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Good morning . As has been the case for 

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a while , this is a hybrid hearing . We 

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have some members participating 

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remotely in addition to the members who 

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are present and there are rules for 

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that so I need to read a statement that 

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sets out those rules before we get 

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going . Members who are joining 

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remotely must be visible on screen for 

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the purposes of identity verification , 

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establishing and maintaining a quorum , 

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participate in the proceeding and 

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voting . Those members must continue to 

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use the software platforms video 

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function while in attendance unless 

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they experience connectivity issues or 

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other technical problems that render 

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them unable to participate on camera . 

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If a member experiences technical 

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difficulties , they should contact the 

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committee staff for assistance . Video 

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of members participation will be 

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broadcast in the room via the 

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television slash internet feeds . 

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Members participating remotely must 

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seek recognition verbally and they are 

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asked to mute their microphones when 

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they are not speaking . Members who are 

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participating remotely are reminded to 

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keep the software platform video 

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function on the entire time they attend 

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the proceeding , Members may leave and 

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rejoin the proceeding . If members 

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depart for a short while for reasons 

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other than joining a different 

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proceeding , they should leave the 

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video function on . If members will be 

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absent for a significant period or 

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depart to join a different proceeding , 

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they should exit the software platform 

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entirely and then we join it . If they 

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return members may use the software 

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platforms , chat feature to communicate 

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with staff regarding technical or 

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logistical support issues only . 

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Finally , I have designated committee 

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staff member to if necessary , mute 

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Unrecognized members microphones to 

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cancel any inadvertent background noise 

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that may disrupt the proceedings . 

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Thank you . Good morning . I'd like to 

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welcome our witnesses here today . We 

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have the honourable Lloyd Austin , 

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third Secretary of Defense General Mark 

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Milley , Chairman , Joint Chiefs of 

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Staff and General frank McKenzie 

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Commander , U . S . Central Command . I 

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want to thank them for the time today 

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as they provide an update on the issues 

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surrounding the end of the U . S . 

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Military mission in Afghanistan and our 

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mission going forward dealing with 

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counter terrorism in South Asia and the 

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continuing mission to try to get As 

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many Afghans and any remaining 

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Americans out of the country . I'm 

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looking forward to what I hope will be 

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a very important policy discussion at 

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the center of our examination of the US 

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military mission in Afghanistan . Is 

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the desire to learn from our 20 year 

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involvement there . We must have an 

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open and honest analysis of everything 

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that went into that not just the events 

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of the last year or six months . Yeah , 

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But before getting into that , we 

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should take a moment to recognize the 

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service of the over 800,000 men and 

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women who served in Afghanistan over 

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the last 20 years . More importantly , 

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I would like to remember and honor the 

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20 461 who made the ultimate sacrifice 

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along with the over 20,000 who born 

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there for the physical wounds of war 

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and those who bear the unseen wounds of 

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war . Why we will vigorously debate 

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policy decisions related to the US 

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military mission in Afghanistan . I 

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believe that I speak for the entire 

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committee . When we express our 

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gratitude to those and their families 

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who have sacrificed so much over the 

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last 20 years , we owe them a debt that 

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cannot be repaid . I agreed and 

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continue to agree with the decision 

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that was made to end our military 

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presence in Afghanistan . It was the 

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right decision . Our larger mission to 

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help build a government in Afghanistan 

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that could govern effectively and 

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defeat the Taliban had failed . More 

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money and more lost American lives were 

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not going to change that . The events 

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we witnessed in Afghanistan in the wake 

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of the collapse of the Afghan 

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government in august happened primarily 

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because of this reality , because of 

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the fundamental reality that our 

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mission to try to stand up a government 

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in place of the Taliban had failed . 

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That reality is what caused the 

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overwhelming majority of the problems 

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that we faced . There was no easier 

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safe way to get everyone out of that 

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country . We wanted to get out Yet in 

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the face of that , our military 

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conducted the largest human airlift in 

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history in coordination with the rest 

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of the inter agency and our allies 

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evacuating over 120,000 people . This 

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evacuation however , did not come 

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without costs . We lost 13 U . S . 

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Service members and dozens of innocent 

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afghans due to ISIS case attack at the 

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Abbey Gate on august 26 . There was 

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also a tragic mistake on August 29 when 

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a drone strike killed as many as 10 

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civilians . Following this mistake , I 

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and others expect to be provided with 

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the results of the timely comprehensive 

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and transparent investigation of this 

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tragedy , including accountability 

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measures and any changes to procedures 

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that are deemed necessary . Importantly 

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our work is not done as there are more 

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who remain in Afghanistan who would 

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like to leave and we must work to 

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ensure the inter agency has all the 

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tools required and is coordinated to 

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assist those remaining individuals . 

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There are some going back to the issue 

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of whether or not We should have left 

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Afghanistan who imagined that there was 

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sort of a middle option that we could 

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have kept 2500 troops there in a 

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relatively peaceful and stable 

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environment . I think the way that 

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option has been presented by many of 

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the critics has been fundamentally 

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disingenuous . The option of keeping 

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2500 troops in Afghanistan and a 

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peaceful and stable environment did not 

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exist . I have heard many compare this 

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to the troops that we have left in 

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south Korea and Japan . I find that 

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analogy just completely idiotic . If 

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I'm being honest , um in South Korea 

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and Japan , we're not under attack were 

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there as a deterrent in Afghanistan . 

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We would have been under attack and 

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that is the fundamental fact that too 

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many people are forgetting the peace 

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agreement that was signed by the 

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previous President Was based on a 

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requirement that we get all of our 

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troops out by May one . That's the only 

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reason that the Taliban had not 

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attacked us in the previous 18 months . 

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Once that expired . Once we said , nope , 

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we're staying , they would have been 

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under attack . And this has been the 

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subject of a huge misunderstanding in 

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the last 24 hours . That again , I find 

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very , very disingenuous people are 

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saying that the president said Nobody 

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offered . No one said that we should 

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keep 2500 there when what the president 

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actually said was there was no option 

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on the table to keep 2500 troops in 

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Afghanistan in a stable environment . 

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That's what he said . Not that no one 

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presented that option , that option 

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didn't exist in reality And no one 

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presented it . The president in fact 

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made it clear earlier in that same 

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interview that yes , some of his 

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military leaders had said that we 

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should keep 2500 troops there . What he 

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said was none of them said that we 

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could do it in a stable , peaceful 

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environment . And that is the key point . 

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The other key point is , and I know a 

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lot of energy will be expended today 

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trying to get these gentlemen to admit 

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that they didn't agree with the 

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President's decision . First of all , I 

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have never engaged in that exercise 

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because I believe the President 

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democrat Republican , no matter who it 

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is deserves the , you know , unabridged 

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advice of his her commanders . I mean , 

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you can't give that if you're then 

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going to have to go out in public and 

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talk about it . But second of all , The 

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president is the one in charge . This 

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is ultimately what civilian control of 

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the military means . And what I believe 

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is , I believe certainly there were 

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military commanders who said no , we 

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should stick it out . We should keep 

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the 2500 there . I think they were 

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wrong . And so did the President . It's 

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not that they didn't make the advice , 

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it's that they were wrong . This 

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committee has an enormous amount of 

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respect for our military leadership . 

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That does not mean that the military 

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leadership is incapable of being wrong . 

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And over the course of the last 20 

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years in Afghanistan , I would have 

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thought we would have learned that 

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lesson . President biden had the 

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courage to finally make the decision to 

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say no , we are not succeeding in this 

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mission Placing more American lives at 

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risk will not change that . If we could 

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credibly say , you know , if we just 

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stuck it out for another year , another 

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five , another 10 and got to a better 

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result . That would be a difficult call . 

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Was that worth the risk . But we can't 

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credibly say that . So we would have 

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been putting american lives at risk for 

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a mission that we had to know was not 

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achievable . The President made the 

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right call on that there is the issue 

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of how we withdrew and I will say , and 

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I've been critical of this . I think 

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the effort to get the lives and the 

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others who wanted to get out of 

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Afghanistan certainly could have been 

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handled better and could have been 

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started sooner . It certainly seemed 

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rushed . And I want to hear from our 

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leaders today about how that played out . 

