,267 --> 00:00:23,950 constituents who have written a fiasco 13 00:00:23,950 --> 00:00:26,350 humiliation , a president who is 14 00:00:26,940 --> 00:00:29,190 consistently telling falsehoods to the 15 00:00:29,190 --> 00:00:31,380 american people . And the issue there 16 00:00:31,380 --> 00:00:34,850 is no accountability and you 17 00:00:34,850 --> 00:00:37,710 gentlemen have spent decades serving 18 00:00:37,710 --> 00:00:39,780 your country honorably in combat . I 19 00:00:39,780 --> 00:00:41,613 have the utmost respect for your 20 00:00:41,613 --> 00:00:44,890 service , your fidelity to America and 21 00:00:44,890 --> 00:00:46,890 importantly , you've dedicated your 22 00:00:46,890 --> 00:00:48,834 lives to an institution that has a 23 00:00:48,834 --> 00:00:52,250 culture of strict accountability and 24 00:00:52,250 --> 00:00:54,910 responsibility up and down the ranks . 25 00:00:54,910 --> 00:00:57,270 I mentioned a few examples this morning . 26 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,780 The collisions of the USs , McCain and 27 00:00:59,780 --> 00:01:01,947 Fitzgerald , everybody up and down the 28 00:01:01,947 --> 00:01:04,113 ranks including the three star Admiral 29 00:01:04,113 --> 00:01:06,113 was relieved the recent very tragic 30 00:01:06,113 --> 00:01:08,169 marine A . V . Accent , everybody up 31 00:01:08,169 --> 00:01:10,250 and down the ranks including the 32 00:01:10,740 --> 00:01:12,907 commanding general of the first Marine 33 00:01:12,907 --> 00:01:15,640 Division was relieved . If you're a 34 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,170 Marine or Army second lieutenant 35 00:01:18,180 --> 00:01:20,620 training your platoon on patrol in one 36 00:01:20,620 --> 00:01:23,220 of your soldiers , loses his N . V . Gs 37 00:01:23,220 --> 00:01:25,790 or his rifle . That lieutenant is going 38 00:01:25,790 --> 00:01:27,901 to get relieved . But on this issue , 39 00:01:28,540 --> 00:01:30,596 one of the biggest national security 40 00:01:30,596 --> 00:01:32,850 fiascos in a generation , no one is 41 00:01:32,850 --> 00:01:36,280 accountable and the american people are 42 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,710 livid because they saw it . They see it . 43 00:01:38,710 --> 00:01:42,030 They know it's a debacle . General 44 00:01:42,030 --> 00:01:43,974 Milley this morning . You call the 45 00:01:43,974 --> 00:01:46,800 afghan retro grade a logistical success 46 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,600 but quote a strategic failure . I 47 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:51,711 appreciate your honest assessment . I 48 00:01:51,711 --> 00:01:53,822 believe the President , United States 49 00:01:53,822 --> 00:01:57,050 is solely responsible for this . Mr 50 00:01:57,050 --> 00:01:59,340 Secretary . Do you know if anyone the 51 00:01:59,340 --> 00:02:01,118 national security adviser , the 52 00:02:01,118 --> 00:02:03,230 Secretary of State or undersecretary 53 00:02:03,230 --> 00:02:05,620 for policy of duty has offered their 54 00:02:05,630 --> 00:02:08,040 resignation to take responsibility for 55 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,450 this fiasco . I do not 56 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:14,807 okay I do not but I don't believe they 57 00:02:14,807 --> 00:02:16,696 have . Okay thank you . Given the 58 00:02:16,696 --> 00:02:18,918 military culture of accountability that 59 00:02:18,918 --> 00:02:21,130 all of you gentlemen come from . And 60 00:02:21,130 --> 00:02:23,320 again I respect that more than almost 61 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,870 anybody . Have any of you offered your 62 00:02:26,870 --> 00:02:29,620 resignation to the president at any 63 00:02:29,620 --> 00:02:32,340 time since his decision to withdraw and 64 00:02:32,340 --> 00:02:34,284 General Milley , I understand your 65 00:02:34,284 --> 00:02:36,710 earlier answer to this question that 66 00:02:36,710 --> 00:02:38,990 senior military advisers and officers 67 00:02:38,990 --> 00:02:41,680 can't resign every time . They disagree 68 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:43,791 with the President . I actually agree 69 00:02:43,791 --> 00:02:45,902 with that . But after the President's 70 00:02:45,902 --> 00:02:48,013 decision when the american people see 71 00:02:48,013 --> 00:02:51,340 such a strategic failure as you called 72 00:02:51,340 --> 00:02:54,130 it , that's undermining our national 73 00:02:54,140 --> 00:02:56,910 security , they expect 74 00:02:57,190 --> 00:03:00,960 accountability and there has been none . 75 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:04,640 So have any of you accepted that 76 00:03:04,650 --> 00:03:07,570 accountability or responsibility ? I'm 77 00:03:07,570 --> 00:03:09,681 accountable for my actions and no I'm 78 00:03:09,681 --> 00:03:11,737 just talking about a resignation . I 79 00:03:11,737 --> 00:03:13,514 have not submitted my letter of 80 00:03:13,514 --> 00:03:16,260 resignation . Mr Sector general . I 81 00:03:16,260 --> 00:03:17,982 have not submitted a letter of 82 00:03:17,982 --> 00:03:20,430 resignation . This secretary . I want 83 00:03:20,430 --> 00:03:22,750 to know what will it take for someone , 84 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:27,240 anyone in the biden administration to 85 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,860 take responsibility or accountability 86 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:33,840 for this national security fiasco . 87 00:03:34,940 --> 00:03:37,630 Anyone senator from a D . O . D . 88 00:03:37,630 --> 00:03:39,797 Perspective . again , you heard me say 89 00:03:39,797 --> 00:03:41,686 that we'll continue to review our 90 00:03:41,686 --> 00:03:45,150 actions and uh and we won't hesitate to 91 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,780 uh to be critical of ourselves . Uh and 92 00:03:47,780 --> 00:03:50,260 if there's uh if there's someone that 93 00:03:50,260 --> 00:03:52,149 should be held accountable for an 94 00:03:52,149 --> 00:03:54,380 action and we'll certainly do that , I 95 00:03:54,380 --> 00:03:56,713 want to switch topics here very quickly . 96 00:03:56,713 --> 00:03:58,769 General Milley , do you think if the 97 00:03:58,769 --> 00:04:02,320 Chinese Communist Party decided to 98 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,310 invade Taiwan , would their military 99 00:04:05,310 --> 00:04:07,643 leadership call and give you a heads up ? 100 00:04:09,740 --> 00:04:12,030 I think there'll be a period of 101 00:04:12,030 --> 00:04:13,863 increased tension indicators and 102 00:04:13,863 --> 00:04:15,808 warnings and I think there'd be an 103 00:04:15,808 --> 00:04:17,919 exchange of various communications at 104 00:04:17,919 --> 00:04:20,141 all levels . Uh Department really think 105 00:04:20,141 --> 00:04:22,670 that and I think you really you really 106 00:04:22,670 --> 00:04:25,100 think the Chinese Communist Party head 107 00:04:25,100 --> 00:04:27,267 of their of the P . L . A . Would call 108 00:04:27,267 --> 00:04:29,322 and say hey general that's why we're 109 00:04:29,322 --> 00:04:31,544 going to get ready to invade Taiwan . I 110 00:04:31,544 --> 00:04:31,460 just thought I'd give you a heads up . 111 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:34,130 You think you know I honestly think 112 00:04:34,130 --> 00:04:36,297 that I know I'd call him and ask him , 113 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,180 no I'm asking another question . Do you 114 00:04:39,180 --> 00:04:41,910 think he'd give you a heads up ? I 115 00:04:41,910 --> 00:04:44,690 think the invasion of Taiwan . I think 116 00:04:44,700 --> 00:04:46,811 I think an invasion of Taiwan to be a 117 00:04:46,811 --> 00:04:48,978 fairly obvious thing to pick up on and 118 00:04:48,978 --> 00:04:51,144 then I didn't that's not what I let me 119 00:04:51,144 --> 00:04:53,478 ask you . Let me ask a related question . 120 00:04:53,478 --> 00:04:55,700 Sure I think the answer to that is no . 121 00:04:55,700 --> 00:04:57,867 I think if the head of the P . L . A . 122 00:04:57,867 --> 00:04:59,978 Called you and said hey we're getting 123 00:04:59,978 --> 00:05:02,144 ready to invade Taiwan and she Jinping 124 00:05:02,144 --> 00:05:01,560 found out about it . He'll be shot . 125 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,460 But let me ask a related question . You 126 00:05:06,460 --> 00:05:08,293 said you were quote certain that 127 00:05:08,293 --> 00:05:10,182 president trump did not intend on 128 00:05:10,182 --> 00:05:12,349 attacking china . That's what you just 129 00:05:12,349 --> 00:05:14,127 said yet . You're quoted in the 130 00:05:14,127 --> 00:05:16,810 Woodward book is telling the the top 131 00:05:16,820 --> 00:05:18,987 chinese communist military commander , 132 00:05:18,987 --> 00:05:22,110 quote if we're going to attack I'm 133 00:05:22,110 --> 00:05:25,260 going to call you ahead of time . 134 00:05:27,740 --> 00:05:29,796 Is that true ? General Milley ? Well 135 00:05:29,796 --> 00:05:31,962 let me tell you what I actually said . 136 00:05:32,140 --> 00:05:34,307 That's not true . I hope that . Let me 137 00:05:34,307 --> 00:05:36,418 tell you what I actually said Senator 138 00:05:36,418 --> 00:05:38,473 what I said if there's going to be a 139 00:05:38,473 --> 00:05:40,696 war uh if there's going to be an attack 140 00:05:40,696 --> 00:05:42,696 there's gonna be a lot of calls and 141 00:05:42,696 --> 00:05:44,918 tension ahead of time . But what you're 142 00:05:44,918 --> 00:05:46,918 gonna get you're gonna get a call . 143 00:05:46,918 --> 00:05:49,140 Your senators all president trump would 144 00:05:49,140 --> 00:05:51,362 not attack . That's your testimony this 145 00:05:51,362 --> 00:05:53,584 morning . That is true . Then why would 146 00:05:53,584 --> 00:05:56,250 you and I was I was communicating to my 147 00:05:56,250 --> 00:05:59,130 chinese counterpart on instructions by 148 00:05:59,130 --> 00:06:02,590 the way to de escalate the situation 149 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,220 and I told him that we are not going to 150 00:06:05,220 --> 00:06:08,420 attack President trump has no intent to 151 00:06:08,420 --> 00:06:10,990 attack . And I told him that repeatedly 152 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,222 and I told him if there was going to be 153 00:06:13,222 --> 00:06:15,111 an attack there will be plenty of 154 00:06:15,111 --> 00:06:17,222 communications going back and forth . 155 00:06:17,222 --> 00:06:19,333 Your intel system is going to pick it 156 00:06:19,333 --> 00:06:21,278 up . I said I'll probably call you 157 00:06:21,278 --> 00:06:20,800 everybody would be calling you we're 158 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:22,911 not going to attack you . Just settle 159 00:06:22,911 --> 00:06:25,133 down . It's not going to happen . And I 160 00:06:25,133 --> 00:06:27,350 did it twice in october , in january . 161 00:06:27,940 --> 00:06:30,107 I think if you're giving a heads up to 162 00:06:30,107 --> 00:06:32,273 the chinese Communist Party , I didn't 163 00:06:32,273 --> 00:06:34,329 give him a heads up . We're going to 164 00:06:34,329 --> 00:06:34,040 tell because we weren't going to attack , 165 00:06:34,050 --> 00:06:36,200 we're going I'm going to call you for 166 00:06:36,210 --> 00:06:38,377 being faithful to the President of the 167 00:06:38,377 --> 00:06:40,860 United States is intent was was being 168 00:06:40,860 --> 00:06:42,804 faithful to his intent . Senator , 169 00:06:42,804 --> 00:06:44,749 thank you very much . Uh , Senator 170 00:06:44,749 --> 00:06:48,420 Peters please thank you . Mr 171 00:06:48,420 --> 00:06:51,780 Chairman Secretary Austin , in your 172 00:06:51,790 --> 00:06:54,320 confirmation hearing , you spoke of 173 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,070 focusing on our shared interest with 174 00:06:57,070 --> 00:06:59,370 Pakistan . Uh , readout from your 175 00:06:59,370 --> 00:07:02,020 august call with Pakistan's Chief of 176 00:07:02,020 --> 00:07:04,350 Army Staff contained some similar 177 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:06,830 language that you expressed my question 178 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:08,840 to you . Could you could you please 179 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:11,620 elaborate for this committee and what 180 00:07:11,620 --> 00:07:14,350 you view as our shared interest with 181 00:07:14,350 --> 00:07:16,800 Pakistan today ? And I'm particularly 182 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,200 interested in how this relates with the 183 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,200 Pakistani government's relationship 184 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,311 with the Taliban now that the Taliban 185 00:07:23,311 --> 00:07:25,060 are in power in Afghanistan . 