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But again , let's remember that the 

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other alternative was not easy . The 

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alternative of let's start pulling 

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people out sooner . The Ghana 

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government , the government that was in 

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charge of Afghanistan at the time , we 

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would have been doing this was 

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adamantly opposed to us pulling all of 

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the military equipment and hundreds of 

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thousands of their afghan supporters 

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out for obvious reasons , how would we 

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have done that against the objection of 

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the existing afghan government while 

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the Taliban were rolling across the 

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countryside ? It would not have been 

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easy , no matter how it was done , but 

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we do deserve an accounting for how 

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those decisions were made forward . I 

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think today is an excellent opportunity 

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to do that . I look forward to the 

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questions and answers as well as the 

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testimony of our witnesses and with 

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that I yield to the ranking member of 

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Mr Rogers . Thank you Mr Chairman . And 

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uh while I have great admiration from 

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my friend the chairman , uh I could not 

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disagree more with his observations 

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about Afghanistan and the President's 

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decision . Uh the fact is um , our 

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coalition partners and our military 

276
00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:10,770
leadership felt that we should have 

277
00:09:10,770 --> 00:09:14,230
maintained our 2500 troops there along 

278
00:09:14,230 --> 00:09:16,780
with the roughly 7,508,000 coalition 

279
00:09:16,780 --> 00:09:19,360
troops and the thousands of contractors 

280
00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,930
that the Afghan army was dependent upon 

281
00:09:21,930 --> 00:09:24,010
to fight successfully . And I think 

282
00:09:24,010 --> 00:09:26,177
they could have continued as they have 

283
00:09:26,177 --> 00:09:28,830
in past years to fight valiantly had we 

284
00:09:28,830 --> 00:09:30,960
given that support and the president 

285
00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,071
had listened to his generals advice . 

286
00:09:33,071 --> 00:09:35,240
But regardless of how you feel about 

287
00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:37,184
the decision to remove troops from 

288
00:09:37,184 --> 00:09:39,351
Afghanistan , I think we can all agree 

289
00:09:39,351 --> 00:09:41,518
that the withdrawal was an unmitigated 

290
00:09:41,518 --> 00:09:43,629
disaster . Hundreds of americans were 

291
00:09:43,629 --> 00:09:45,518
left behind . Thousands of afghan 

292
00:09:45,518 --> 00:09:47,851
allies stuck with little hope of escape , 

293
00:09:47,851 --> 00:09:49,684
potentially billions worth of us 

294
00:09:49,684 --> 00:09:51,760
provided military equipment . Now in 

295
00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,050
the hands of the taliban , thousands of 

296
00:09:54,050 --> 00:09:56,170
hardened al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists 

297
00:09:56,170 --> 00:09:58,380
freed from prisons . 10 innocent 

298
00:09:58,390 --> 00:10:00,620
afghans , including seven Children 

299
00:10:00,630 --> 00:10:03,230
killed in a botched airstrike . But 

300
00:10:03,230 --> 00:10:06,650
worst of all , 13 brave americans 

301
00:10:06,660 --> 00:10:09,560
service members were murdered by coward 

302
00:10:09,740 --> 00:10:12,240
and a suicide vest . What's more 

303
00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:14,462
infuriating is that all this could have 

304
00:10:14,462 --> 00:10:16,573
been avoided . If the President had a 

305
00:10:16,573 --> 00:10:18,629
plan in briefings and hearings since 

306
00:10:18,629 --> 00:10:20,740
april , we've demanded to know a plan 

307
00:10:20,740 --> 00:10:22,700
to a safely evacuate americans and 

308
00:10:22,700 --> 00:10:24,710
Afghan allies and be conduct 

309
00:10:24,710 --> 00:10:27,150
counterterrorism operations for four 

310
00:10:27,150 --> 00:10:29,039
months . The response from the by 

311
00:10:29,039 --> 00:10:31,450
administration was we're working on it . 

312
00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,118
Now , it's clear they never had a plan . 

313
00:10:34,118 --> 00:10:36,173
The President repeatedly assured the 

314
00:10:36,173 --> 00:10:38,007
american people that the taliban 

315
00:10:38,007 --> 00:10:40,118
takeover was not inevitable , that we 

316
00:10:40,118 --> 00:10:42,229
had plenty of time to safely evacuate 

317
00:10:42,229 --> 00:10:44,580
americans and Afghan allies . That this 

318
00:10:44,580 --> 00:10:46,890
was not going to be a fall like Saigon . 

319
00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,020
As late as August 19 , the president 

320
00:10:50,020 --> 00:10:51,798
promised us that if there is an 

321
00:10:51,798 --> 00:10:54,150
American citizen left , we're going to 

322
00:10:54,150 --> 00:10:56,500
stay to get them all out . Now . It's 

323
00:10:56,500 --> 00:10:58,800
clear the president has misled us more 

324
00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,580
than once . On august 31st , hundreds 

325
00:11:01,580 --> 00:11:03,802
of americans left behind the 13 service 

326
00:11:03,802 --> 00:11:05,913
members murdered . President stood in 

327
00:11:05,913 --> 00:11:07,969
the east room of the White House and 

328
00:11:07,969 --> 00:11:09,691
called the withdrawal quote an 

329
00:11:09,691 --> 00:11:11,913
extraordinary success . Close quote , I 

330
00:11:11,913 --> 00:11:14,136
fear the President is delusional . This 

331
00:11:14,136 --> 00:11:15,969
was an extraordinary this was an 

332
00:11:15,969 --> 00:11:17,858
extraordinary success . It was an 

333
00:11:17,858 --> 00:11:19,858
extraordinary disaster . It will go 

334
00:11:19,858 --> 00:11:22,024
down in history as one of the greatest 

335
00:11:22,024 --> 00:11:24,247
failures of american leadership . We're 

336
00:11:24,247 --> 00:11:26,302
here today to get answers on how the 

337
00:11:26,302 --> 00:11:28,136
hell has happened . I expect our 

338
00:11:28,136 --> 00:11:28,000
witnesses to give us the honest 

339
00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,222
accounting of exactly what went wrong . 

340
00:11:30,222 --> 00:11:32,444
Also want answers on how we're going to 

341
00:11:32,444 --> 00:11:34,556
conduct counterterrorism operations . 

342
00:11:34,556 --> 00:11:36,444
Now that we have zero presence in 

343
00:11:36,444 --> 00:11:38,278
Afghanistan . This was the first 

344
00:11:38,278 --> 00:11:40,980
question uh , we ask you in April and 

345
00:11:40,980 --> 00:11:42,758
we still don't have an answer . 

346
00:11:42,758 --> 00:11:44,813
According to the latest intelligence 

347
00:11:44,813 --> 00:11:46,924
assessment , it could be as little as 

348
00:11:46,924 --> 00:11:48,980
12 months before . Al Qaeda will use 

349
00:11:48,980 --> 00:11:51,036
Afghanistan as a base , conduct as a 

350
00:11:51,036 --> 00:11:52,924
base to conduct air strikes , are 

351
00:11:52,924 --> 00:11:55,036
strikes against the United States and 

352
00:11:55,036 --> 00:11:57,202
that's unacceptable . And this talk of 

353
00:11:57,202 --> 00:11:59,690
over the horizon capability is a farce . 

354
00:11:59,700 --> 00:12:02,740
Sure , we can send a drone out to take 

355
00:12:02,740 --> 00:12:04,962
out the terrorists . But we didn't know 

356
00:12:04,962 --> 00:12:06,796
where the terrorists are without 

357
00:12:06,796 --> 00:12:09,018
persistent uh , is our capabilities are 

358
00:12:09,018 --> 00:12:11,129
reliable intelligence on the ground . 

359
00:12:11,129 --> 00:12:13,540
That's impossible . We have neither of 

360
00:12:13,540 --> 00:12:16,760
those . Now . It doesn't help that we 

361
00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:19,240
need to fly that drone nearly 1600 

362
00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,460
miles to reach Afghanistan , leaving 

363
00:12:21,460 --> 00:12:24,670
little time on station or that we have 

364
00:12:24,670 --> 00:12:27,230
to fly over Pakistan , an ally of the 

365
00:12:27,230 --> 00:12:29,580
Taliban who could revoke overflight 

366
00:12:29,580 --> 00:12:32,200
privileges at any time . None of this 

367
00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,367
is giving us much confidence that this 

368
00:12:34,367 --> 00:12:36,589
administration can successfully conduct 

369
00:12:36,589 --> 00:12:38,644
counterterrorism in Afghanistan . We 

370
00:12:38,644 --> 00:12:40,922
want to know what capabilities we need , 

371
00:12:40,922 --> 00:12:42,756
where they will be based and how 

372
00:12:42,756 --> 00:12:44,867
they'll be used . In other words , we 

373
00:12:44,867 --> 00:12:46,978
want to see a plan and we want to see 

374
00:12:46,978 --> 00:12:48,978
it today because frankly after this 

375
00:12:48,978 --> 00:12:51,200
debacle of a withdrawal , I don't think 

376
00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:52,922
anyone can trust anything this 

377
00:12:52,922 --> 00:12:55,280
President says about Afghanistan . Mr . 

378
00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,770
Chairman , I go back Mr Secretary , you 

379
00:12:58,770 --> 00:13:02,290
recognize Chairman , smith , ranking 

380
00:13:02,290 --> 00:13:04,450
member , Rogers , Members of the 

381
00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:06,117
committee . Thank you for the 

382
00:13:06,117 --> 00:13:08,283
opportunity to appear before you today 

383
00:13:08,540 --> 00:13:10,484
to discuss our recent drawdown and 

384
00:13:10,484 --> 00:13:12,651
evacuation operations in Afghanistan . 