186 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,607 Well , thanks , Senator . I think that 187 00:07:29,607 --> 00:07:32,200 one key uh , shared interest is the 188 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:34,550 prevention of a humanitarian disaster 189 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,500 in uh , in Afghanistan or in the 190 00:07:38,500 --> 00:07:41,940 region . Uh , and so I think we'll 191 00:07:41,940 --> 00:07:44,300 continue to share that interest . I do 192 00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:46,300 think there is some intersection in 193 00:07:46,300 --> 00:07:49,530 terms of certain types of terrorist 194 00:07:49,540 --> 00:07:53,240 activity that I think , uh , we can 195 00:07:53,250 --> 00:07:57,060 both remain focused on , uh , and uh , 196 00:07:57,070 --> 00:08:00,130 again , an in depth conversation 197 00:08:00,130 --> 00:08:03,260 about , about Pakistan 198 00:08:03,260 --> 00:08:05,800 probably would be better suited in a 199 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,540 closed hearing there very well . Yeah , 200 00:08:09,940 --> 00:08:12,460 yeah , I understand that there were 201 00:08:12,470 --> 00:08:14,480 certain airplanes , helicopters and 202 00:08:14,490 --> 00:08:17,310 ground vehicles that were disabled as 203 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,290 forces left and as the Afghan forces 204 00:08:20,290 --> 00:08:22,457 were overrun . And right now , I don't 205 00:08:22,457 --> 00:08:24,568 want to talk about the operability of 206 00:08:24,568 --> 00:08:27,140 of a humvee or Mm rap or the pictures 207 00:08:27,140 --> 00:08:29,251 we saw of Taliban sitting on grounded 208 00:08:29,251 --> 00:08:32,410 C130s . What concerns me more is the 209 00:08:32,420 --> 00:08:34,970 potential for our strategic adversaries 210 00:08:34,970 --> 00:08:38,030 to have some time and space to examine 211 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:40,262 the technology inside those vehicles to 212 00:08:40,262 --> 00:08:43,170 to find vulnerabilities . And uh , even 213 00:08:43,170 --> 00:08:46,200 if if if a system has been disabled in 214 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,490 some ways destroyed , reverse 215 00:08:48,490 --> 00:08:51,020 engineering can still be used on those 216 00:08:51,030 --> 00:08:53,630 systems and can provide information to 217 00:08:53,630 --> 00:08:56,110 sophisticated adversaries that may get 218 00:08:56,110 --> 00:08:58,443 a hold of this . And as all of you know , 219 00:08:58,443 --> 00:09:00,610 we harden our supply chains to protect 220 00:09:00,610 --> 00:09:02,777 military technology . It's a matter of 221 00:09:02,777 --> 00:09:04,832 national security . So , my question 222 00:09:04,832 --> 00:09:06,832 for you , Secretary Austin , is the 223 00:09:06,832 --> 00:09:08,999 department now conducting an extensive 224 00:09:08,999 --> 00:09:10,888 counterintelligence assessment of 225 00:09:10,888 --> 00:09:13,380 equipment to get a sense of what might 226 00:09:13,380 --> 00:09:15,560 be reverse engineered and how do we 227 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,940 protect against any use of that 228 00:09:18,940 --> 00:09:22,380 information against our forces ? We 229 00:09:22,380 --> 00:09:24,770 will continue to assess what's 230 00:09:24,780 --> 00:09:28,030 exploitable senator . Uh , I would flag 231 00:09:28,030 --> 00:09:31,200 for you that uh , all of this 232 00:09:31,210 --> 00:09:34,060 equipment is not high end equipment . 233 00:09:34,540 --> 00:09:36,651 Uh , you know , again , the equipment 234 00:09:36,651 --> 00:09:39,110 that that we had for our use was retro 235 00:09:39,110 --> 00:09:42,130 grated as General Miller drew down the 236 00:09:42,140 --> 00:09:44,307 retrograde equipment and drew down our 237 00:09:44,307 --> 00:09:47,590 forces . I also like to flag for you 238 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,420 sir that while the number $84 billion 239 00:09:50,420 --> 00:09:53,120 dollars has been uh Has been bounced 240 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:55,430 about quite a bit . Um that's the 241 00:09:55,430 --> 00:09:57,450 number that we invested in Afghan 242 00:09:57,450 --> 00:10:00,140 security forces over a 20-year period 243 00:10:00,140 --> 00:10:03,160 of time . Uh and um 244 00:10:03,740 --> 00:10:07,060 Less than 20% of that was was dedicated 245 00:10:07,060 --> 00:10:09,282 towards Afghan equipment . Most of that 246 00:10:09,282 --> 00:10:11,810 money was was focused on sustainment 247 00:10:11,820 --> 00:10:14,150 and salaries and those types of things . 248 00:10:16,740 --> 00:10:18,920 General Mackenzie , if you could go 249 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,420 back in time and change one thing about 250 00:10:21,420 --> 00:10:23,587 the strategy in the last six months of 251 00:10:23,587 --> 00:10:25,750 operations in Afghanistan which could 252 00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:28,200 have alleviated some of the chaos that 253 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,080 we saw at the end . What would it be in 254 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:32,969 the last in the last six months , 255 00:10:32,969 --> 00:10:34,913 Senator would of course in for the 256 00:10:34,913 --> 00:10:37,080 decisions made we're going to zero . I 257 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:39,302 think I go back to could we have gotten 258 00:10:39,302 --> 00:10:41,469 more people out earlier in the process 259 00:10:41,469 --> 00:10:44,180 by that . I mean U . S . Citizens and 260 00:10:44,180 --> 00:10:46,600 uh I know the embassy put out at least 261 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:48,656 it doesn't notices to us citizens to 262 00:10:48,656 --> 00:10:50,767 leave . I know that the ambassador is 263 00:10:50,767 --> 00:10:52,933 very aggressive on that . I would like 264 00:10:52,933 --> 00:10:55,100 to maybe have seen done more . They're 265 00:10:55,100 --> 00:10:57,433 more done in that regard . Additionally , 266 00:10:57,433 --> 00:10:57,060 perhaps to try to get more of the S . I . 267 00:10:57,060 --> 00:10:59,116 V . Population out . But Senator , I 268 00:10:59,116 --> 00:11:01,060 think we need to recognize that if 269 00:11:01,060 --> 00:11:03,227 you're asking the afghans to fight and 270 00:11:03,227 --> 00:11:05,282 at the same time you're bringing out 271 00:11:05,282 --> 00:11:07,171 the best and the brightest that's 272 00:11:07,171 --> 00:11:09,116 clearly a conflicting message that 273 00:11:09,116 --> 00:11:11,171 you're sending them . So I don't say 274 00:11:11,171 --> 00:11:10,810 that lightly or recognize that wouldn't 275 00:11:10,810 --> 00:11:12,977 be inherent risk in taking that course 276 00:11:12,977 --> 00:11:15,032 of action . So there would have been 277 00:11:15,032 --> 00:11:17,143 risk doing those things . There would 278 00:11:17,143 --> 00:11:16,630 have been in my judgment . Yes but 279 00:11:16,630 --> 00:11:18,852 that's that's the way that we could you 280 00:11:18,852 --> 00:11:20,908 know , could have been more forceful 281 00:11:20,908 --> 00:11:20,560 with our own citizens . Although you 282 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:22,730 know there are very strict limitations 283 00:11:22,730 --> 00:11:24,508 on what you can say or do to an 284 00:11:24,508 --> 00:11:26,841 american citizen abroad for good reason . 285 00:11:26,841 --> 00:11:29,008 So I think you know you're sort of you 286 00:11:29,008 --> 00:11:28,760 got to trust the good judgment of the 287 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:30,816 people of the american citizens that 288 00:11:30,816 --> 00:11:33,060 are in Afghanistan ? Right thank you . 289 00:11:33,070 --> 00:11:35,070 Thank you . Mr Chairman thank you . 290 00:11:35,070 --> 00:11:37,181 Senator Peter . Senator Cramer please 291 00:11:37,181 --> 00:11:39,460 Thank you . Mr Chairman Secretary 292 00:11:39,460 --> 00:11:43,430 Austin . Why did the committee not get 293 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,600 the testimony for today ? Until 1035 294 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:47,933 last night ? Were you guys not prepared ? 295 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:54,230 We were prepared . Uh And again I I 296 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:56,810 don't know the specifics of what what 297 00:11:56,810 --> 00:11:59,850 last minute uh uh adjustments were 298 00:11:59,850 --> 00:12:02,210 being made at what level but we were 299 00:12:02,210 --> 00:12:04,530 prepared . Well was must not have been 300 00:12:04,530 --> 00:12:06,474 a level below you then or you'd be 301 00:12:06,474 --> 00:12:08,697 aware of it ? Right ? So you have to be 302 00:12:08,697 --> 00:12:08,650 a level above you . In other words , 303 00:12:08,650 --> 00:12:10,539 did the White House withhold your 304 00:12:10,539 --> 00:12:12,650 testimony ? General Milley . Were you 305 00:12:12,650 --> 00:12:14,872 did you have your testimony done before 306 00:12:14,872 --> 00:12:16,872 10:35 last night ? We did . But the 307 00:12:16,872 --> 00:12:18,761 White House wasn't withholding my 308 00:12:18,761 --> 00:12:21,260 testimony , know who was 309 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:24,496 nobody . I mean , you have to submit 310 00:12:24,496 --> 00:12:26,551 when you submit written documents as 311 00:12:26,551 --> 00:12:26,450 you well know , you have to submit him 312 00:12:26,450 --> 00:12:28,561 to O . M . B . Uh they review them in 313 00:12:28,561 --> 00:12:31,330 the afternoon . We got him back , I 314 00:12:31,340 --> 00:12:33,451 don't know , 18 , 1900 something like 315 00:12:33,451 --> 00:12:35,618 that . And then uh we made the changes 316 00:12:35,618 --> 00:12:37,840 and submitted them and yes we were late 317 00:12:38,540 --> 00:12:41,780 but it wasn't , you know , it was only 318 00:12:41,790 --> 00:12:45,560 okay to block . It was somebody's 319 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:47,560 strategy is my guest just might not 320 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:49,616 have been yours , but it clearly was 321 00:12:49,616 --> 00:12:51,727 somebody's General Mackenzie little . 322 00:12:51,727 --> 00:12:53,782 About half hour ago you said we know 323 00:12:53,782 --> 00:12:55,893 for certain ISIS intends to attack us 324 00:12:55,893 --> 00:12:55,760 at home or something to that effect . 325 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,120 Right . Is that correct ? That's 326 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,560 correct . So 20 years ago on September 327 00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:03,440 11 When the terrorist hijackers took 328 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:07,440 over four aircraft and and uh attacked 329 00:13:07,450 --> 00:13:10,380 the Homeland ? All of them came here on 330 00:13:10,380 --> 00:13:13,790 a visa , correct ? Now in the last 20 331 00:13:13,790 --> 00:13:17,590 years , Al Qaeda , ISis Taliban , they 332 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:19,822 haven't acquired I . C . B . M . S . Or 333 00:13:19,822 --> 00:13:22,210 Navy or Air Force as far as we know . 334 00:13:22,220 --> 00:13:24,500 So if they are going to carry out that 335 00:13:24,500 --> 00:13:26,611 intent , they're going to have to get 336 00:13:26,611 --> 00:13:29,260 here themselves and that means either 337 00:13:29,260 --> 00:13:32,850 through a visa program or as refugees 338 00:13:32,850 --> 00:13:34,690 across the southern border . My 339 00:13:34,690 --> 00:13:36,468 question to all of you is isn't 340 00:13:36,940 --> 00:13:39,162 national security tied directly to good 341 00:13:39,162 --> 00:13:41,329 immigration security . And do you feel 342 00:13:41,329 --> 00:13:43,440 like we're adequately prepared for to 343 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:45,930 protect the homeland from uh from visa 344 00:13:45,930 --> 00:13:48,152 holders and refugees center in the case 345 00:13:48,152 --> 00:13:49,874 of ISIS . I think we've done a 346 00:13:49,874 --> 00:13:51,708 remarkable job over the last two 347 00:13:51,708 --> 00:13:53,597 decades about hardening the entry 348 00:13:53,597 --> 00:13:55,652 process and making it very difficult 349 00:13:55,652 --> 00:13:57,763 for them to get their agents into the 350 00:13:57,763 --> 00:13:57,570 United States . And that's a matter of 351 00:13:57,570 --> 00:13:59,737 record just based on performance . The 352 00:13:59,737 --> 00:14:01,959 same thing with a q a larger discussion 353 00:14:01,959 --> 00:14:04,181 about immigration . I defer to defer to 354 00:14:04,181 --> 00:14:06,459 the secretary of the department . Well , 355 00:14:06,459 --> 00:14:06,130 I would submit to you that as good as 356 00:14:06,130 --> 00:14:08,130 the work's been done in the last 20 357 00:14:08,130 --> 00:14:10,790 years , the last uh six or seven months . 