385
00:13:13,340 --> 00:13:15,396
I'm pleased to be joined by generals 

386
00:13:15,396 --> 00:13:17,562
Millie and Mackenzie , who I know will 

387
00:13:17,562 --> 00:13:19,830
be able to provide you with additional 

388
00:13:19,830 --> 00:13:23,130
context . I am incredibly proud of the 

389
00:13:23,130 --> 00:13:25,074
men and women of the U . S . Armed 

390
00:13:25,074 --> 00:13:27,360
forces who conducted themselves with 

391
00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,740
tremendous skill and professionalism 

392
00:13:29,740 --> 00:13:32,620
throughout the war . The drawdown and 

393
00:13:32,620 --> 00:13:35,420
the evacuation Over the course of our 

394
00:13:35,420 --> 00:13:39,250
nation's longest war , 2461 

395
00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:41,473
of our fellow americans made the 

396
00:13:41,473 --> 00:13:43,990
ultimate sacrifice Along with more than 

397
00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,260
20,000 who still bear the wounds of war , 

398
00:13:47,740 --> 00:13:50,210
some of which cannot be seen on the 

399
00:13:50,210 --> 00:13:53,230
outside . Now we can discuss and debate 

400
00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,184
the decisions , the policies and a 

401
00:13:55,184 --> 00:13:57,462
turning point since april of this year , 

402
00:13:57,840 --> 00:13:59,729
when the president made clear his 

403
00:13:59,729 --> 00:14:01,840
intent to end american involvement in 

404
00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:03,673
this war . And we can debate the 

405
00:14:03,673 --> 00:14:05,784
decisions over the last 20 years that 

406
00:14:05,784 --> 00:14:07,980
led us to this point . But the one 

407
00:14:07,980 --> 00:14:10,640
thing not open to debate is the courage 

408
00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:12,751
and compassion of our service members 

409
00:14:13,140 --> 00:14:16,110
who , along with their families Served 

410
00:14:16,110 --> 00:14:17,888
in sacrifice to ensure that our 

411
00:14:17,888 --> 00:14:20,370
Homeland would never again be attacked . 

412
00:14:20,370 --> 00:14:24,140
The way it was on September 11 , 2001 I 

413
00:14:24,140 --> 00:14:26,196
had the chance to speak with many of 

414
00:14:26,196 --> 00:14:28,251
them during my trip to the gulf gulf 

415
00:14:28,251 --> 00:14:30,418
region a few weeks ago , Including the 

416
00:14:30,418 --> 00:14:32,584
Marines who lost 11 of their teammates 

417
00:14:32,584 --> 00:14:35,660
at the Abbey Gate in Kabul On 26 August . 

418
00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,930
I've never been more humbled and 

419
00:14:38,930 --> 00:14:41,920
inspired . They are rightfully proud of 

420
00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:43,976
what they accomplished and the lives 

421
00:14:43,976 --> 00:14:46,031
they saved in such a short period of 

422
00:14:46,031 --> 00:14:48,198
time . The reason that our troops were 

423
00:14:48,198 --> 00:14:50,420
able to get there so quickly is because 

424
00:14:50,420 --> 00:14:52,531
we plan for just such a contingency . 

425
00:14:52,531 --> 00:14:54,087
We began thinking about the 

426
00:14:54,087 --> 00:14:55,864
possibilities for non combatant 

427
00:14:55,864 --> 00:14:58,031
evacuation as far back as the spring . 

428
00:14:58,540 --> 00:15:00,640
by late April two weeks after the 

429
00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:02,980
president's decision , military 

430
00:15:02,980 --> 00:15:04,813
planners had crafted a number of 

431
00:15:04,813 --> 00:15:07,880
evacuation scenarios . In mid May , I 

432
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,500
ordered centcom to make preparations 

433
00:15:10,500 --> 00:15:12,770
for potential noncombatant evacuation 

434
00:15:12,770 --> 00:15:15,970
operation And two weeks later I began 

435
00:15:15,970 --> 00:15:18,700
prepositioning forces in the region to 

436
00:15:18,700 --> 00:15:22,240
include three infantry battalions . On 

437
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,320
10 August we ran another tabletop 

438
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:26,100
exercise around a noncombatant 

439
00:15:26,100 --> 00:15:28,640
evacuation scenario . We wanted to be 

440
00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,980
ready and we were by the time that the 

441
00:15:31,980 --> 00:15:33,980
State Department called for the neo 

442
00:15:33,980 --> 00:15:35,869
significant numbers of additional 

443
00:15:35,869 --> 00:15:37,536
forces had already arrived in 

444
00:15:37,536 --> 00:15:39,313
Afghanistan , including leading 

445
00:15:39,313 --> 00:15:40,960
elements of the 24th Marine 

446
00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,420
expeditionary unit who are already on 

447
00:15:43,420 --> 00:15:45,970
the ground in Kabul . Before that 

448
00:15:45,970 --> 00:15:48,026
weekend was out , another 3000 or so 

449
00:15:48,026 --> 00:15:50,250
ground troops had arrived , Including 

450
00:15:50,260 --> 00:15:53,740
elements of the 82nd Airborne . To be 

451
00:15:53,740 --> 00:15:56,010
clear . Those first two days were 

452
00:15:56,010 --> 00:15:59,030
difficult . We all watched with alarm . 

453
00:15:59,030 --> 00:16:00,960
The images of afghans rushing the 

454
00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,640
runway and our aircraft . We all 

455
00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,590
remember the scene of confusion . How 

456
00:16:07,590 --> 00:16:11,300
about , sorry , We'll get that under 

457
00:16:11,300 --> 00:16:13,410
control . Go ahead sir , Outside the 

458
00:16:13,410 --> 00:16:15,320
airport . But within 48 hours our 

459
00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,431
troops restored order and the process 

460
00:16:17,431 --> 00:16:20,100
began to take home our soldiers , 

461
00:16:20,110 --> 00:16:22,332
airmen and marines and partnership with 

462
00:16:22,332 --> 00:16:24,554
our allies , our partners and our State 

463
00:16:24,554 --> 00:16:26,888
Department colleagues secured the gates , 

464
00:16:26,888 --> 00:16:29,054
took control of the airport operations 

465
00:16:29,054 --> 00:16:30,999
and set up a processing processing 

466
00:16:30,999 --> 00:16:32,999
system for the tens of thousands of 

467
00:16:32,999 --> 00:16:35,110
people that they would be manifesting 

468
00:16:35,110 --> 00:16:36,890
onto airplanes . They and our 

469
00:16:36,890 --> 00:16:39,490
commanders exceeded all expectations . 

470
00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,400
We plan to execute uh we plan to 

471
00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,800
evacuate between 70,000 and 80,000 

472
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:49,610
people . They evacuated more than 

473
00:16:49,610 --> 00:16:53,530
124,000 people . We plan to 

474
00:16:53,530 --> 00:16:56,100
move between 5000 and 9000 people per 

475
00:16:56,100 --> 00:16:59,270
day . And on average they move slightly 

476
00:16:59,270 --> 00:17:02,580
more than 7000 people per day . On 

477
00:17:02,590 --> 00:17:05,430
military aircraft alone , we flew more 

478
00:17:05,430 --> 00:17:09,320
than 387 sorties , averaging nearly 23 

479
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:11,320
per day . And at the height of this 

480
00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:13,600
operation and aircraft was taking off 

481
00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,590
every 45 minutes and not a single sort . 

482
00:17:16,590 --> 00:17:18,830
He was missed for maintenance , fuel or 

483
00:17:18,830 --> 00:17:21,070
logistical problems . It was the 

484
00:17:21,070 --> 00:17:23,690
largest airlift conducted in US history 

485
00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,460
and it was executed in just 17 days . 

486
00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:30,080
Was it perfect ? Of course not . We 

487
00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,191
move so many people so quickly out of 

488
00:17:32,191 --> 00:17:34,191
Kabul that we ran into capacity and 

489
00:17:34,191 --> 00:17:36,136
screening problems at intermediate 

490
00:17:36,136 --> 00:17:38,302
staging bases outside of Afghanistan . 

491
00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,162
And we're still working to get 

492
00:17:40,162 --> 00:17:42,218
americans out who wish to leave . We 

493
00:17:42,218 --> 00:17:44,107
did not get out All of our afghan 

494
00:17:44,107 --> 00:17:46,273
allies enrolled in a special immigrant 

495
00:17:46,273 --> 00:17:48,496
visa program and we take that seriously 

496
00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,262
and that's why we're working across the 

497
00:17:51,262 --> 00:17:53,373
inter agency to continue facilitating 

498
00:17:53,373 --> 00:17:55,318
their departure . And even with no 

499
00:17:55,318 --> 00:17:57,484
military presence on the ground , that 

500
00:17:57,484 --> 00:17:59,760
part of our mission is not over . And 

501
00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,360
tragically lives were also lost . 

502
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,050
Several afghans kill climbing aboard an 

503
00:18:06,050 --> 00:18:09,290
aircraft on that first day , 13 brave U . 

504
00:18:09,290 --> 00:18:11,179
S . Service members and dozens of 

505
00:18:11,179 --> 00:18:13,346
afghan civilians killed in a terrorist 

506
00:18:13,346 --> 00:18:15,600
attack on the 26th And we took as many 

507
00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:17,767
as 10 innocent lives in a drone strike 

508
00:18:17,767 --> 00:18:21,420
on the 29th . Noncombatant evacuations 

509
00:18:21,420 --> 00:18:23,309
remain among the most challenging 

510
00:18:23,309 --> 00:18:25,531
military operations even in the best of 

511
00:18:25,531 --> 00:18:28,100
circumstances and the circumstances in 

512
00:18:28,100 --> 00:18:29,933
august were anything but ideal . 

513
00:18:30,540 --> 00:18:33,250
Extreme heat , a landlocked country , 

514
00:18:33,630 --> 00:18:36,900
no government highly dynamic situation 

515
00:18:36,900 --> 00:18:39,480
on the ground in an active , credible 

516
00:18:39,490 --> 00:18:42,130
and lethal terrorist threat . In the 

517
00:18:42,130 --> 00:18:44,670
span of just two days . From August 13 

518
00:18:44,670 --> 00:18:47,950
August 15 we went from working 

519
00:18:47,950 --> 00:18:51,150
alongside a democratically elected long 

520
00:18:51,150 --> 00:18:54,060
term partner government to coordinating 

521
00:18:54,070 --> 00:18:57,680
warily with a long time enemy . We 

522
00:18:57,680 --> 00:18:59,520
operated in a deeply dangerous 

523
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,380
environment and it proved a lesson in 

524
00:19:02,380 --> 00:19:05,990
pragmatism and professionalism . We 

525
00:19:05,990 --> 00:19:08,323
also learned a lot of other lessons too . 

526
00:19:08,740 --> 00:19:10,962
Like how about how to turn an air force 

527
00:19:10,962 --> 00:19:12,851
base in Qatar to an international 

528
00:19:12,851 --> 00:19:15,018
airport overnight about how to rapidly 

529
00:19:15,018 --> 00:19:16,910
screen process and manifest large 

530
00:19:16,910 --> 00:19:20,220
numbers of people . Nothing like this 

531
00:19:20,220 --> 00:19:22,164
has ever been done before . And no 

532
00:19:22,164 --> 00:19:24,331
other military in the world could have 

533
00:19:24,331 --> 00:19:26,498
could have pulled it off . And I think 

534
00:19:26,498 --> 00:19:28,498
that that's crucial and I know that 

535
00:19:28,498 --> 00:19:30,498
members of this committee will have 

536
00:19:30,498 --> 00:19:32,720
questions on many things such as why we 

537
00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,880
turned over bagram airfield and how how 

538
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,270
real are over the horizon capability is 

539
00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:40,980
and why we didn't start evacuations 

540
00:19:40,980 --> 00:19:43,290
sooner and why we didn't stay longer to 

541
00:19:43,290 --> 00:19:45,630
get more people out . So let me take 

542
00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:48,380
each in turn Retaining Bagram would 

543
00:19:48,380 --> 00:19:51,000
have required putting as many as 5000 

544
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:52,944
U.S . troops in harm's way just to 

545
00:19:52,944 --> 00:19:54,950
operate and defended . And it would 

546
00:19:54,950 --> 00:19:57,180
have contributed little to the mission 

547
00:19:57,210 --> 00:19:59,377
that we had been assigned and that was 

548
00:19:59,377 --> 00:20:01,599
to protect and defend the embassy which 

549
00:20:01,599 --> 00:20:03,821
was some 30 miles away in that distance 

550
00:20:03,821 --> 00:20:05,877
from Kabul also rendered bar gram of 

551
00:20:05,877 --> 00:20:08,310
little value in the evacuation . So 

552
00:20:08,310 --> 00:20:10,040
staying at Bagram even for 

553
00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,620
counterterrorism purposes meant staying 

554
00:20:12,620 --> 00:20:15,230
at war in Afghanistan , something that 

555
00:20:15,230 --> 00:20:17,397
the president made clear that he would 

556
00:20:17,397 --> 00:20:20,370
not do . And as we're over the horizon 

557
00:20:20,370 --> 00:20:23,250
operations when we use that term , we 

558
00:20:23,250 --> 00:20:26,790
refer to assets and target analysis 

559
00:20:26,820 --> 00:20:29,030
that come from outside the country in 

560
00:20:29,030 --> 00:20:32,140
which the operation occurs . These are 

561
00:20:32,140 --> 00:20:35,170
effective and fairly common operations . 

562
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:37,862
And just days ago we conducted one such 

563
00:20:37,862 --> 00:20:40,840
strike in Syria , eliminating a senior 

564
00:20:40,850 --> 00:20:44,440
al Qaeda figure over the horizon . 

565
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,662
Operations are difficult but absolutely 

566
00:20:46,662 --> 00:20:48,980
possible . Any intelligence that 

567
00:20:48,980 --> 00:20:51,630
supports them comes from from a variety 

568
00:20:51,630 --> 00:20:54,350
of sources and not just us boots on the 

569
00:20:54,350 --> 00:20:57,320
ground . As for when we started 

570
00:20:57,330 --> 00:21:00,800
evacuations , we offered input to the 

571
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,140
State Department's decision . Mindful 

572
00:21:03,140 --> 00:21:05,307
of their concerns that moving too soon 

573
00:21:05,307 --> 00:21:07,473
might actually cause the very collapse 

574
00:21:07,473 --> 00:21:09,529
of the Afghan government that we all 

575
00:21:09,529 --> 00:21:12,840
wanted to avoid and that moving too 

576
00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:14,673
late would put our people in our 

577
00:21:14,673 --> 00:21:18,140
operations at greater risk . As I said , 

578
00:21:18,150 --> 00:21:20,150
the fact that our troops are on the 

579
00:21:20,150 --> 00:21:22,317
ground so quickly so quickly is due in 

580
00:21:22,317 --> 00:21:24,720
large portion in large part to our 

581
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:26,998
planning and pre positioning of forces . 

582
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,110
As for the missions in my judgment 

583
00:21:30,110 --> 00:21:32,540
remains that extending beyond the end 

584
00:21:32,540 --> 00:21:34,707
of august would have greatly imperiled 

585
00:21:34,707 --> 00:21:37,300
our people in our mission . The Taliban 

586
00:21:37,300 --> 00:21:39,522
made clear that their cooperation would 

587
00:21:39,522 --> 00:21:42,230
end on one September and as you know , 

588
00:21:42,230 --> 00:21:44,452
we faced grave and growing threats from 

589
00:21:44,452 --> 00:21:46,980
ISIS K . So staying longer than we did 

590
00:21:46,980 --> 00:21:49,147
would have made it even more dangerous 

591
00:21:49,147 --> 00:21:51,313
for our people and would have not have 

592
00:21:51,313 --> 00:21:53,202
significantly changed a number of 

593
00:21:53,202 --> 00:21:55,258
evacuees we could get out . So as we 

594
00:21:55,258 --> 00:21:57,424
consider these tactical issues today , 

595
00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:00,290
we must also ask ourselves some equally 

596
00:22:00,290 --> 00:22:02,370
tough questions about the wider war 

597
00:22:02,380 --> 00:22:04,780
itself And pause to think about the 

598
00:22:04,780 --> 00:22:06,780
lessons that we've learned over the 

599
00:22:06,780 --> 00:22:08,891
past 20 years . Did we have the right 

600
00:22:08,891 --> 00:22:10,980
strategy ? Did we have too many 

601
00:22:10,980 --> 00:22:13,680
strategies ? Did we put too much faith 

602
00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,569
in our ability to build effective 

603
00:22:15,569 --> 00:22:18,050
Afghan institutions and army and air 

604
00:22:18,050 --> 00:22:20,650
force , a police force and government 

605
00:22:20,650 --> 00:22:23,430
ministries . We helped build a state , 

606
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,100
but we could not forge a nation . The 

607
00:22:26,100 --> 00:22:28,211
fact that the Afghan army that we and 

608
00:22:28,211 --> 00:22:31,600
our partners trained simply melted away 

609
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:33,950
in many cases without firing a shot 

610
00:22:34,540 --> 00:22:36,762
took us all by surprise and it would be 

611
00:22:36,762 --> 00:22:39,250
dishonest to claim otherwise . We need 

612
00:22:39,250 --> 00:22:41,450
to consider some uncomfortable truths 

613
00:22:43,340 --> 00:22:45,920
that we did not fully comprehend the 

614
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,142
depth of corruption and poor leadership 