358 00:14:10,790 --> 00:14:12,734 It's been pretty well degraded . I 359 00:14:12,734 --> 00:14:15,950 would say others immigration policy 360 00:14:15,950 --> 00:14:18,172 pretty important to national security . 361 00:14:20,140 --> 00:14:22,870 It absolutely is Senator . And again , 362 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,720 I I wouldn't wanna again that's the 363 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:29,710 domain of secretary my orcas uh and I 364 00:14:29,710 --> 00:14:33,220 know that he and uh he and the inter 365 00:14:33,220 --> 00:14:35,387 agency or continue to work very hard . 366 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,410 All right . According to centcom press 367 00:14:38,410 --> 00:14:41,450 release . General post strike . This is 368 00:14:41,450 --> 00:14:43,561 a quote now . Post strike reflections 369 00:14:43,561 --> 00:14:45,561 indicate that that cabbie Roddy was 370 00:14:45,561 --> 00:14:47,506 directly connected to the ISIS K . 371 00:14:47,506 --> 00:14:49,506 Leaders that coordinated the august 372 00:14:49,506 --> 00:14:52,190 26th attack at at the airport . The way 373 00:14:52,190 --> 00:14:54,412 I read that the actual ISIS K . Leaders 374 00:14:54,412 --> 00:14:56,523 who coordinated the attacks are still 375 00:14:56,523 --> 00:14:58,980 out there . Is that true ? I'd prefer 376 00:14:58,980 --> 00:15:01,202 to talk about it in private . I thought 377 00:15:01,202 --> 00:15:03,369 you might I look forward to that And I 378 00:15:03,369 --> 00:15:03,290 yield back thank you . Mr chairman . 379 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,096 Thank you very much Senator Cramer . 380 00:15:06,096 --> 00:15:08,480 Now let me recognize Senator doc Worth , 381 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:12,070 please ? Thank you . Mr Chairman Mr 382 00:15:12,070 --> 00:15:14,126 Secretary I just wanted to say thank 383 00:15:14,126 --> 00:15:16,237 you . I just received the letter this 384 00:15:16,237 --> 00:15:18,348 morning um in response to that I have 385 00:15:18,348 --> 00:15:20,403 written to you and Secretary Blinken 386 00:15:20,403 --> 00:15:24,090 asking about the process of certifying 387 00:15:24,090 --> 00:15:26,257 that somebody did work for the D . O . 388 00:15:26,257 --> 00:15:29,140 D . As a contractor . Um And I I do 389 00:15:29,140 --> 00:15:31,960 want to say that the response is a good 390 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:34,580 one I think you've made uh with regards 391 00:15:34,580 --> 00:15:38,010 to Project Rabbit which um I'll give 392 00:15:38,010 --> 00:15:40,177 you a couple minutes to talk about but 393 00:15:40,177 --> 00:15:42,500 it seems that you've reviewed over 7800 394 00:15:42,500 --> 00:15:44,667 employment records and match over 3400 395 00:15:44,667 --> 00:15:46,889 of those pre com applicants . Would you 396 00:15:46,889 --> 00:15:48,889 like to talk about Operation Rabbit 397 00:15:48,889 --> 00:15:51,030 just a little bit . Well only to say 398 00:15:51,030 --> 00:15:52,919 that you know I mentioned earlier 399 00:15:52,919 --> 00:15:55,460 senator that this when this question 400 00:15:55,460 --> 00:15:57,690 came up that this is important to us . 401 00:15:57,700 --> 00:16:00,200 Uh We think we have to do everything we 402 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,130 can to shorten the amount of time that 403 00:16:03,130 --> 00:16:05,352 it takes for somebody who's worked with 404 00:16:05,352 --> 00:16:07,770 us before to be able to verify that 405 00:16:07,770 --> 00:16:09,870 that they have worked with us . Uh 406 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,213 We're going to continue to work on this . 407 00:16:12,213 --> 00:16:14,150 And and again one of my major 408 00:16:14,150 --> 00:16:17,550 directorates is focused on this uh uh 409 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:19,616 and we'll work with the committee on 410 00:16:19,616 --> 00:16:22,110 this if uh if you have further 411 00:16:22,110 --> 00:16:23,943 requirements but thanks for your 412 00:16:23,943 --> 00:16:26,120 support in this regard . Thank you and 413 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,120 I know each one of us probably does 414 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:30,370 have folks who contacted our office 415 00:16:30,380 --> 00:16:32,213 seeking help and verifying their 416 00:16:32,213 --> 00:16:34,400 employment as a contractor , not just 417 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:36,622 under D . O . D . But also with State ? 418 00:16:36,622 --> 00:16:39,030 Um I'd like to change uh shift gears a 419 00:16:39,030 --> 00:16:40,752 little bit and talk about marc 420 00:16:40,752 --> 00:16:43,000 fredericks . Um although military 421 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,222 operations have ended an Illinois and a 422 00:16:45,222 --> 00:16:47,200 veteran of the US Navy , Mr Marc 423 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:49,367 Fredericks is still being held hostage 424 00:16:49,367 --> 00:16:51,540 in Afghanistan . He was abducted in 425 00:16:51,540 --> 00:16:54,680 Kabul on January 31 of last year and 426 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,902 while he's been held captive too long , 427 00:16:56,902 --> 00:16:59,069 recent reporting in newsweek indicates 428 00:16:59,069 --> 00:17:01,370 taliban willingness to engage on his 429 00:17:01,370 --> 00:17:04,180 release . Um and as a Connie , a senior 430 00:17:04,180 --> 00:17:06,347 Taliban official confirmed that us and 431 00:17:06,347 --> 00:17:08,458 taliban negotiators have discussed my 432 00:17:08,458 --> 00:17:10,680 constituent and said about the prospect 433 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:12,902 of a deal to secure Mr Frerichs freedom 434 00:17:12,902 --> 00:17:15,069 quote , there are attempts between the 435 00:17:15,069 --> 00:17:17,236 Political Bureau and the United States 436 00:17:17,236 --> 00:17:19,402 envoy which we hope will be successful 437 00:17:19,402 --> 00:17:21,402 successful in this regard . We must 438 00:17:21,402 --> 00:17:23,458 continue to press mr frick swift and 439 00:17:23,458 --> 00:17:25,347 safe return . This must be a prop 440 00:17:25,347 --> 00:17:27,402 priority for our government . And in 441 00:17:27,402 --> 00:17:29,513 august a pentagon spokesperson stated 442 00:17:29,513 --> 00:17:31,736 the drds laser focused on returning him 443 00:17:31,736 --> 00:17:33,902 home safely to his family and where he 444 00:17:33,902 --> 00:17:36,013 belongs and Secretary Austin , I know 445 00:17:36,013 --> 00:17:37,791 from our numerous conversations 446 00:17:37,791 --> 00:17:39,680 including just yesterday about my 447 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,458 constituents that you have been 448 00:17:41,458 --> 00:17:43,513 personally involved in attempting to 449 00:17:43,513 --> 00:17:45,347 secure his return , both in your 450 00:17:45,347 --> 00:17:47,458 engagements with your counterparts in 451 00:17:47,458 --> 00:17:47,410 the region and then your role as a 452 00:17:47,410 --> 00:17:49,521 member of the Principals Committee of 453 00:17:49,521 --> 00:17:51,743 the National Security Council . Can you 454 00:17:51,743 --> 00:17:53,799 please update me on your discussions 455 00:17:53,799 --> 00:17:53,750 regarding mr Frerichs with your foreign 456 00:17:53,750 --> 00:17:55,361 counterparts as well as your 457 00:17:55,361 --> 00:17:57,694 interagency partners and our government ? 458 00:17:57,694 --> 00:17:59,583 And I know his family is probably 459 00:17:59,583 --> 00:18:02,170 watching this testimony today . This is 460 00:18:02,180 --> 00:18:05,850 uh as you have 461 00:18:05,860 --> 00:18:09,860 indicated Senator , I I want him back . 462 00:18:10,740 --> 00:18:12,573 And you know , we're going to do 463 00:18:12,573 --> 00:18:14,740 everything , continue to do everything 464 00:18:14,740 --> 00:18:17,120 we can to get him back . As you and I 465 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:19,820 have talked in other sessions , I've 466 00:18:19,820 --> 00:18:23,550 engaged Chief of the Pakistani Army on 467 00:18:23,550 --> 00:18:26,770 multiple occasions to solicit his help . 468 00:18:27,340 --> 00:18:30,850 I've engaged uh other senior leadership 469 00:18:30,860 --> 00:18:34,600 uh batteries for example to use their 470 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:38,440 influence to uh to see if uh they can 471 00:18:38,450 --> 00:18:41,160 they can help us there . Uh We'll 472 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,327 remain focused on this . Uh you know , 473 00:18:43,327 --> 00:18:47,170 this is uh um I'm hopeful 474 00:18:47,170 --> 00:18:49,480 that that we can see some daylight some 475 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:51,990 movement here in uh in the future . I 476 00:18:51,990 --> 00:18:53,990 don't have anything to offer you in 477 00:18:53,990 --> 00:18:57,450 terms of uh specific readouts from uh 478 00:18:57,940 --> 00:19:00,130 from the interagency process . And I 479 00:19:00,130 --> 00:19:03,960 defer to uh to mr Sullivan uh to to 480 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,760 provide commentary there . Thank you 481 00:19:06,770 --> 00:19:09,880 mrs Secretary . Um and I appreciate 482 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,047 your commitment to getting mr Frerichs 483 00:19:12,047 --> 00:19:14,158 home . I am however frustrated by how 484 00:19:14,158 --> 00:19:16,550 literal information um there has been 485 00:19:16,550 --> 00:19:18,661 made available to congressional staff 486 00:19:18,661 --> 00:19:20,717 and others when it comes to everyone 487 00:19:20,717 --> 00:19:23,030 who is trying to get allies out of 488 00:19:23,030 --> 00:19:25,170 Afghanistan . General Milley . I I 489 00:19:25,170 --> 00:19:27,281 understand from public reporting that 490 00:19:27,281 --> 00:19:29,448 you've been working with some veterans 491 00:19:29,448 --> 00:19:31,503 groups and some other Ngos have been 492 00:19:31,503 --> 00:19:33,840 voluntarily offering uh their help in a 493 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,062 continuing effort to evacuate americans 494 00:19:36,062 --> 00:19:38,380 and at risk afghans from Afghanistan . 495 00:19:38,390 --> 00:19:40,840 Can you share any details with us in 496 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:42,896 the public today about that effort ? 497 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,920 Yeah . So what we did Senator is uh we 498 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,142 did a little bit of outreach to some of 499 00:19:49,142 --> 00:19:51,364 the groups that are probably well known 500 00:19:51,364 --> 00:19:53,531 to folks in this room , uh adamant for 501 00:19:53,531 --> 00:19:55,531 some sessions in the in the Defense 502 00:19:55,531 --> 00:19:57,642 Department to get coordinated . So we 503 00:19:57,642 --> 00:19:59,753 could have a common operating picture 504 00:19:59,753 --> 00:20:01,809 of what ? S I . V . S . What P one P 505 00:20:01,809 --> 00:20:03,698 two s what american citizens most 506 00:20:03,698 --> 00:20:05,753 importantly are still there , try to 507 00:20:05,753 --> 00:20:07,642 get the information in a singular 508 00:20:07,642 --> 00:20:09,642 database et cetera from the various 509 00:20:09,642 --> 00:20:11,864 groups . In addition to that . Get them 510 00:20:11,864 --> 00:20:14,440 linked into Ambassador Bass because he 511 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:16,384 is the single focal point with the 512 00:20:16,384 --> 00:20:18,440 Department of State which we've done 513 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,607 that now . Uh and there's uh we have a 514 00:20:20,607 --> 00:20:22,496 joint staff general officer who's 515 00:20:22,496 --> 00:20:24,496 involved in that working group with 516 00:20:24,496 --> 00:20:26,551 them and he's our liaison and brings 517 00:20:26,551 --> 00:20:28,662 them all together in order to get all 518 00:20:28,662 --> 00:20:30,662 the information in order to develop 519 00:20:30,662 --> 00:20:32,662 courses of action to help bring out 520 00:20:32,662 --> 00:20:34,996 additional american citizens and others . 521 00:20:34,996 --> 00:20:34,590 Thank you . Will you commit to 522 00:20:34,590 --> 00:20:36,423 communicating with me and all of 523 00:20:36,423 --> 00:20:38,590 Congress about this partnership And so 524 00:20:38,590 --> 00:20:40,757 we can help facilitate the connections 525 00:20:40,757 --> 00:20:42,868 with these people who still remain at 526 00:20:42,868 --> 00:20:45,034 risk and are contacting us through our 527 00:20:45,034 --> 00:20:47,850 various offices . I will , it is being 528 00:20:47,850 --> 00:20:49,906 run by the Department of State but I 529 00:20:49,906 --> 00:20:52,072 will work with the Department State to 530 00:20:52,072 --> 00:20:54,350 make sure that they get it over to you . 531 00:20:54,350 --> 00:20:56,683 Yes thank you . Mr Chairman . Thank you . 532 00:20:56,683 --> 00:20:58,794 Senator Dark worth . Let me recognize 533 00:20:58,794 --> 00:21:00,906 them to scott please . Thank you . Mr 534 00:21:00,906 --> 00:21:03,720 Chairman joe miller . Why would you as 535 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,040 the sitting chairman of the Joint 536 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,096 Chiefs of Staff talked to a reporter 537 00:21:08,096 --> 00:21:10,207 that's writing the book about a prior 538 00:21:10,207 --> 00:21:12,429 administration . Why would that be part 539 00:21:12,429 --> 00:21:14,940 of your job description ? Well it's 540 00:21:14,950 --> 00:21:18,010 Senator Blackburn said earlier . Um I I 541 00:21:18,010 --> 00:21:20,630 deal with the media routinely 234 times 542 00:21:20,630 --> 00:21:22,741 a week . I'm talking to the media the 543 00:21:22,741 --> 00:21:25,000 media whether it's books tv news 544 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,333 reporters , we have a lot of media here . 545 00:21:27,333 --> 00:21:29,333 I think it's very very important to 546 00:21:29,333 --> 00:21:31,556 make sure that senior officials talk to 547 00:21:31,556 --> 00:21:33,722 the media and all of its various forms 548 00:21:33,722 --> 00:21:33,560 in order to explain what we're doing 549 00:21:34,540 --> 00:21:37,060 that . Yeah that's but you're talking 550 00:21:37,060 --> 00:21:39,660 about what happened in the past . Sure 551 00:21:39,780 --> 00:21:41,891 why would you do that ? I mean what's 552 00:21:41,891 --> 00:21:44,280 the upside to the american public of 553 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,169 you talking to you have I think a 554 00:21:46,169 --> 00:21:48,391 sensitive information . You have a full 555 00:21:48,391 --> 00:21:50,613 time job and then you go and talk about 556 00:21:50,613 --> 00:21:52,836 the prior administration . I just don't 557 00:21:52,836 --> 00:21:54,947 get it . It doesn't make any sense to 558 00:21:54,947 --> 00:21:54,730 me if the media wants to ask you about 559 00:21:54,730 --> 00:21:56,897 what we're doing right now . Something 560 00:21:56,897 --> 00:21:58,952 like that . I get it . But the prior 561 00:21:58,952 --> 00:21:58,850 administration . Why would you do that ? 562 00:21:59,740 --> 00:22:01,740 I think it's important to make sure 563 00:22:01,740 --> 00:22:03,351 that the american people are 564 00:22:03,351 --> 00:22:05,296 transparent with the with what our 565 00:22:05,296 --> 00:22:07,351 government does . That's all nothing 566 00:22:07,351 --> 00:22:09,407 more complicated than that . So it's 567 00:22:09,407 --> 00:22:11,518 been reported . You discuss sensitive 568 00:22:11,518 --> 00:22:10,690 information including private 569 00:22:10,690 --> 00:22:12,746 conversations you had with the prior 570 00:22:12,746 --> 00:22:14,968 President with these reporters . How is 571 00:22:14,968 --> 00:22:16,968 that consistent with your testimony 572 00:22:16,968 --> 00:22:18,968 today that you won't talk about any 573 00:22:18,968 --> 00:22:20,857 conversations you've had with the 574 00:22:20,857 --> 00:22:22,912 President . You only talk about what 575 00:22:22,912 --> 00:22:24,746 your position is . But it's been 576 00:22:24,746 --> 00:22:26,857 reported that with by these reporters 577 00:22:26,857 --> 00:22:29,023 that you have you've told them exactly 578 00:22:29,023 --> 00:22:28,580 the conversations you had with the 579 00:22:28,580 --> 00:22:31,670 prior President . I'm not I'm not so 580 00:22:31,670 --> 00:22:33,892 sure about what they're reporting about 581 00:22:33,892 --> 00:22:36,340 what I said , private conversations 582 00:22:36,340 --> 00:22:38,173 etcetera . I don't share private 583 00:22:38,173 --> 00:22:40,229 conversation with the President with 584 00:22:40,229 --> 00:22:42,007 this president former President 585 00:22:42,007 --> 00:22:43,840 President period . So what these 586 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:45,951 reporters are saying is I'm not going 587 00:22:45,951 --> 00:22:47,951 to say whether they're what I don't 588 00:22:47,951 --> 00:22:49,896 even know what they're written . I 589 00:22:49,896 --> 00:22:51,951 haven't read their books . But I can 590 00:22:51,951 --> 00:22:51,510 tell you that . I don't share my 591 00:22:51,510 --> 00:22:53,510 personal conversations with the 592 00:22:53,510 --> 00:22:57,270 president hurry . So sooner Sullivan 593 00:22:57,270 --> 00:22:59,310 was asking about this conversation 594 00:22:59,310 --> 00:23:01,410 about whether you're gonna you would 595 00:23:01,410 --> 00:23:04,180 give per noticed to the military 596 00:23:04,180 --> 00:23:06,291 communist china that America is going 597 00:23:06,291 --> 00:23:09,230 to attack . So is it is it your 598 00:23:09,230 --> 00:23:12,800 testimony ? You will not ever give a 599 00:23:12,810 --> 00:23:15,090 heads up to the commons chinese 600 00:23:15,090 --> 00:23:17,423 military if the President United States , 601 00:23:17,423 --> 00:23:19,590 it doesn't matter who the president is 602 00:23:19,590 --> 00:23:21,534 that your reporting to is ready to 603 00:23:21,534 --> 00:23:24,620 attack . Of course I wouldn't you don't 604 00:23:24,620 --> 00:23:27,020 feel like you did that . You use the 605 00:23:27,030 --> 00:23:29,350 context we were talking about senator . 606 00:23:30,740 --> 00:23:32,900 There was a significant degree of 607 00:23:32,900 --> 00:23:35,280 intelligence and I think I put the 608 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,558 unclassified versions in that timeline . 609 00:23:37,558 --> 00:23:39,447 It's not insignificant , Like one 610 00:23:39,447 --> 00:23:41,558 report or two ? That's an entire body 611 00:23:41,558 --> 00:23:43,860 of intelligence that led us to believe 612 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:46,351 that the chinese were misinterpreting 613 00:23:46,351 --> 00:23:48,407 our actions and misinterpreting what 614 00:23:48,407 --> 00:23:50,462 was happening inside our own country 615 00:23:50,462 --> 00:23:52,462 politically . Uh And they were they 616 00:23:52,462 --> 00:23:54,580 were assessing a situation that was 617 00:23:54,580 --> 00:23:57,090 leading to escalation possible incident 618 00:23:57,100 --> 00:23:59,378 and it would have been quite dangerous . 619 00:23:59,378 --> 00:24:02,190 So Secretary esper and I met uh and we 620 00:24:02,190 --> 00:24:04,390 met with other members of the team uh 621 00:24:04,390 --> 00:24:06,557 and we developed an engagement plan to 622 00:24:06,557 --> 00:24:08,446 ensure that we engaged at various 623 00:24:08,446 --> 00:24:10,900 levels . Secretary for at his dad's d 624 00:24:10,900 --> 00:24:13,067 do it . And and he asked me to do it . 625 00:24:13,067 --> 00:24:15,122 So I did that . And I made a call on 626 00:24:15,122 --> 00:24:17,233 the theme was to de escalate to lower 627 00:24:17,233 --> 00:24:19,380 tensions ? Uh And I believe that is a 628 00:24:19,380 --> 00:24:21,324 faithful and loyal execution of my 629 00:24:21,324 --> 00:24:23,436 constitutional responsibilities and I 630 00:24:23,436 --> 00:24:25,547 believe that was faithfully executing 631 00:24:25,547 --> 00:24:27,491 the intent of the President United 632 00:24:27,491 --> 00:24:29,602 States at the time . Because I knew I 633 00:24:29,602 --> 00:24:31,713 knew a certainty that President trump 634 00:24:31,713 --> 00:24:33,713 was not going to attack the chinese 635 00:24:33,713 --> 00:24:35,880 just out of the blue , it was going to 636 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,047 happen . Um And if things did happen , 637 00:24:38,047 --> 00:24:40,047 uh There will be periods of tension 638 00:24:40,047 --> 00:24:42,269 calls going back and forth . So no more 639 00:24:42,269 --> 00:24:44,491 questions . It's been reported that you 640 00:24:44,491 --> 00:24:46,547 had you had concerns about the prior 641 00:24:46,547 --> 00:24:48,713 Presidents fitness for office . Do you 642 00:24:48,713 --> 00:24:50,824 have a do you have a criteria for for 643 00:24:50,824 --> 00:24:53,170 presidents ? And do you have have you 644 00:24:53,180 --> 00:24:54,958 reviewed the existing President 645 00:24:54,958 --> 00:24:56,958 President biden for his fitness for 646 00:24:56,958 --> 00:24:59,013 office or do you think that way , do 647 00:24:59,013 --> 00:25:01,124 you do you have do you think you have 648 00:25:01,124 --> 00:25:03,291 the ability to to have a right to make 649 00:25:03,291 --> 00:25:05,291 those decisions ? And have you been 650 00:25:05,291 --> 00:25:07,013 doing that ? I don't , I'm not 651 00:25:07,013 --> 00:25:08,847 qualified to evaluate the mental 652 00:25:08,847 --> 00:25:10,847 fitness of the health of the former 653 00:25:10,847 --> 00:25:10,380 president , President president or 654 00:25:10,380 --> 00:25:12,491 anybody else or anyone in this room ? 655 00:25:12,491 --> 00:25:14,602 That's not my job . That's not what I 656 00:25:14,602 --> 00:25:16,824 do in That's not what I did . There was 657 00:25:16,824 --> 00:25:18,991 a lot of speculation going on . Uh but 658 00:25:18,991 --> 00:25:21,047 I don't evaluate people's health and 659 00:25:21,047 --> 00:25:23,102 fitness . That's not my job . Okay . 660 00:25:23,102 --> 00:25:25,213 How did you feel when President biden 661 00:25:25,213 --> 00:25:27,380 attacked the willingness of the Afghan 662 00:25:27,380 --> 00:25:29,602 military to fight ? How'd that make you 663 00:25:29,602 --> 00:25:31,824 feel ? How did I feel when when he went 664 00:25:31,824 --> 00:25:34,540 and attacked ? He said he didn't think 665 00:25:34,540 --> 00:25:36,762 the Afghan military had the willingness 666 00:25:36,762 --> 00:25:38,984 to fight . Does that make you as a as a 667 00:25:38,984 --> 00:25:41,096 military officer ? How does that make 668 00:25:41,096 --> 00:25:43,262 you feel ? I mean , something that you 669 00:25:43,262 --> 00:25:42,500 put your I think the life on the 670 00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:44,611 monetary sacrifice , I mean , there's 671 00:25:44,611 --> 00:25:46,722 60 or 70,000 Afghans that were killed 672 00:25:46,722 --> 00:25:48,556 in action over the last 20 years 673 00:25:48,556 --> 00:25:50,778 defending the country . And I thought , 674 00:25:50,778 --> 00:25:53,000 and I personally witnessed uh two units 675 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:52,850 that fought fought well and fought 676 00:25:52,850 --> 00:25:54,961 bravely and gave their life for their 677 00:25:54,961 --> 00:25:57,072 country . But I would also say at the 678 00:25:57,072 --> 00:25:59,017 same time that over the summer and 679 00:25:59,017 --> 00:26:01,183 there's 11 days , the vast majority of 680 00:26:01,183 --> 00:26:03,517 the afghan units put their weapons down ? 681 00:26:03,517 --> 00:26:05,739 Uh and they surrender without a fight ? 682 00:26:05,739 --> 00:26:05,150 Kabul was taken with a couple 100 guys 683 00:26:05,150 --> 00:26:07,483 on motorcycles and it wasn't shot fired . 684 00:26:07,483 --> 00:26:09,900 So my question to myself is how do we 685 00:26:09,900 --> 00:26:11,900 miss that ? What happened ? How did 686 00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:13,900 that happen ? And that's one of the 687 00:26:13,900 --> 00:26:16,122 things we got to figure out . How is it 688 00:26:16,122 --> 00:26:15,910 that an army of that size ? They were 689 00:26:15,910 --> 00:26:18,077 trained there , man , they're equipped 690 00:26:18,077 --> 00:26:20,188 etcetera . How is it that the factors 691 00:26:20,188 --> 00:26:22,132 of will leadership and morale just 692 00:26:22,132 --> 00:26:24,021 collapse like that and we have to 693 00:26:24,021 --> 00:26:25,966 answer that to ourselves . But the 694 00:26:25,966 --> 00:26:25,790 Afghan army fought for their country 695 00:26:25,790 --> 00:26:28,012 for 20 years and lost a lot of people . 696 00:26:28,012 --> 00:26:29,846 Thank you , Jeremy , thank you . 697 00:26:29,846 --> 00:26:32,068 Senator Solo sooner scott . Excuse me , 698 00:26:32,068 --> 00:26:34,840 Senator Rosen , please . Uh thank you 699 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:37,880 Mr Chairman and thank you for being 700 00:26:37,890 --> 00:26:40,112 here with us throughout this long day . 