615
00:22:48,142 --> 00:22:50,570
in their senior ranks , that we did not 

616
00:22:50,570 --> 00:22:52,681
grasp the damaging effect of frequent 

617
00:22:52,681 --> 00:22:55,260
and unexplained rotations by President 

618
00:22:55,260 --> 00:22:58,390
Ghani of his commanders that we did not 

619
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:00,511
anticipate the snowball effect caused 

620
00:23:00,511 --> 00:23:02,500
by the the deals that the Taliban 

621
00:23:02,500 --> 00:23:04,722
commanders struck with local leaders in 

622
00:23:04,722 --> 00:23:07,500
the wake of the Doha agreement . That 

623
00:23:07,500 --> 00:23:09,278
the Doha agreement itself had a 

624
00:23:09,278 --> 00:23:11,444
demoralizing effect on Afghan soldiers 

625
00:23:11,940 --> 00:23:14,107
and that we failed to fully grasp that 

626
00:23:14,107 --> 00:23:16,162
there was only so much for which and 

627
00:23:16,162 --> 00:23:18,107
for whom many of the Afghan forces 

628
00:23:18,107 --> 00:23:21,120
would fight we provided at the Afghan 

629
00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:23,600
military with equipment and aircraft 

630
00:23:23,610 --> 00:23:25,750
and the skills to use them . And over 

631
00:23:25,750 --> 00:23:28,090
the years they often fought bravely and 

632
00:23:28,090 --> 00:23:30,146
tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers 

633
00:23:30,146 --> 00:23:32,460
and police officers died . But in the 

634
00:23:32,460 --> 00:23:34,571
end we couldn't provide them with the 

635
00:23:34,571 --> 00:23:36,738
will to win at least not all of them . 

636
00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,310
And as a veteran of that war , I am 

637
00:23:39,310 --> 00:23:41,532
personally reckoning with all of that . 

638
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,296
But I hope , as I said at the outset 

639
00:23:44,296 --> 00:23:46,518
that we do not allow a debate about how 

640
00:23:46,518 --> 00:23:48,810
this war ended . To cloud our pride in 

641
00:23:48,810 --> 00:23:50,810
the way that our people fought it . 

642
00:23:51,140 --> 00:23:54,090
They prevented another 9 11 . They 

643
00:23:54,090 --> 00:23:55,923
showed extraordinary courage and 

644
00:23:55,923 --> 00:23:57,923
compassion in the war in the wars . 

645
00:23:57,923 --> 00:24:00,200
Last days , they made lasting progress 

646
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:02,367
in Afghanistan . That the taliban will 

647
00:24:02,367 --> 00:24:04,533
find difficult to reverse and that the 

648
00:24:04,533 --> 00:24:06,533
international community should work 

649
00:24:06,533 --> 00:24:09,210
hard to preserve . And now our service 

650
00:24:09,210 --> 00:24:11,043
members and civilians face a new 

651
00:24:11,043 --> 00:24:13,790
mission helping these afghan evacuees 

652
00:24:13,790 --> 00:24:16,440
move on to new lives and new places and 

653
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,051
they are performing that one 

654
00:24:18,170 --> 00:24:20,750
magnificently as well . And I spent 

655
00:24:20,750 --> 00:24:22,972
some time with some of them up at joint 

656
00:24:22,972 --> 00:24:24,940
base McGuire Dix Lakers this past 

657
00:24:24,940 --> 00:24:27,120
monday and I know that you share my 

658
00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:29,064
profound gratitude and respect for 

659
00:24:29,064 --> 00:24:30,953
their service , their courage and 

660
00:24:30,953 --> 00:24:33,060
professionalism and I appreciate the 

661
00:24:33,060 --> 00:24:35,350
support that this committee continues 

662
00:24:35,350 --> 00:24:37,420
to provide them and their families . 

663
00:24:37,430 --> 00:24:40,960
Thank you . Chairman Millie , 

664
00:24:43,140 --> 00:24:45,029
Chairman smith . Ranking member . 

665
00:24:45,029 --> 00:24:47,196
Rogers . Thank you for the opportunity 

666
00:24:47,196 --> 00:24:49,251
to be here with Secretary Austin and 

667
00:24:49,251 --> 00:24:51,362
General Mackenzie discuss Afghanistan 

668
00:24:51,362 --> 00:24:53,529
During the past 20 years . The men and 

669
00:24:53,529 --> 00:24:55,529
women of the United States military 

670
00:24:55,529 --> 00:24:57,473
along with our allies and partners 

671
00:24:57,473 --> 00:24:59,529
fought the Taliban brought Osama bin 

672
00:24:59,529 --> 00:25:01,473
laden to justice , denied al Qaeda 

673
00:25:01,473 --> 00:25:03,529
sanctuary and protected our homeland 

674
00:25:03,529 --> 00:25:05,800
for two consecutive decades . Over 

675
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,450
800,000 of us in uniform served in 

676
00:25:08,450 --> 00:25:11,310
Afghanistan . Most importantly , 

677
00:25:11,450 --> 00:25:15,170
2461 U . S . Soldiers , 

678
00:25:15,180 --> 00:25:18,770
sailors , airmen and marines paid the 

679
00:25:18,770 --> 00:25:19,770
ultimate price . 

680
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,460
20698 were wounded in action 

681
00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,018
and countless others suffer the 

682
00:25:27,018 --> 00:25:30,080
invisible wounds of war . There's no 

683
00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,130
doubt in my mind that our efforts 

684
00:25:33,130 --> 00:25:35,130
prevented an attack on the homeland 

685
00:25:35,130 --> 00:25:37,241
from Afghanistan , which was our core 

686
00:25:37,241 --> 00:25:40,520
mission and everyone , everyone who 

687
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:44,060
ever served in that war in Afghanistan 

688
00:25:44,070 --> 00:25:47,270
should be proud . Your service mattered . 

689
00:25:48,140 --> 00:25:51,420
Beginning in 2011 , we steadily drew 

690
00:25:51,420 --> 00:25:54,320
down our troop numbers consolidated and 

691
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,870
closed bases and retrograde equipment 

692
00:25:56,870 --> 00:26:00,060
from Afghanistan At our peak . In 2011 , 

693
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,460
We had 97,000 U.S . troops alongside 

694
00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,960
41,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan . 

695
00:26:07,740 --> 00:26:11,180
10 years later when Ambassador calas 

696
00:26:11,180 --> 00:26:13,347
aid signed the door agreement with the 

697
00:26:13,347 --> 00:26:16,430
Liberator On 29 February 2020 . The 

698
00:26:16,430 --> 00:26:19,270
United States had 12,600 troops with 

699
00:26:19,270 --> 00:26:22,990
8000 NATO and 10,500 contractors 

700
00:26:23,060 --> 00:26:27,000
in Afghanistan . This has been a 10 

701
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,460
year multi administration drawdown , 

702
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,990
Not a 19 month retrograde or 

703
00:26:33,990 --> 00:26:36,490
17 day noncombatant evacuation 

704
00:26:36,490 --> 00:26:39,160
operation . Under the Doha agreement , 

705
00:26:39,540 --> 00:26:41,318
the United States will begin to 

706
00:26:41,318 --> 00:26:43,540
withdraw its forces contingent upon the 

707
00:26:43,540 --> 00:26:45,707
Taliban . Meeting certain conditions , 

708
00:26:45,707 --> 00:26:47,484
which would lead to a political 

709
00:26:47,484 --> 00:26:47,430
agreement between the Taliban and the 

710
00:26:47,430 --> 00:26:49,597
government of Afghanistan . There were 

711
00:26:49,597 --> 00:26:51,541
seven conditions applicable to the 

712
00:26:51,541 --> 00:26:53,890
Taliban And 8 to the United States . 

713
00:26:54,340 --> 00:26:56,396
While the Taliban did not attack the 

714
00:26:56,396 --> 00:26:58,618
United States forces , which was one of 

715
00:26:58,618 --> 00:27:00,618
the conditions , it failed to fully 

716
00:27:00,618 --> 00:27:02,860
honour any other condition under the 

717
00:27:02,860 --> 00:27:05,020
Doha agreement and perhaps most 

718
00:27:05,020 --> 00:27:06,909
importantly for the United States 

719
00:27:06,909 --> 00:27:08,909
national Security , the Taliban has 

720
00:27:08,909 --> 00:27:11,290
never renounced their linkages with al 

721
00:27:11,290 --> 00:27:13,401
Qaeda or broke their affiliation with 

722
00:27:13,401 --> 00:27:16,550
them . We , the United States adhered 

723
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,950
to every condition In the fall of 2020 . 

724
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,850
My analysis then , was that an 

725
00:27:22,850 --> 00:27:25,610
accelerated withdrawal without meeting 

726
00:27:25,610 --> 00:27:27,630
specific and necessary conditions , 

727
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,700
risks losing the substantial gains made 

728
00:27:30,700 --> 00:27:34,040
in Afghanistan would potentially damage 

729
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,040
us worldwide credibility and could 

730
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,360
precipitate a general collapse of the 

731
00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:41,471
Afghan security forces and the Afghan 

732
00:27:41,471 --> 00:27:43,460
government resulting in a complete 

733
00:27:43,460 --> 00:27:46,670
Taliban takeover or general civil war . 