701 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,551 You know , I just want to speak about 702 00:26:42,551 --> 00:26:44,384 how as americans , we are really 703 00:26:44,384 --> 00:26:46,496 frustrated all of us about the way we 704 00:26:46,496 --> 00:26:48,440 withdrew from Afghanistan . But we 705 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:50,496 nonetheless understand the difficult 706 00:26:50,496 --> 00:26:52,718 position that you and our men and women 707 00:26:52,718 --> 00:26:55,030 in uniform on the ground were uh 708 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,980 position you were in last month . So 709 00:26:57,990 --> 00:26:59,823 what the american people fail to 710 00:26:59,823 --> 00:27:01,880 understand however , and what I too 711 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,120 have difficulty accepting is the idea 712 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:05,898 that the circumstances we found 713 00:27:05,898 --> 00:27:09,100 ourselves in were inevitable . So I'd 714 00:27:09,100 --> 00:27:11,100 like to ask about a few areas where 715 00:27:11,100 --> 00:27:13,322 perhaps we might have taken a different 716 00:27:13,322 --> 00:27:15,489 approach that could have given us more 717 00:27:15,489 --> 00:27:17,489 time to accomplish the mission ? So 718 00:27:17,489 --> 00:27:19,950 General Mackenzie , why was it always 719 00:27:19,950 --> 00:27:22,061 the responsibility of the U . S . And 720 00:27:22,061 --> 00:27:24,006 coalition forces or contractors to 721 00:27:24,006 --> 00:27:26,460 maintain afghan afghan aircraft and 722 00:27:26,460 --> 00:27:28,730 equipment . And why were the Afghan 723 00:27:28,730 --> 00:27:31,350 forces either not trained or not given 724 00:27:31,350 --> 00:27:33,406 this responsibility over the last 20 725 00:27:33,406 --> 00:27:35,517 years ? So I think you begin with the 726 00:27:35,517 --> 00:27:37,517 basic technological literacy of the 727 00:27:37,517 --> 00:27:40,820 country Which began when we first had 728 00:27:40,830 --> 00:27:42,997 dealings with him in 2001 . You know , 729 00:27:42,997 --> 00:27:45,219 you're talking to people who are coming 730 00:27:45,219 --> 00:27:47,330 out of rule by the Taliban imposition 731 00:27:47,330 --> 00:27:49,441 of Sharia Law , stone age approach to 732 00:27:49,441 --> 00:27:51,274 these things . You cannot impose 733 00:27:51,274 --> 00:27:53,274 technological literacy quickly . So 734 00:27:53,274 --> 00:27:55,497 that's why it took a long time . And we 735 00:27:55,497 --> 00:27:57,719 were still not finished with the Afghan 736 00:27:57,719 --> 00:27:59,774 Air Force . And you know , there's a 737 00:27:59,774 --> 00:27:59,580 lot of contract maintenance done for a 738 00:27:59,580 --> 00:28:01,636 lot of air forces around the world . 739 00:28:01,636 --> 00:28:03,747 The Afghan Air Force is not unique in 740 00:28:03,747 --> 00:28:05,913 that regard , although in this case it 741 00:28:05,913 --> 00:28:08,024 was particularly telling because they 742 00:28:08,024 --> 00:28:09,580 were so dependent on and so 743 00:28:09,740 --> 00:28:11,907 understanding that would have wouldn't 744 00:28:11,907 --> 00:28:13,962 have been helpful to keep bagram air 745 00:28:13,962 --> 00:28:17,800 face open in order to help with any of 746 00:28:17,810 --> 00:28:20,410 uh any of this going on any of the 747 00:28:20,410 --> 00:28:22,450 evacuation , anybody else coming 748 00:28:22,450 --> 00:28:24,672 through the country , another place for 749 00:28:24,672 --> 00:28:26,394 our citizens people from other 750 00:28:26,394 --> 00:28:28,960 countries or a special s ivy holders . 751 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:31,064 Any of those folks , ma'am , I was 752 00:28:31,064 --> 00:28:32,787 intimately involved in all the 753 00:28:32,787 --> 00:28:35,009 decisions on bagram And in no way would 754 00:28:35,009 --> 00:28:37,176 bagram have been able to contribute to 755 00:28:37,176 --> 00:28:39,342 either the effective use of the Afghan 756 00:28:39,342 --> 00:28:41,453 Air Force is continued maintenance or 757 00:28:41,453 --> 00:28:43,398 bringing people out . And and very 758 00:28:43,398 --> 00:28:45,509 briefly , I can tell you that once we 759 00:28:45,509 --> 00:28:48,420 went below 2500 People in Afghanistan , 760 00:28:48,430 --> 00:28:50,720 we lost the ability to hold bagram 761 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:52,942 airbase . And it was inevitable that we 762 00:28:52,942 --> 00:28:55,053 were gonna have to come out of bagram 763 00:28:55,053 --> 00:28:57,220 because we ended up in late June early 764 00:28:57,220 --> 00:28:59,331 July with 650 Marines and soldiers in 765 00:28:59,331 --> 00:29:01,410 the country . It was not it was not 766 00:29:01,420 --> 00:29:03,420 feasible to hold bagram under those 767 00:29:03,420 --> 00:29:05,587 circumstances . So , we were driven by 768 00:29:05,587 --> 00:29:07,540 the plan which we have all had an 769 00:29:07,540 --> 00:29:09,762 opportunity to work that we're going to 770 00:29:09,762 --> 00:29:11,762 come out of bagram . There's no way 771 00:29:11,762 --> 00:29:13,929 we're gonna be able to keep bagram and 772 00:29:13,929 --> 00:29:16,040 go to effective zero in Afghanistan . 773 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:18,207 Just not possible . Well , thinking of 774 00:29:18,207 --> 00:29:20,373 what we um have may have gained or may 775 00:29:20,373 --> 00:29:23,010 have lost as we leave , we think about 776 00:29:23,020 --> 00:29:25,131 countering adversaries . So , again , 777 00:29:25,131 --> 00:29:26,964 General Mackenzie , what is your 778 00:29:26,964 --> 00:29:29,131 assessment of the foreign influence in 779 00:29:29,131 --> 00:29:32,630 Afghanistan um in the wake of our 780 00:29:32,630 --> 00:29:34,940 withdrawal . And what are the measures 781 00:29:34,940 --> 00:29:37,260 that we can take now to prevent our 782 00:29:37,260 --> 00:29:39,740 adversaries from filling the vacuum 783 00:29:39,750 --> 00:29:42,920 created by our departure senator last 784 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:44,809 week , I was in Kazakhstan in the 785 00:29:44,809 --> 00:29:47,031 capital of Kazakhstan Nursultan , where 786 00:29:47,031 --> 00:29:49,198 I hosted a what we call the Kasich odd 787 00:29:49,198 --> 00:29:52,300 conference Uzbekistan . Kazakhstan 788 00:29:52,300 --> 00:29:54,760 Tajikistan , the Kyrgyz Republic uh in 789 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:56,960 Pakistan , we all met and we talked 790 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:59,510 about that region after the fall of 791 00:29:59,510 --> 00:30:02,230 Afghanistan . And generally , what they 792 00:30:02,230 --> 00:30:04,660 want is they want they want they want 793 00:30:04,660 --> 00:30:06,827 assurance , they want to continue to , 794 00:30:06,827 --> 00:30:09,049 they want to continue to have ties with 795 00:30:09,049 --> 00:30:11,049 the United States because they want 796 00:30:11,049 --> 00:30:13,104 alternatives to Russia and they want 797 00:30:13,104 --> 00:30:15,327 alternatives to china . Unfortunately , 798 00:30:15,327 --> 00:30:17,493 because of their geographic location , 799 00:30:17,493 --> 00:30:19,716 they are gonna always have to deal with 800 00:30:19,716 --> 00:30:19,090 Russia and china . And I think our 801 00:30:19,090 --> 00:30:21,090 partners in the region wanted one a 802 00:30:21,090 --> 00:30:23,201 message that the United States is not 803 00:30:23,201 --> 00:30:25,201 going to turn our back on them even 804 00:30:25,201 --> 00:30:27,423 though we left Afghanistan . And we had 805 00:30:27,423 --> 00:30:27,260 a very productive two day conference 806 00:30:27,260 --> 00:30:29,120 based on those things . Well , I 807 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:31,287 couldn't agree more because I think it 808 00:30:31,287 --> 00:30:33,342 makes us more vulnerable if we allow 809 00:30:33,342 --> 00:30:35,453 anyone else to fill that vacuum . I'd 810 00:30:35,453 --> 00:30:38,010 like to uh just minutes . I have left 811 00:30:38,020 --> 00:30:40,620 just touch briefly on the flight the uh 812 00:30:40,630 --> 00:30:43,760 fate of Afghan women . Um what we've 813 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:45,871 seen regarding the status of women in 814 00:30:45,871 --> 00:30:47,760 territories where the Taliban and 815 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:49,816 retain control prior to overthrowing 816 00:30:49,816 --> 00:30:51,816 the Afghan government , We know how 817 00:30:51,816 --> 00:30:54,038 horrible the conditions are for women . 818 00:30:54,038 --> 00:30:57,200 And so , um what do you see moving 819 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,540 forward for the fate of Afghan women ? 820 00:30:59,540 --> 00:31:03,150 What can we do ? Um what do you see as 821 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:07,070 uh future for women or So , during our 822 00:31:07,070 --> 00:31:09,181 long engagement Afghanistan , I think 823 00:31:09,181 --> 00:31:11,900 we made great strides in educational 824 00:31:11,900 --> 00:31:13,956 and other opportunities for women in 825 00:31:13,956 --> 00:31:16,178 Afghanistan . I think those are all now 826 00:31:16,178 --> 00:31:18,344 gravely at risk with the return of the 827 00:31:18,344 --> 00:31:20,400 Taliban . So the levers that we have 828 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,511 our economic and diplomatic which are 829 00:31:22,511 --> 00:31:24,511 not , you know , not part of uh the 830 00:31:24,511 --> 00:31:26,511 Department of Defense . And I think 831 00:31:26,511 --> 00:31:28,789 that's how we have to work the problem . 832 00:31:28,789 --> 00:31:28,610 And I think I do think there is 833 00:31:28,610 --> 00:31:30,960 opportunity , it will not be a long 834 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,016 lived opportunity a matter of months 835 00:31:33,016 --> 00:31:35,127 perhaps where we can we can force the 836 00:31:35,127 --> 00:31:37,182 taliban down a certain path based on 837 00:31:37,182 --> 00:31:39,127 their desire to have international 838 00:31:39,127 --> 00:31:41,349 financing , international recognition , 839 00:31:41,349 --> 00:31:41,310 the release of sanctions and other 840 00:31:41,310 --> 00:31:43,588 things that are very important to them . 841 00:31:43,588 --> 00:31:45,643 So I think we've got to be very hard 842 00:31:45,643 --> 00:31:47,754 nosed as we negotiate with them going 843 00:31:47,754 --> 00:31:49,866 forward to ensure these gains are not 844 00:31:49,866 --> 00:31:52,088 are not lost . Thank you . Uh Thank you 845 00:31:52,088 --> 00:31:54,199 Mr Chairman , I really appreciate the 846 00:31:54,199 --> 00:31:56,254 hearing today and I'll be submitting 847 00:31:56,254 --> 00:31:58,366 more questions for the record . Thank 848 00:31:58,366 --> 00:31:58,250 you Senator Rosen . Uh Senator 849 00:31:58,250 --> 00:32:00,390 Blackburn , please Thank you . Mr 850 00:32:00,390 --> 00:32:02,390 Chairman General Milley . I want to 851 00:32:02,390 --> 00:32:05,560 come back to you . We discussed that 852 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,260 you have had conversations with 853 00:32:08,270 --> 00:32:11,630 Woodward . Cost Leonnig rocker and 854 00:32:11,630 --> 00:32:14,460 vendor on their books , correct ? Not 855 00:32:14,460 --> 00:32:18,110 cost her . You did not on cost a 856 00:32:18,110 --> 00:32:20,570 well . Social media Woodward . Yes . 857 00:32:20,570 --> 00:32:23,160 And we'll we'll leave that as a point 858 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,327 of discussion . Okay , in any of these 859 00:32:25,327 --> 00:32:28,780 conversations , did you discuss private 860 00:32:28,780 --> 00:32:32,700 meetings with the President or 861 00:32:32,710 --> 00:32:36,510 White House officials ? Um White House 862 00:32:36,510 --> 00:32:39,150 officials perhaps President ? I don't 863 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,640 think so . So . You never discussed any 864 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:43,710 of your your conversations with 865 00:32:43,710 --> 00:32:46,770 President trump with President trump 866 00:32:46,780 --> 00:32:48,891 with any of these off ? Not a private 867 00:32:48,891 --> 00:32:52,060 conversation . Did you portray the 868 00:32:52,060 --> 00:32:55,170 Commander in Chief in a negative light 869 00:32:55,180 --> 00:32:58,200 or make comments that were critical of 870 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,110 the Commander in chief to any of these 871 00:33:01,110 --> 00:33:02,610 authors with which you had 872 00:33:02,610 --> 00:33:06,550 conversations not my comments 873 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,760 or my observations , no others that 874 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:11,871 were relayed to me from Okay , well , 875 00:33:11,871 --> 00:33:14,204 I'm looking forward to your book report . 876 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,820 Uh would you see these conversations as 877 00:33:17,820 --> 00:33:21,380 an abuse of executive privilege ? I 878 00:33:21,380 --> 00:33:23,602 would not know . You would not . Okay , 879 00:33:23,610 --> 00:33:26,220 let me ask you this . What is your 880 00:33:26,220 --> 00:33:29,450 standard for determining when to leak 881 00:33:29,460 --> 00:33:31,440 private conversations with the 882 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:35,020 President ? I don't leak private 883 00:33:35,020 --> 00:33:37,131 conversation with the President . You 884 00:33:37,131 --> 00:33:38,631 did not . So you had these 885 00:33:38,631 --> 00:33:40,798 conversations with the authors but you 886 00:33:40,798 --> 00:33:42,990 don't see that is leaking information 887 00:33:42,990 --> 00:33:45,323 to which they were not entitled to know . 888 00:33:45,323 --> 00:33:47,930 See this is the problem that we have c 889 00:33:47,930 --> 00:33:50,110 as a member of this committee and as 890 00:33:50,110 --> 00:33:52,860 someone who represents a lot of our men 891 00:33:52,860 --> 00:33:56,260 and women in uniform that are there 892 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:58,862 As we've referenced today . I've really 893 00:33:58,862 --> 00:34:01,370 got an issue with the fact that you 894 00:34:01,370 --> 00:34:04,200 will talk to authors . But then you all 895 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:06,256 come in here and you say , well , we 896 00:34:06,256 --> 00:34:08,033 can't tell you what we told the 897 00:34:08,033 --> 00:34:10,570 president . And then I have to drag it 898 00:34:10,570 --> 00:34:12,681 out of you that the written documents 899 00:34:12,681 --> 00:34:14,514 which under Article two , you're 900 00:34:14,514 --> 00:34:16,520 supposed to give those to us . You 901 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:18,687 can't go hide behind somebody's skirts 902 00:34:18,687 --> 00:34:21,770 on this and you don't want to give 903 00:34:21,780 --> 00:34:25,290 those to us . So 904 00:34:25,300 --> 00:34:27,840 you've repeatedly told this committee 905 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:29,951 that you will not reveal your private 906 00:34:29,951 --> 00:34:32,170 conversations with President biden . 907 00:34:32,180 --> 00:34:35,920 But then you've leaked this information 908 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:39,170 from your meetings with president 909 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:43,050 trump . So it is important to us 910 00:34:43,060 --> 00:34:46,650 that you truthfully respond 911 00:34:46,660 --> 00:34:50,140 to us on this . And I think what you 912 00:34:50,140 --> 00:34:53,960 did with making time to talk to 913 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,860 these authors burnishing your image 914 00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:59,560 kind of , you know , building that 915 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,350 bluster . But then not putting the 916 00:35:02,350 --> 00:35:06,040 focus on Afghanistan and what was 917 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,262 happening there . General Milley . That 918 00:35:08,262 --> 00:35:10,860 is really disappointing to me . I know 919 00:35:10,860 --> 00:35:13,027 it's disappointing to people that have 920 00:35:13,027 --> 00:35:16,100 served with you or under you under your 921 00:35:16,100 --> 00:35:19,920 command and it does not serve 922 00:35:19,930 --> 00:35:23,570 our nation well . You talked a little 923 00:35:23,570 --> 00:35:26,600 bit earlier about the damage and you 924 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,490 said damage was the right word to use 925 00:35:29,500 --> 00:35:32,230 when assessing what has happened in 926 00:35:32,230 --> 00:35:33,952 Afghanistan . When you look at 927 00:35:33,952 --> 00:35:37,740 America's credibility . So how do 928 00:35:37,750 --> 00:35:41,440 you look the men and women in 929 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,720 the eye that have served under your 930 00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:48,630 command ? How do you look young men in 931 00:35:48,630 --> 00:35:52,170 the eye that are coming to our Military 932 00:35:52,170 --> 00:35:55,840 Academy days and who want to serve and 933 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,090 say you can depend on me . I've got 934 00:35:59,090 --> 00:36:02,270 your back Because you know what ? I 935 00:36:02,270 --> 00:36:04,603 think a lot of these families right now , 936 00:36:04,603 --> 00:36:06,937 they don't feel like you have your back . 937 00:36:06,937 --> 00:36:09,160 The Special Ops guys I met with friday 938 00:36:09,170 --> 00:36:11,930 in my office in Nashville that are 939 00:36:11,930 --> 00:36:15,440 taking their time , their money and 940 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:18,370 risking their lives to do a job that 941 00:36:18,370 --> 00:36:21,400 the three of you could not do . Maybe 942 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:23,456 we're going to remember you three is 943 00:36:23,456 --> 00:36:25,890 the three that broke the military . I 944 00:36:25,890 --> 00:36:29,090 don't know . But this is 945 00:36:29,090 --> 00:36:32,690 causing just a lot 946 00:36:32,700 --> 00:36:36,220 of anger from people who have 947 00:36:36,220 --> 00:36:39,990 trusted the military . They have felt 948 00:36:39,990 --> 00:36:42,460 like the military was one of the most 949 00:36:42,470 --> 00:36:46,050 trust worthy institutions . 950 00:36:46,630 --> 00:36:49,350 But in order to get a name in a book in 951 00:36:49,350 --> 00:36:52,840 order to not be drawn into a political 952 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:56,650 fight . What you have managed to do 953 00:36:57,130 --> 00:37:00,660 is to politicize the U . S . Military 954 00:37:00,670 --> 00:37:04,490 to downgrade our reputation with 955 00:37:04,500 --> 00:37:08,030 our allies . Nobody has resigned , 956 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:11,080 nobody has submitted their resignation 957 00:37:11,090 --> 00:37:13,500 and we've got thousands of people 958 00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:15,860 watching this hearing today that are 959 00:37:15,860 --> 00:37:19,050 looking at you all and saying , I can't 960 00:37:19,050 --> 00:37:21,870 believe they're sitting there and not 961 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,800 answering the questions and are trying 962 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,540 to punt a yell back thank 963 00:37:28,540 --> 00:37:30,651 you . Uh now let me recognize Senator 964 00:37:30,651 --> 00:37:32,960 kelly , thank you Mr Chairman . Uh 965 00:37:33,530 --> 00:37:35,697 earlier today I had the opportunity to 966 00:37:35,697 --> 00:37:37,760 ask some questions i at the time 967 00:37:37,770 --> 00:37:39,750 because we were short on time , I 968 00:37:39,750 --> 00:37:41,806 didn't have the opportunity to thank 969 00:37:41,806 --> 00:37:43,806 all three of you . General Milley , 970 00:37:43,806 --> 00:37:45,861 Secretary Austin , General Mackenzie 971 00:37:45,861 --> 00:37:48,083 for your service to our country serving 972 00:37:48,083 --> 00:37:50,417 in combat overseas multiple deployments . 973 00:37:50,417 --> 00:37:52,990 Um you know , your family has served as 974 00:37:52,990 --> 00:37:55,157 well , all of your families and I want 975 00:37:55,157 --> 00:37:58,460 to thank you personally for that . Um 976 00:37:58,470 --> 00:38:00,581 It is a big commitment , I understand 977 00:38:00,581 --> 00:38:03,650 it . Um Secretary Austin 978 00:38:04,420 --> 00:38:07,160 Since us troops departed Kabul on 979 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:09,930 August 31 . The number of evacuation 980 00:38:09,930 --> 00:38:12,660 flights has been very small . The State 981 00:38:12,660 --> 00:38:15,330 Department briefed on friday friday 982 00:38:15,330 --> 00:38:17,330 that only four charter flights have 983 00:38:17,330 --> 00:38:20,040 departed with us support and the 984 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:23,610 ability to leave by a land route is 985 00:38:23,610 --> 00:38:25,900 even less right now . The testimony 986 00:38:25,900 --> 00:38:28,122 today has indicated that the mission of 987 00:38:28,122 --> 00:38:30,780 facilitating evacuation for americans 988 00:38:30,780 --> 00:38:34,040 and vulnerable afghans is ongoing . Can 989 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,430 you explain what role the military has 990 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:39,090 an ongoing evacuation efforts being led 991 00:38:39,090 --> 00:38:40,423 by the State Department 992 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,360 nation ? That can be helpful in 993 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:14,060 contacting people who have who have a 994 00:39:14,060 --> 00:39:16,320 desire to get out and uh and have the 995 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:18,320 right credentials and if they don't 996 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,487 have the right credentials , are there 997 00:39:20,487 --> 00:39:22,487 things that we can do to uh to help 998 00:39:22,487 --> 00:39:24,431 them obtain those credentials ? If 999 00:39:24,431 --> 00:39:26,880 they've if they've helped us work with 1000 00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:28,658 us in the past or if they're an 1001 00:39:28,658 --> 00:39:30,324 american citizen with expired 1002 00:39:30,324 --> 00:39:33,920 credentials . And and do you anticipate 1003 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:36,480 that there will be uh transport from 1004 00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:38,940 third countries ? Uh Many of our afghan 1005 00:39:38,940 --> 00:39:42,750 allies have left and um now 1006 00:39:42,750 --> 00:39:45,650 find themselves in a in a third country . 1007 00:39:45,660 --> 00:39:48,180 Uh Should we expect that there will be 1008 00:39:48,190 --> 00:39:50,610 flights out of out of those places as 1009 00:39:50,610 --> 00:39:52,840 well ? I think those uh those 1010 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:54,729 individuals as they work with our 1011 00:39:54,729 --> 00:39:56,673 embassy personnel in those various 1012 00:39:56,673 --> 00:40:00,350 countries uh to help us help them again , 1013 00:40:00,350 --> 00:40:02,510 if they if they qualify as one of the 1014 00:40:02,510 --> 00:40:04,670 people who helped us in the past uh 1015 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:08,600 certainly either taking uh a routine 1016 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:12,350 commercial flight or or taking uh a 1017 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:14,390 chartered flight that we can we can 1018 00:40:14,390 --> 00:40:16,710 help sponsor . I do anticipate there'll 1019 00:40:16,710 --> 00:40:18,877 be some sort of activity in the in the 1020 00:40:18,877 --> 00:40:20,821 future . But again I don't want to 1021 00:40:20,821 --> 00:40:23,043 speak for the State Department . I will 1022 00:40:23,043 --> 00:40:25,266 tell you if Senator that from a D . O . 1023 00:40:25,266 --> 00:40:24,320 D . Perspective , we're gonna do 1024 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:27,730 everything we can uh to uh to help 1025 00:40:27,740 --> 00:40:31,680 enable this effort um throughout this 1026 00:40:31,690 --> 00:40:34,160 evacuation effort , my office worked 1027 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:36,360 closely with groups of former afghan 1028 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:39,230 pilots and women who served in addition 1029 00:40:39,230 --> 00:40:41,410 to american citizens and veterans 1030 00:40:41,420 --> 00:40:43,587 working to assist them and leaving the 1031 00:40:43,587 --> 00:40:45,920 country . These are men and women who 1032 00:40:45,930 --> 00:40:48,860 trained with us who fought with us and 1033 00:40:48,860 --> 00:40:50,971 who are at heightened risk because of 1034 00:40:50,971 --> 00:40:53,330 it . So I'm concerned that they were 1035 00:40:53,340 --> 00:40:55,370 not a priority in our evacuation 1036 00:40:55,370 --> 00:40:57,210 efforts and that guidance on 1037 00:40:57,210 --> 00:40:59,630 immigration options for them has been 1038 00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:02,270 inadequate due to the challenges and 1039 00:41:02,270 --> 00:41:04,500 uncertainties of of accessing 1040 00:41:04,500 --> 00:41:07,180 evacuation flights . Many afghan 1041 00:41:07,190 --> 00:41:09,780 evacuees sought alternative means of 1042 00:41:09,780 --> 00:41:11,724 escape flying to these third party 1043 00:41:11,724 --> 00:41:14,440 countries , as I as I mentioned , um 1044 00:41:15,210 --> 00:41:19,110 how is um the Defense 1045 00:41:19,110 --> 00:41:21,380 Department working with State right now 1046 00:41:21,390 --> 00:41:23,810 to ensure that these individuals don't 1047 00:41:23,810 --> 00:41:26,660 fall through the cracks with regards to 1048 00:41:26,660 --> 00:41:27,740 resettlement . 