734
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,500
That analysis was a year ago based on 

735
00:27:50,500 --> 00:27:52,278
my advice and the advice of the 

736
00:27:52,278 --> 00:27:54,500
commanders at the time . Then secretary 

737
00:27:54,500 --> 00:27:56,611
defense espera submitted a memorandum 

738
00:27:56,611 --> 00:27:58,722
on nine November recommending that we 

739
00:27:58,722 --> 00:28:01,360
maintain the US forces which were then 

740
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,270
at about 4500 in Afghanistan until 

741
00:28:04,270 --> 00:28:06,160
conditions were met for further 

742
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:10,000
reductions . Two days later on 11 

743
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,620
november I received an unclassified 

744
00:28:12,620 --> 00:28:14,800
signed order directing the United 

745
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:16,967
States military to withdraw all forces 

746
00:28:16,967 --> 00:28:20,060
from Afghanistan By 15 January 2021 

747
00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:22,907
after further discussion regarding the 

748
00:28:22,907 --> 00:28:25,240
risks associated with such a withdrawal , 

749
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,850
the order was rescinded On 17 November , 

750
00:28:27,850 --> 00:28:30,220
we received a new order to reduce troop 

751
00:28:30,220 --> 00:28:33,430
levels to 2500 plus enabling forces no 

752
00:28:33,430 --> 00:28:36,100
later than 15 January when President 

753
00:28:36,100 --> 00:28:38,010
biden was inaugurated there were 

754
00:28:38,010 --> 00:28:40,690
approximately 3500 US troops , 5400 

755
00:28:40,690 --> 00:28:43,300
NATO and 6300 contractors in 

756
00:28:43,300 --> 00:28:46,020
Afghanistan Task to train , advise and 

757
00:28:46,020 --> 00:28:47,810
assist a small contingent of 

758
00:28:47,810 --> 00:28:50,350
counterterrorism forces and the 

759
00:28:50,350 --> 00:28:54,030
strategic situation was stalemate . The 

760
00:28:54,030 --> 00:28:55,863
biden administration through the 

761
00:28:55,863 --> 00:28:57,752
National Security Council process 

762
00:28:57,752 --> 00:28:59,974
conducted a rigorous interagency review 

763
00:28:59,974 --> 00:29:01,919
of the situation in Afghanistan in 

764
00:29:01,919 --> 00:29:03,974
february march and april during this 

765
00:29:03,974 --> 00:29:06,197
process , the views of all of the Joint 

766
00:29:06,197 --> 00:29:08,510
Chiefs of Staff , all of us the centcom 

767
00:29:08,510 --> 00:29:10,860
Commander General Mackenzie , us for a 

768
00:29:10,860 --> 00:29:13,330
Commander , General Miller and myself 

769
00:29:13,340 --> 00:29:16,110
were all given serious consideration by 

770
00:29:16,110 --> 00:29:18,320
the administration . We provided a 

771
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,400
broad range of options in our 

772
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:22,678
assessment of their potential outcomes . 

773
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,560
We couched that in cost benefit , risk 

774
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,020
of force risk Commission , all of that 

775
00:29:28,020 --> 00:29:29,964
was evaluated against the national 

776
00:29:29,964 --> 00:29:31,853
security objectives of the United 

777
00:29:31,853 --> 00:29:35,340
States . On 14 april , the President 

778
00:29:35,340 --> 00:29:37,680
United States President biden announced 

779
00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:39,900
his decision and the U . S . Military 

780
00:29:39,900 --> 00:29:41,900
received a change of mission to 

781
00:29:41,900 --> 00:29:44,180
retrograde all U . S . Military forces 

782
00:29:44,190 --> 00:29:46,520
maintain a small contingency force of 6 

783
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,070
to 700 to protect the embassy in Kabul 

784
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,080
until the Department of State could 

785
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,247
coordinate contractor security support 

786
00:29:53,247 --> 00:29:55,710
and also to assist Turkey to maintain 

787
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:57,831
Muhammad Karzai International Airport 

788
00:29:57,940 --> 00:30:00,920
and to transition the US mission over 

789
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,087
the horizon . Counterterrorism , sport 

790
00:30:03,087 --> 00:30:05,198
and security force assistance . It is 

791
00:30:05,198 --> 00:30:08,780
clear it is obvious to all of us that 

792
00:30:08,780 --> 00:30:10,891
the war in Afghanistan did not end on 

793
00:30:10,891 --> 00:30:13,150
the terms that we wanted with the 

794
00:30:13,150 --> 00:30:15,270
Taliban now in power in Kabul . 

795
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,620
Although the Neo was unprecedented and 

796
00:30:18,620 --> 00:30:20,453
is the largest air evacuation in 

797
00:30:20,453 --> 00:30:22,676
history , It was a tactical operational 

798
00:30:22,676 --> 00:30:25,470
and logistical success . evacuating 

799
00:30:25,470 --> 00:30:28,820
124,000 people . The war was a 

800
00:30:28,820 --> 00:30:32,500
strategic failure . It came also at an 

801
00:30:32,500 --> 00:30:34,910
incredible cost in the end With 11 

802
00:30:34,910 --> 00:30:37,760
Marines , one soldier and a Navy Corman 

803
00:30:38,740 --> 00:30:41,630
Days 13 gave their lives so that people 

804
00:30:41,630 --> 00:30:43,300
they never met would have an 

805
00:30:43,300 --> 00:30:46,320
opportunity to live in freedom and we 

806
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,750
must remember that the Taliban was and 

807
00:30:48,750 --> 00:30:51,920
remains a terrorist organization and 

808
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:53,864
they still have not broken with Al 

809
00:30:53,864 --> 00:30:56,490
Qaeda . I have no illusions that we are 

810
00:30:56,490 --> 00:30:58,740
dealing with . It remains to be seen 

811
00:30:58,740 --> 00:31:00,462
whether or not the Taliban can 

812
00:31:00,462 --> 00:31:02,462
consolidate power or if the country 

813
00:31:02,462 --> 00:31:04,518
will further fracture into civil war 

814
00:31:04,518 --> 00:31:06,518
but we must continue to protect the 

815
00:31:06,518 --> 00:31:08,740
United States . Americans . People from 

816
00:31:08,740 --> 00:31:10,980
terrorist attacks from Afghanistan a 

817
00:31:10,980 --> 00:31:13,650
reconstituted Al Qaeda or ISIS with 

818
00:31:13,650 --> 00:31:15,872
aspirations to attack the United States 

819
00:31:15,872 --> 00:31:18,500
is a very real possibility And those 

820
00:31:18,500 --> 00:31:20,444
conditions to include activity and 

821
00:31:20,444 --> 00:31:22,222
ungoverned spaces could present 

822
00:31:22,222 --> 00:31:25,010
themselves in next 12-36 months . That 

823
00:31:25,010 --> 00:31:27,232
mission will be much harder now but not 

824
00:31:27,232 --> 00:31:29,177
impossible and we will continue to 

825
00:31:29,177 --> 00:31:31,670
protect the american people . Strategic 

826
00:31:31,670 --> 00:31:33,781
decisions have strategic consequences 

827
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:36,662
Over the course of four presidents , 12 

828
00:31:36,662 --> 00:31:38,996
secretaries of defense , seven chairman , 

829
00:31:38,996 --> 00:31:41,560
10 centcom commanders and 20 commanders 

830
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,150
in Afghanistan And hundreds of 

831
00:31:44,150 --> 00:31:46,261
congressional delegation visits in 20 

832
00:31:46,261 --> 00:31:48,560
years . Congressional oversight . There 

833
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,210
are many lessons to be learned . Among 

834
00:31:51,210 --> 00:31:53,154
those lessons is the unprecedented 

835
00:31:53,154 --> 00:31:55,099
speed of the collapse of the NSF . 

836
00:31:55,099 --> 00:31:56,988
However , one lesson we can never 

837
00:31:56,988 --> 00:31:59,530
forget is that every soldier , sailor , 

838
00:31:59,530 --> 00:32:02,010
airman and marine Who served there for 

839
00:32:02,010 --> 00:32:05,410
20 years protected our country against 

840
00:32:05,410 --> 00:32:08,410
attack from terrorists and for that we 

841
00:32:08,410 --> 00:32:11,310
all should be forever grateful and 

842
00:32:11,310 --> 00:32:13,421
those soldiers , sailors , airmen and 

843
00:32:13,421 --> 00:32:16,660
marines should be forever proud . Mr 

844
00:32:16,660 --> 00:32:18,660
Chairman , with your permission I'd 

845
00:32:18,660 --> 00:32:20,716
like to address a couple of comments 

846
00:32:20,716 --> 00:32:22,827
about my personal conduct that's been 

847
00:32:22,827 --> 00:32:24,882
in the media lately . Yes . Yes . Mr 

848
00:32:24,882 --> 00:32:26,938
Chairman . You might go ahead . I've 

849
00:32:26,938 --> 00:32:30,020
served this nation for 42 years . I've 

850
00:32:30,020 --> 00:32:32,187
spent years in combat and buried a lot 

851
00:32:32,187 --> 00:32:34,298
of my troops who died while defending 

852
00:32:34,298 --> 00:32:36,187
this country . My loyalty to this 

853
00:32:36,187 --> 00:32:37,742
nation , it's people in the 

854
00:32:37,742 --> 00:32:39,798
constitution hasn't changed and will 

855
00:32:39,798 --> 00:32:41,742
never change . As long as I have a 

856
00:32:41,742 --> 00:32:44,050
breath to give my loyalty to the 

857
00:32:44,050 --> 00:32:46,100
constitution into this nation is 

858
00:32:46,110 --> 00:32:49,400
absolute and I will not turn my back on . 

859
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,400
My fallen with respect to the chinese 

860
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:54,800
calls . I routinely communicated with 

861
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,100
my counterpart . General lee with the 

862
00:32:57,100 --> 00:32:59,267
knowledge and coordination of civilian 

863
00:32:59,267 --> 00:33:01,840
oversight . I'm specifically directed 

864
00:33:01,850 --> 00:33:04,050
to communicate with the chinese by 

865
00:33:04,050 --> 00:33:06,160
Department of Defense guidance in a 

866
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:08,271
document known as the policy dialogue 

867
00:33:08,271 --> 00:33:10,690
system . These military to military 

868
00:33:10,690 --> 00:33:12,746
communications at the highest levels 

869
00:33:12,746 --> 00:33:14,746
are critical to the security of the 

870
00:33:14,746 --> 00:33:16,801
United States in order to deconflict 

871
00:33:16,801 --> 00:33:18,940
military actions , manage crisis and 

872
00:33:18,940 --> 00:33:21,980
prevent war between great powers armed 

873
00:33:21,990 --> 00:33:25,040
with nuclear weapons . The calls on 30 

874
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,151
October and eight January coordinated 

875
00:33:27,151 --> 00:33:29,840
before and after with secretary asked 

876
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:31,951
for an acting secretary Miller staffs 

877
00:33:31,951 --> 00:33:34,210
and the inter agency . The specific 

878
00:33:34,210 --> 00:33:36,154
purpose of the october and january 

879
00:33:36,154 --> 00:33:38,700
calls was generated by concerning 

880
00:33:38,700 --> 00:33:40,922
intelligence which caused us to believe 

881
00:33:40,922 --> 00:33:43,530
the chinese worried about an attack by 

882
00:33:43,530 --> 00:33:45,586
the United States . And last night I 

883
00:33:45,586 --> 00:33:47,752
briefed that intelligence in detail to 

884
00:33:47,752 --> 00:33:49,974
the Senate Armed Services Committee and 

885
00:33:49,974 --> 00:33:52,141
I'll be happy to brief it . Any member 

886
00:33:52,141 --> 00:33:54,308
or group of members at your discretion 

887
00:33:54,308 --> 00:33:56,363
in a classified session . And I know 

888
00:33:56,740 --> 00:33:58,796
and I am certain president trump did 

889
00:33:58,796 --> 00:34:01,320
not intend on attacking the chinese and 

890
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:04,010
it is my directed responsibility by the 

891
00:34:04,010 --> 00:34:06,760
secretary defense . To convey that 

892
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,730
intent . My task at that time was to de 

893
00:34:10,730 --> 00:34:13,110
escalate . My message was again 

894
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,260
consistent , calm , steady de escalate . 

895
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:18,830
We're not going to attack you as 

896
00:34:18,830 --> 00:34:21,340
secretary defense espadas direction . I 

897
00:34:21,340 --> 00:34:23,173
made a call to General lee on 30 

898
00:34:23,173 --> 00:34:25,284
october eight people sat in that call 

899
00:34:25,284 --> 00:34:27,451
with me and I read out the call within 

900
00:34:27,451 --> 00:34:30,330
30 minutes of the call ending On 31 

901
00:34:30,330 --> 00:34:32,552
December . The Chinese requested a call 

902
00:34:32,552 --> 00:34:34,870
with me . The department's Deputy 

903
00:34:34,870 --> 00:34:37,092
Assistant Secretary of Defense for asia 

904
00:34:37,092 --> 00:34:39,092
pacific policy helped coordinate my 

905
00:34:39,092 --> 00:34:41,203
call , which was then scheduled for a 

906
00:34:41,203 --> 00:34:43,370
january And he made a preliminary call 

907
00:34:43,370 --> 00:34:46,460
on six January . 11 people attended the 

908
00:34:46,460 --> 00:34:48,627
call with me and readouts of this call 

909
00:34:48,627 --> 00:34:50,682
were distributed to the inter agency 

910
00:34:50,682 --> 00:34:54,430
that same day . On 14 December . Then 

911
00:34:54,430 --> 00:34:57,150
acting secretary of Defense Miller had 

912
00:34:57,150 --> 00:34:59,206
been briefed on the entire program . 

913
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,473
Shortly after my call ended with 

914
00:35:01,473 --> 00:35:03,720
General lee , I informed both Secretary 

915
00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:05,890
of State Pompeo and White House Chief 

916
00:35:05,890 --> 00:35:07,970
of Staff Meadows about to call among 

917
00:35:07,970 --> 00:35:10,510
several other topics . Soon after that 

918
00:35:10,510 --> 00:35:12,343
I attended a meeting with acting 

919
00:35:12,343 --> 00:35:14,566
Secretary Miller where I briefed him on 

920
00:35:14,566 --> 00:35:16,788
the call . Later that same day on eight 

921
00:35:16,788 --> 00:35:19,280
January Speaker of the House Nancy 

922
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,630
Pelosi called Me to inquire about the 

923
00:35:21,630 --> 00:35:23,760
president's ability to launch nuclear 

924
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,640
weapons . I sought to assure her that 

925
00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:29,696
nuclear launch is governed by a very 

926
00:35:29,696 --> 00:35:32,380
specific and deliberate process . She 

927
00:35:32,380 --> 00:35:34,960
was concerned and made various personal 

928
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,293
references characterizing the president . 

929
00:35:37,740 --> 00:35:39,880
I explained to her that the president 

930
00:35:39,890 --> 00:35:42,750
is the sole nuclear launch authority 

931
00:35:43,140 --> 00:35:45,300
but he doesn't launch them alone and 

932
00:35:45,300 --> 00:35:47,550
that I am not qualified to determine 

933
00:35:47,550 --> 00:35:49,661
the mental health of the President of 

934
00:35:49,661 --> 00:35:52,290
the United States . There are processes , 

935
00:35:52,410 --> 00:35:55,180
protocols and procedures in place and I 

936
00:35:55,180 --> 00:35:57,450
repeatedly assured her there is no 

937
00:35:57,450 --> 00:36:00,570
chance of an illegal unauthorized or 

938
00:36:00,570 --> 00:36:02,950
accidental launch of nuclear weapons . 

939
00:36:04,230 --> 00:36:06,341
The presidential directive and sector 

940
00:36:06,341 --> 00:36:08,341
directors . The chairman is part of 

941
00:36:08,341 --> 00:36:10,119
this process to ensure that the 

942
00:36:10,119 --> 00:36:11,952
president is fully informed when 

943
00:36:11,952 --> 00:36:13,897
determining the use of the world's 

944
00:36:13,897 --> 00:36:16,800
deadliest weapons . By law . I am not 

945
00:36:16,810 --> 00:36:19,150
in the chain of command and I know that 

946
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,550
however , by presidential Director , 

947
00:36:21,930 --> 00:36:24,041
the Department of Defense instruction 

948
00:36:24,041 --> 00:36:26,320
signed by the President and Secretary 

949
00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:29,070
of Defense . I am in the chain of 

950
00:36:29,070 --> 00:36:31,340
communication to fulfill my legal 

951
00:36:31,350 --> 00:36:33,540
statutory role as the president's 

952
00:36:33,540 --> 00:36:36,230
primary military advisor . After the 

953
00:36:36,230 --> 00:36:38,286
speaker , Pelosi call , I convened a 

954
00:36:38,286 --> 00:36:40,286
short meeting in my office with key 

955
00:36:40,286 --> 00:36:42,397
members of my staff to refresh all of 

956
00:36:42,397 --> 00:36:44,380
us on these procedures , which we 

957
00:36:44,380 --> 00:36:46,760
practice three times a day at the 

958
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,770
action officer level . Additionally , I 

959
00:36:49,770 --> 00:36:51,881
immediately informed Acting Secretary 

960
00:36:51,881 --> 00:36:55,050
Defense Miller of her call at no time . 