1049 00:41:31,410 --> 00:41:33,640 Again , uh you know , I'd have to defer 1050 00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:35,862 to state in terms of outlining what the 1051 00:41:35,862 --> 00:41:38,790 resettlement processes are . Uh 1052 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,280 but in terms of direct 1053 00:41:42,290 --> 00:41:45,310 um activity from the Department of 1054 00:41:45,310 --> 00:41:47,930 Defense , we don't have much . 1055 00:41:48,610 --> 00:41:50,870 We're not a big part of that effort . 1056 00:41:50,870 --> 00:41:53,092 The resettlement effort in in uh in 3rd 1057 00:41:53,092 --> 00:41:55,092 Party countries . Third countries . 1058 00:41:55,092 --> 00:41:57,660 Excuse me . Well , thank you , Mr . 1059 00:41:57,660 --> 00:41:59,771 Secretary and again , I want to thank 1060 00:41:59,771 --> 00:42:01,882 all three of you for being here today 1061 00:42:01,882 --> 00:42:04,049 and thank you for your service . Thank 1062 00:42:04,049 --> 00:42:06,104 you very much . Senator Kelly's in a 1063 00:42:06,104 --> 00:42:08,104 holy please thank you . Mr Chairman 1064 00:42:08,104 --> 00:42:07,890 General Milley . I've just got one more 1065 00:42:07,890 --> 00:42:10,057 question for you about these many book 1066 00:42:10,057 --> 00:42:12,168 interviews that you did . I alone can 1067 00:42:12,168 --> 00:42:14,610 fix . It's one book perils another book , 1068 00:42:14,620 --> 00:42:16,830 frankly we did win this election . The 1069 00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:19,570 inside story of how trump lost is the 1070 00:42:19,570 --> 00:42:21,292 third book seems like that's a 1071 00:42:21,292 --> 00:42:22,903 significant outlay of time . 1072 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:27,670 I don't think so . I think they were 1073 00:42:27,670 --> 00:42:29,781 short interviews relatively short . I 1074 00:42:29,781 --> 00:42:32,003 don't think it took an excessive amount 1075 00:42:32,003 --> 00:42:34,059 of time . What was the time frame on 1076 00:42:34,059 --> 00:42:36,059 these on these interviews for these 1077 00:42:36,059 --> 00:42:35,530 three different books ? These these are 1078 00:42:35,540 --> 00:42:37,484 by the way these are these are for 1079 00:42:37,484 --> 00:42:39,596 folks who don't know at home that you 1080 00:42:39,596 --> 00:42:39,370 said you didn't read the books ? I 1081 00:42:39,370 --> 00:42:41,481 don't think most people probably do . 1082 00:42:41,481 --> 00:42:43,703 These are D . C . Insider Tell all type 1083 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:46,690 books . But what was the time frame did 1084 00:42:46,690 --> 00:42:48,579 you say that you were doing these 1085 00:42:48,579 --> 00:42:51,040 interviews ? I would say it took a 1086 00:42:51,050 --> 00:42:53,440 couple of hours maybe . But well when 1087 00:42:53,450 --> 00:42:55,450 what's the time frame when were you 1088 00:42:55,450 --> 00:42:58,480 sitting for them dates ? I can get you 1089 00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:00,702 the dates . I don't know I just off the 1090 00:43:00,702 --> 00:43:02,702 top of my head but I'll get you the 1091 00:43:02,702 --> 00:43:05,680 dates . 2021 . Oh yeah so it was this 1092 00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:07,940 this calendar year ? I think so . Yeah 1093 00:43:07,950 --> 00:43:10,540 sure . Well I just some wondering is 1094 00:43:10,540 --> 00:43:12,873 this clearly this is a priority for you . 1095 00:43:12,873 --> 00:43:15,096 You did this on the record by the way . 1096 00:43:15,096 --> 00:43:17,373 All these interviews are on the record . 1097 00:43:17,373 --> 00:43:17,280 These reporters that quote , I do 1098 00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:19,613 interviews on the record off the record . 1099 00:43:19,613 --> 00:43:21,836 And I do background interviews and I do 1100 00:43:21,836 --> 00:43:23,558 all of that with print media , 1101 00:43:23,558 --> 00:43:25,790 television media , books , 1102 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,022 documentaries , all kinds of things . I 1103 00:43:28,022 --> 00:43:30,078 thought why would you do , why would 1104 00:43:30,078 --> 00:43:32,133 you do background and off the record 1105 00:43:32,133 --> 00:43:34,356 interviews . Background means you can't 1106 00:43:34,356 --> 00:43:33,910 quote your background and off the 1107 00:43:33,910 --> 00:43:36,021 record off the record interviews . If 1108 00:43:36,021 --> 00:43:38,510 the goal is transparency , the 1109 00:43:38,510 --> 00:43:40,750 transparency goes to the fact to make 1110 00:43:40,750 --> 00:43:42,861 sure that we are explaining ourselves 1111 00:43:42,861 --> 00:43:44,861 and make sure that Uh these authors 1112 00:43:44,861 --> 00:43:48,340 have correct information . Uh let's 1113 00:43:48,340 --> 00:43:50,396 take woodward for example , probably 1114 00:43:50,396 --> 00:43:52,740 200 people uh interviewed and they 1115 00:43:52,740 --> 00:43:55,440 approach my guys to say these facts 1116 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:58,170 true . This is what we heard . We 1117 00:43:58,170 --> 00:44:00,590 claire clarify and mitigate any 1118 00:44:00,590 --> 00:44:02,960 incorrect interesting . Well , I just 1119 00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:04,904 seemed it's interesting . I mean , 1120 00:44:04,904 --> 00:44:07,071 you're you're doing these interviews , 1121 00:44:07,071 --> 00:44:09,127 you're you're doing them in 2021 . I 1122 00:44:09,127 --> 00:44:08,410 just makes me wonder all of these 1123 00:44:08,410 --> 00:44:10,354 different books where you may be a 1124 00:44:10,354 --> 00:44:12,299 little distracted , Maybe a little 1125 00:44:12,299 --> 00:44:14,299 distract about what was going on in 1126 00:44:14,299 --> 00:44:16,299 Afghanistan . Here's why I'm asking 1127 00:44:16,299 --> 00:44:18,132 General Miller testified to this 1128 00:44:18,132 --> 00:44:17,990 committee that he wrote warned about 1129 00:44:17,990 --> 00:44:19,990 the rapid erosion of the military 1130 00:44:19,990 --> 00:44:21,990 situation Afghanistan . As early as 1131 00:44:21,990 --> 00:44:25,030 March of 2021 , he further testified 1132 00:44:25,070 --> 00:44:27,350 that he informed you about his view on 1133 00:44:27,350 --> 00:44:29,480 this . He also testified that he said 1134 00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:31,258 that the collapse of the afghan 1135 00:44:31,258 --> 00:44:32,980 security forces and the afghan 1136 00:44:32,980 --> 00:44:35,570 government could come very fast . 2021 1137 00:44:35,580 --> 00:44:37,469 hard and fast and he said that he 1138 00:44:37,469 --> 00:44:39,691 informs you this . He also said that he 1139 00:44:39,691 --> 00:44:41,858 informed Secretary Austin of this . He 1140 00:44:41,858 --> 00:44:44,080 did now at the same time . However , in 1141 00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:46,247 june you were saying and I quote , you 1142 00:44:46,247 --> 00:44:48,191 know , an outright takeover by the 1143 00:44:48,191 --> 00:44:50,413 Taliban is unlikely . That's at a Armed 1144 00:44:50,413 --> 00:44:52,636 Services Committee meeting in the House 1145 00:44:52,636 --> 00:44:54,747 June 23 in July . You said the Afghan 1146 00:44:54,747 --> 00:44:54,590 security forces have the capacity to 1147 00:44:54,590 --> 00:44:56,590 sufficiently fight and defend their 1148 00:44:56,590 --> 00:44:58,757 country . You also said that they were 1149 00:44:58,757 --> 00:45:00,868 well equipped on june 17th , you told 1150 00:45:00,868 --> 00:45:03,090 the Senate appropriations committee the 1151 00:45:03,090 --> 00:45:05,257 Afghan government had a 325 to 350,000 1152 00:45:05,257 --> 00:45:07,312 person security force , which we now 1153 00:45:07,312 --> 00:45:09,479 know as a drastic overestimate . A few 1154 00:45:09,479 --> 00:45:11,757 days later you lowered that to 300,000 , 1155 00:45:11,757 --> 00:45:13,590 which we still know as a drastic 1156 00:45:13,590 --> 00:45:15,479 overestimate Your generals on the 1157 00:45:15,479 --> 00:45:17,590 ground . Your commander on the ground 1158 00:45:17,590 --> 00:45:19,701 is saying one thing the Taliban has a 1159 00:45:19,701 --> 00:45:22,034 massive offensive underway from May one , 1160 00:45:22,034 --> 00:45:24,090 on but yet you seem to , you told us 1161 00:45:24,090 --> 00:45:26,201 very different things in public . How 1162 00:45:26,201 --> 00:45:28,423 do you reconcile those things ? What am 1163 00:45:28,423 --> 00:45:31,450 I missing ? Well , first of all , scott 1164 00:45:31,450 --> 00:45:34,460 miller did say hard and fast . And he 1165 00:45:34,460 --> 00:45:37,750 also meant that at least to me and to 1166 00:45:37,750 --> 00:45:39,917 others that he meant that to be in the 1167 00:45:39,917 --> 00:45:42,070 fall october november , maybe even 1168 00:45:42,070 --> 00:45:44,126 december time . I heard you say that 1169 00:45:44,126 --> 00:45:46,181 earlier . I'm curious about that . I 1170 00:45:46,181 --> 00:45:45,890 have to tell you that wasn't his 1171 00:45:45,890 --> 00:45:47,946 testimony of this committee . Well , 1172 00:45:47,946 --> 00:45:50,112 what he said in the committee was hard 1173 00:45:50,112 --> 00:45:52,334 and fast . He didn't put a date on it . 1174 00:45:52,334 --> 00:45:51,980 Is , is the readouts to me ? I don't 1175 00:45:51,980 --> 00:45:54,091 know . Did he put a date on it ? No , 1176 00:45:54,091 --> 00:45:56,258 he didn't put a data but he didn't put 1177 00:45:56,258 --> 00:45:58,591 a date on it . That's what intrigues me . 1178 00:45:58,591 --> 00:45:58,530 But he did put a date on it with me uh 1179 00:45:58,540 --> 00:46:01,740 and to us . Uh and when when pressed it 1180 00:46:01,740 --> 00:46:03,930 was after we leave , that was .1 , 1181 00:46:03,940 --> 00:46:07,050 which was 31 August uh and probably 1182 00:46:07,050 --> 00:46:09,560 into the October timeframe . Maybe 1183 00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:12,000 Thanksgiving . And that is about more 1184 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:13,830 or less where many of the intel 1185 00:46:13,830 --> 00:46:16,060 assessments were . He said he was a 1186 00:46:16,060 --> 00:46:18,600 dissenter on the inside assessment . 1187 00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:20,822 That's right . And he didn't put any of 1188 00:46:20,822 --> 00:46:23,156 those qualifiers on his testimony to us . 1189 00:46:23,156 --> 00:46:24,989 So are you saying he shifted his 1190 00:46:24,989 --> 00:46:27,211 testimony ? General miller that he , he 1191 00:46:27,211 --> 00:46:29,322 wasn't . No , I'm saying what he told 1192 00:46:29,322 --> 00:46:31,489 me was it would it was likely to be in 1193 00:46:31,489 --> 00:46:33,378 the october timeframe . The intel 1194 00:46:33,378 --> 00:46:35,156 assessments of centering around 1195 00:46:35,156 --> 00:46:34,990 november , thanksgiving at the latest 1196 00:46:34,990 --> 00:46:37,212 christmas , some intel assessments went 1197 00:46:37,212 --> 00:46:39,212 into the next year . My , here's my 1198 00:46:39,212 --> 00:46:41,590 point senator is the intel assessments 1199 00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:45,460 had two basic things uh in my view uh 1200 00:46:45,470 --> 00:46:48,430 was the the scale and scope plus the 1201 00:46:48,430 --> 00:46:50,820 speed , All the Intel assessments . All 1202 00:46:50,820 --> 00:46:52,870 of us got that wrong . There's no 1203 00:46:52,870 --> 00:46:55,092 question about it . Uh that was a swing 1204 00:46:55,092 --> 00:46:57,203 and a miss on the Intel assessment of 1205 00:46:57,203 --> 00:46:59,426 11 days in August , there's nobody that 1206 00:46:59,426 --> 00:47:01,648 called that . Well , can I just general 1207 00:47:01,648 --> 00:47:03,703 my time is about , I appreciate that 1208 00:47:03,703 --> 00:47:03,270 you've made these points . I don't mean 1209 00:47:03,270 --> 00:47:05,437 to cut you off this is that my time is 1210 00:47:05,437 --> 00:47:07,659 about to expire . I just want to I just 1211 00:47:07,659 --> 00:47:09,826 want to say this . It seems to me that 1212 00:47:09,826 --> 00:47:11,992 you put a high priority uh making sure 1213 00:47:11,992 --> 00:47:14,214 that you are favorably portrayed by the 1214 00:47:14,214 --> 00:47:16,326 D . C . Press score . You spent a lot 1215 00:47:16,326 --> 00:47:15,850 of time doing that . Fair enough . If 1216 00:47:15,850 --> 00:47:18,017 that's your priority . But at the same 1217 00:47:18,017 --> 00:47:20,310 time we had a rapidly deteriorating 1218 00:47:20,310 --> 00:47:22,088 frankly disastrous situation in 1219 00:47:22,088 --> 00:47:24,310 Afghanistan which resulted in the death 1220 00:47:24,310 --> 00:47:26,366 of 13 soldiers including one from my 1221 00:47:26,366 --> 00:47:28,532 home state . Hundreds of civilians and 1222 00:47:28,532 --> 00:47:30,754 hundreds of americans left behind . And 1223 00:47:30,754 --> 00:47:32,977 in my view that mission can't be called 1224 00:47:32,977 --> 00:47:34,921 a success in any way shape or form 1225 00:47:34,921 --> 00:47:36,921 logistical or otherwise General . I 1226 00:47:36,921 --> 00:47:38,921 think you should resign . Secretary 1227 00:47:38,921 --> 00:47:41,088 Austin . I think you should resign . I 1228 00:47:41,088 --> 00:47:43,254 think this mission was a catastrophe . 1229 00:47:43,254 --> 00:47:45,421 I think there's no other way to say it 1230 00:47:45,421 --> 00:47:47,588 and there has to be accountability . I 1231 00:47:47,588 --> 00:47:46,870 respectfully submit . It should begin 1232 00:47:46,870 --> 00:47:48,148 with you . Thank you . 1233 00:47:51,180 --> 00:47:53,402 Senator Tuberville . Thanks very much . 1234 00:47:53,402 --> 00:47:55,402 Mr . Chairman General Milley you've 1235 00:47:55,402 --> 00:47:57,740 spoken today a lot about savi civilian 1236 00:47:57,740 --> 00:47:59,907 control of the military . I appreciate 1237 00:47:59,907 --> 00:48:01,851 the statements you made about that 1238 00:48:01,851 --> 00:48:04,073 today on june the 10th . So I asked for 1239 00:48:04,073 --> 00:48:05,907 a formal questions for on formal 1240 00:48:05,907 --> 00:48:08,018 questions for the record about bagram 1241 00:48:08,018 --> 00:48:10,240 air field and I pointed out that Having 1242 00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:12,296 a major air base within 500 miles of 1243 00:48:12,296 --> 00:48:14,240 both . Iranian and Chinese borders 1244 00:48:14,240 --> 00:48:15,796 would be strategically very 1245 00:48:15,796 --> 00:48:17,962 strategically invaluable . I asked you 1246 00:48:17,962 --> 00:48:19,907 about the feasibility of retaining 1247 00:48:19,907 --> 00:48:21,962 bottom airfield as a U . S . Based . 1248 00:48:21,962 --> 00:48:25,070 I'm still waiting for a reply . Uh , I 1249 00:48:25,070 --> 00:48:27,980 hope you do see today ignoring you know , 1250 00:48:27,980 --> 00:48:30,410 questions that might come up from 1251 00:48:30,410 --> 00:48:33,820 civilian oversight sometimes uh 1252 00:48:33,830 --> 00:48:35,830 backfires on you a little bit . You 1253 00:48:35,830 --> 00:48:37,774 apologized for being late for your 1254 00:48:37,774 --> 00:48:39,830 statement today . Uh , the hearing . 1255 00:48:39,830 --> 00:48:41,886 But uh you just can't understand the 1256 00:48:41,886 --> 00:48:43,860 pattern here . Uh heard Senator 1257 00:48:43,860 --> 00:48:46,138 Blackman say about the book . You know , 1258 00:48:46,138 --> 00:48:48,082 you got to see how the mists of it 1259 00:48:48,082 --> 00:48:51,100 looks to Congress that that You've had 1260 00:48:51,100 --> 00:48:53,044 time to interview and do all these 1261 00:48:53,044 --> 00:48:54,830 interviews but questions aren't 1262 00:48:54,830 --> 00:48:57,610 answered . So I'm just troubled by by 1263 00:48:57,610 --> 00:49:00,510 some of those things and also on August 1264 00:49:00,510 --> 00:49:02,600 18 you said quote , there's nothing 1265 00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:04,830 that I or anyone else saw that 1266 00:49:04,830 --> 00:49:08,120 indicated the collapse of the army . Uh 1267 00:49:08,130 --> 00:49:10,074 and this government in 11 days end 1268 00:49:10,074 --> 00:49:12,130 quote . I find it unbelievable . The 1269 00:49:12,130 --> 00:49:14,570 staff of your staff of 3200 people on a 1270 00:49:14,570 --> 00:49:17,210 budget of 419 million taxpayer dollars 1271 00:49:17,210 --> 00:49:20,000 that we didn't see the obvious . Uh , 1272 00:49:20,010 --> 00:49:22,780 but I do think you saw because July 11 , 1273 00:49:22,780 --> 00:49:24,891 2019 you said quote , I think pulling 1274 00:49:24,891 --> 00:49:26,947 out prematurely would be a strategic 1275 00:49:26,947 --> 00:49:29,210 mistake . End quote . You sit here 1276 00:49:29,220 --> 00:49:31,820 today . And uh you also said that here 1277 00:49:31,820 --> 00:49:35,540 today . I agree . 100% agree . Thank 1278 00:49:35,540 --> 00:49:38,200 you . May I comment ? Yeah go ahead on 1279 00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:40,980 your first two points on the intel 1280 00:49:40,980 --> 00:49:43,580 piece . I Stay with what I said . 1281 00:49:43,590 --> 00:49:45,950 There's nobody called it 11 days in 1282 00:49:45,950 --> 00:49:48,172 August . There's nobody did that . Uh , 1283 00:49:48,172 --> 00:49:50,228 and I brought the intel reports were 1284 00:49:50,228 --> 00:49:52,394 going to classified session . Happy to 1285 00:49:52,394 --> 00:49:54,617 go over all of them . Um , on the first 1286 00:49:54,617 --> 00:49:56,839 thing and then the bagram thing , I did 1287 00:49:56,839 --> 00:49:58,894 put a very lengthy response in in my 1288 00:49:58,894 --> 00:49:58,850 written statement . I don't know if you 1289 00:49:58,850 --> 00:50:01,072 had an opportunity to read it yet . I'd 1290 00:50:01,072 --> 00:50:03,183 encourage you to read it . It is also 1291 00:50:03,183 --> 00:50:05,406 something that General Mackenzie put in 1292 00:50:05,406 --> 00:50:07,572 his uh and I can assure you uh that we 1293 00:50:07,572 --> 00:50:09,628 looked at that old Barbara makes you 1294 00:50:09,628 --> 00:50:11,950 very , very carefully and here's what 1295 00:50:11,950 --> 00:50:14,283 I'm struggling with . General Mackenzie . 1296 00:50:14,283 --> 00:50:18,130 Um , 1945 , we left Japan . They're 1297 00:50:18,130 --> 00:50:20,352 one of our biggest allies today . We're 1298 00:50:20,352 --> 00:50:22,297 still there Germany the same way , 1299 00:50:22,297 --> 00:50:25,750 Korea the same way . Ah , We had 2500 1300 00:50:25,750 --> 00:50:28,800 troops with the war stopped in 2014 and 1301 00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:31,022 we started what ? Operation ? Operation 1302 00:50:31,022 --> 00:50:33,840 Resolute , resolute . Yeah . Uh , 1303 00:50:33,850 --> 00:50:36,960 support uh and we're having all these 1304 00:50:36,960 --> 00:50:38,904 people crowd . We gotta get out of 1305 00:50:38,904 --> 00:50:41,071 folks what we're gonna pay for what we 1306 00:50:41,071 --> 00:50:43,404 just did . I mean , I've got young kids , 1307 00:50:43,404 --> 00:50:45,571 y'all got kids and grandkids and we're 1308 00:50:45,571 --> 00:50:47,738 gonna be back in there fighting . Um , 1309 00:50:48,760 --> 00:50:50,649 What's your thoughts about that ? 1310 00:50:50,649 --> 00:50:52,982 General Mackenzie and I know , you know , 1311 00:50:52,982 --> 00:50:52,930 we're not talking about the president , 1312 00:50:52,940 --> 00:50:54,829 you know what you think about the 1313 00:50:54,829 --> 00:50:56,718 future of what we've got to do in 1314 00:50:56,718 --> 00:50:59,100 Afghanistan . So we have very few 1315 00:50:59,100 --> 00:51:01,660 levers in Afghanistan right now because 1316 00:51:01,670 --> 00:51:03,781 we're completely pulled out . Will we 1317 00:51:03,781 --> 00:51:06,190 be back ? I think we're always going to 1318 00:51:06,190 --> 00:51:08,357 reserve the right to go in to go after 1319 00:51:08,357 --> 00:51:10,490 ISIS and Al Qaeda targets as they 1320 00:51:10,490 --> 00:51:12,546 present themselves . We've been very 1321 00:51:12,546 --> 00:51:14,768 clear on that . And that's not gonna be 1322 00:51:14,768 --> 00:51:16,879 easy and we'll talk a little bit more 1323 00:51:16,879 --> 00:51:16,790 about that in a closed session . It 1324 00:51:16,790 --> 00:51:18,901 will not be easy to do that . It will 1325 00:51:18,901 --> 00:51:21,068 be possible to do that . As for larger 1326 00:51:21,068 --> 00:51:23,290 engagements with the , with the taliban 1327 00:51:23,290 --> 00:51:25,512 or whatever government follows them . I 1328 00:51:25,512 --> 00:51:27,568 mean , that's that's gonna be a hard 1329 00:51:27,568 --> 00:51:29,568 road from where I sit . And I see a 1330 00:51:29,568 --> 00:51:29,340 very small slice of that . That's 1331 00:51:29,340 --> 00:51:31,507 really a question , you know , for for 1332 00:51:31,507 --> 00:51:33,673 diplomats and others to talk about how 1333 00:51:33,673 --> 00:51:35,507 our future relationship with the 1334 00:51:35,507 --> 00:51:37,618 government as a whole will be . But I 1335 00:51:37,618 --> 00:51:39,618 think they're , I think my judgment 1336 00:51:39,618 --> 00:51:38,560 will be they're gonna regress 1337 00:51:38,560 --> 00:51:40,393 significantly in every sphere of 1338 00:51:40,393 --> 00:51:42,504 activity in Afghanistan over the next 1339 00:51:42,504 --> 00:51:44,671 few years with the Taliban in charge . 1340 00:51:44,671 --> 00:51:47,020 We can't afford to survive with our 1341 00:51:47,020 --> 00:51:49,190 military . We got that kind of money 1342 00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:52,470 and it just makes it just burns me up 1343 00:51:52,470 --> 00:51:54,637 that we're eventually going to go back 1344 00:51:54,637 --> 00:51:56,692 there . We're gonna we're gonna have 1345 00:51:56,692 --> 00:51:59,140 problems here . Uh , I think we should 1346 00:51:59,140 --> 00:52:01,196 have looked at it . I know President 1347 00:52:01,196 --> 00:52:03,084 biden wanted to get out , He told 1348 00:52:03,084 --> 00:52:02,850 people , President trump , wanted to 1349 00:52:02,850 --> 00:52:05,680 get out . I disagree with it . I mean , 1350 00:52:05,690 --> 00:52:08,610 we gave up the best base in that area 1351 00:52:08,620 --> 00:52:10,930 and and it's just amazing to me that 1352 00:52:10,930 --> 00:52:12,708 we're gonna have to go back and 1353 00:52:12,708 --> 00:52:14,819 hopefully we don't lose its channel . 1354 00:52:14,819 --> 00:52:14,520 What do you what's your thoughts about 1355 00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:17,270 as we ended up here ? Uh , secretarial ? 1356 00:52:19,650 --> 00:52:21,761 Well , I don't think it's preordained 1357 00:52:21,761 --> 00:52:23,872 that we're going to have to go back . 1358 00:52:23,872 --> 00:52:25,928 Senator . I would tell you that what 1359 00:52:25,928 --> 00:52:27,650 you've heard us say is that we 1360 00:52:27,650 --> 00:52:31,450 recognize that transnational terrorists 1361 00:52:31,450 --> 00:52:33,980 will migrate towards ungoverned spaces . 1362 00:52:34,450 --> 00:52:36,880 Uh , we also are committed to not 1363 00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:40,560 allowing Al Qaeda to regenerate and be 1364 00:52:40,560 --> 00:52:43,410 able to export terror from Afghanistan 1365 00:52:43,420 --> 00:52:46,320 to uh the United States of America and 1366 00:52:46,320 --> 00:52:48,542 will remain laser focused on that going 1367 00:52:48,542 --> 00:52:50,653 forward and will do everything within 1368 00:52:50,653 --> 00:52:52,820 our within our power to make sure that 1369 00:52:52,820 --> 00:52:55,042 that doesn't happen . Thank you . Could 1370 00:52:55,042 --> 00:52:57,700 ask you one question off , Are you 1371 00:52:57,700 --> 00:52:59,867 against dishonorable discharges to the 1372 00:52:59,867 --> 00:53:01,867 military for not taking a vaccine ? 1373 00:53:04,850 --> 00:53:07,430 You're the leader of the D . O . D . I 1374 00:53:07,430 --> 00:53:10,020 am the leader . Uh and and again , 1375 00:53:10,030 --> 00:53:13,470 uh we have a non judicial uh , 1376 00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:17,450 excuse me ? You see , MJ . Uh , that 1377 00:53:17,460 --> 00:53:21,390 really addresses all of uh all of 1378 00:53:21,390 --> 00:53:23,880 the issues in the military uh , and and 1379 00:53:23,880 --> 00:53:27,780 gives our leadership what they need to 1380 00:53:27,780 --> 00:53:31,320 be able to enforce standards taking the 1381 00:53:31,320 --> 00:53:34,050 vaccine as a requirement . And and 1382 00:53:34,050 --> 00:53:37,060 again , I'll just leave it at that . 1383 00:53:37,550 --> 00:53:39,717 Thank you very much in october ville . 1384 00:53:39,950 --> 00:53:42,117 Gentlemen , thank you very much . This 1385 00:53:42,117 --> 00:53:44,730 has been a long day and we still have a 1386 00:53:44,730 --> 00:53:48,420 closed session in spc to 17 . There's a 1387 00:53:48,420 --> 00:53:51,690 vote on going now . So I would 1388 00:53:51,700 --> 00:53:55,490 suggest we re convenient sPc to 17 1389 00:53:55,500 --> 00:53:59,350 to excuse me . 3 45 will give an 1390 00:53:59,350 --> 00:54:02,360 opportunity for a brief respite , very 1391 00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:04,304 brief respite . With that . I will 1392 00:54:04,304 --> 00:54:06,480 adjourn the open session . Mhm .