961
00:36:55,730 --> 00:36:57,970
Was I attempting to change or influence 

962
00:36:57,970 --> 00:37:01,050
the process , usurp authority or insert 

963
00:37:01,050 --> 00:37:03,217
myself into the chain of command . But 

964
00:37:03,217 --> 00:37:06,140
I am expected to give my advice and 

965
00:37:06,140 --> 00:37:08,307
ensure the president is fully informed 

966
00:37:08,307 --> 00:37:10,760
on military affairs . I am submitting 

967
00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:12,871
for the record and I believe you have 

968
00:37:12,871 --> 00:37:15,760
it a couple of memorandum for record in 

969
00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:17,982
addition to detailed timelines and I am 

970
00:37:17,982 --> 00:37:20,093
happy to discuss in further detail in 

971
00:37:20,093 --> 00:37:21,982
either classified or unclassified 

972
00:37:21,982 --> 00:37:24,170
sessions with any or all of you about 

973
00:37:24,170 --> 00:37:26,337
my action surrounding these events . I 

974
00:37:26,337 --> 00:37:28,820
welcome a thorough walkthrough . I'll 

975
00:37:28,820 --> 00:37:31,098
be happy to provide whatever documents , 

976
00:37:31,098 --> 00:37:32,987
phone logs , emails , memoranda , 

977
00:37:32,987 --> 00:37:34,987
witnesses or anything else you want 

978
00:37:35,230 --> 00:37:37,230
that will help you understand these 

979
00:37:37,230 --> 00:37:39,520
events . My oath is to support the 

980
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:41,576
constitution of the United States of 

981
00:37:41,576 --> 00:37:43,687
America against all enemies , foreign 

982
00:37:43,687 --> 00:37:45,909
and domestic . And I will never turn my 

983
00:37:45,909 --> 00:37:48,131
back on that oath , I firmly believe in 

984
00:37:48,131 --> 00:37:50,242
civilian control of the military is a 

985
00:37:50,242 --> 00:37:52,409
bedrock principle and essential to the 

986
00:37:52,409 --> 00:37:54,298
health of this republic . And I'm 

987
00:37:54,298 --> 00:37:56,242
committed to ensuring the military 

988
00:37:56,242 --> 00:37:58,187
stays clear of domestic politics . 

989
00:37:58,187 --> 00:38:00,298
Thank you Chairman for the extra time 

990
00:38:00,298 --> 00:37:59,460
and I look forward to your questions . 

991
00:37:59,470 --> 00:38:01,470
Thank you . Excuse me . General 

992
00:38:01,470 --> 00:38:05,180
Mackenzie . Chairman smith . Ranking 

993
00:38:05,180 --> 00:38:07,291
member Rogers . Distinguished members 

994
00:38:07,291 --> 00:38:09,180
of the committee . Thanks for the 

995
00:38:09,180 --> 00:38:11,180
opportunity to testify about recent 

996
00:38:11,180 --> 00:38:13,347
events in Afghanistan . As the theater 

997
00:38:13,347 --> 00:38:15,458
commander , I will confine my opening 

998
00:38:15,458 --> 00:38:17,402
remarks to those matters that were 

999
00:38:17,402 --> 00:38:19,513
under my direct operational control , 

1000
00:38:19,513 --> 00:38:21,402
specifically the withdrawal of US 

1001
00:38:21,402 --> 00:38:23,569
forces and the subsequent noncombatant 

1002
00:38:23,569 --> 00:38:25,680
evacuation operation . These were two 

1003
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:27,720
distinct combat missions , both 

1004
00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:29,831
conducted in contact with the enemy . 

1005
00:38:29,831 --> 00:38:31,890
We had a plan for each of them . We 

1006
00:38:31,890 --> 00:38:34,170
executed those plans and thanks to the 

1007
00:38:34,170 --> 00:38:36,281
valour and dedication of thousands of 

1008
00:38:36,281 --> 00:38:38,114
men and women in harm's way . We 

1009
00:38:38,114 --> 00:38:40,281
completed both missions fulfilling the 

1010
00:38:40,281 --> 00:38:42,337
president's order to withdraw all US 

1011
00:38:42,337 --> 00:38:45,100
forces and evacuating over 124,000 

1012
00:38:45,100 --> 00:38:47,810
noncombatants from Afghanistan . I last 

1013
00:38:47,810 --> 00:38:49,980
appeared before this body only days 

1014
00:38:49,980 --> 00:38:51,980
after President biden announced his 

1015
00:38:51,980 --> 00:38:54,202
decision to withdraw all US forces from 

1016
00:38:54,202 --> 00:38:55,980
that country . And my testimony 

1017
00:38:55,980 --> 00:38:58,036
regarding that decision is already a 

1018
00:38:58,036 --> 00:39:00,036
matter of public record . I'll only 

1019
00:39:00,036 --> 00:39:02,202
reiterate that I had an opportunity to 

1020
00:39:02,202 --> 00:39:01,770
offer my professional advice to the 

1021
00:39:01,770 --> 00:39:03,881
president through the secretary and I 

1022
00:39:03,881 --> 00:39:06,103
am confident that he waited carefully . 

1023
00:39:06,103 --> 00:39:08,300
That's all any commander can ask once 

1024
00:39:08,300 --> 00:39:10,356
the president made his decision . My 

1025
00:39:10,356 --> 00:39:12,578
headquarters and that of U . S . Forces 

1026
00:39:12,578 --> 00:39:14,744
Afghanistan under General scott miller 

1027
00:39:14,744 --> 00:39:16,967
made the withdrawal of our forces . Our 

1028
00:39:16,967 --> 00:39:18,967
top priority . We did this in close 

1029
00:39:18,967 --> 00:39:20,800
coordination with our allies and 

1030
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,020
partners . Every departure of every 

1031
00:39:23,020 --> 00:39:24,964
element was carefully synchronized 

1032
00:39:24,964 --> 00:39:26,853
across the coalition and with our 

1033
00:39:26,853 --> 00:39:28,909
Afghan partners on no occasion where 

1034
00:39:28,909 --> 00:39:31,076
they caught unaware by our movements . 

1035
00:39:31,076 --> 00:39:33,076
Every base was handed off to Afghan 

1036
00:39:33,076 --> 00:39:34,798
forces according to a mutually 

1037
00:39:34,798 --> 00:39:36,964
understood plan . This is particularly 

1038
00:39:36,964 --> 00:39:39,430
true of Bagram Airfield . Many of you 

1039
00:39:39,430 --> 00:39:41,597
have visited bagram at some point over 

1040
00:39:41,597 --> 00:39:43,652
the past 20 years and we're probably 

1041
00:39:43,652 --> 00:39:45,930
struck by two of its defining features , 

1042
00:39:45,930 --> 00:39:48,150
its sprawling size and its isolation 

1043
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,320
Virtues for most of it's lifespan . 

1044
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,376
They rendered it untenable under the 

1045
00:39:53,376 --> 00:39:55,598
circumstances . The guidance I received 

1046
00:39:55,598 --> 00:39:57,653
in April was to conduct the complete 

1047
00:39:57,653 --> 00:39:59,876
withdrawal of US combat forces and plan 

1048
00:39:59,876 --> 00:40:01,820
for a diplomatic security force of 

1049
00:40:01,820 --> 00:40:03,830
absolutely no more than 650 service 

1050
00:40:03,830 --> 00:40:06,400
members . It was not feasible to 

1051
00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:08,511
preserve the U . S . Embassy in Kabul 

1052
00:40:08,810 --> 00:40:10,530
Hold and defend Hamid Karzai 

1053
00:40:10,530 --> 00:40:12,641
International Airport . The embassy's 

1054
00:40:12,641 --> 00:40:14,920
key link to the outside world and also 

1055
00:40:14,930 --> 00:40:17,360
defend Barham airfield with 650 

1056
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:19,720
soldiers and marines . This is 

1057
00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:22,460
important . The bagram option went away 

1058
00:40:22,470 --> 00:40:24,414
when we were ordered to reduce our 

1059
00:40:24,414 --> 00:40:26,730
presence to the 650 personnel in Kabul . 

1060
00:40:27,610 --> 00:40:29,666
I'd like to shift briefly to the Neo 

1061
00:40:29,666 --> 00:40:31,832
which as I have noted was a completely 

1062
00:40:31,832 --> 00:40:34,110
different operation than it would draw . 

1063
00:40:34,110 --> 00:40:36,110
They were separate . The withdrawal 

1064
00:40:36,110 --> 00:40:37,721
began in april following the 

1065
00:40:37,721 --> 00:40:39,777
president's direction . The decision 

1066
00:40:39,777 --> 00:40:41,832
that conduct a neo arrested with the 

1067
00:40:41,832 --> 00:40:43,999
Department of State and they made that 

1068
00:40:43,999 --> 00:40:46,060
decision on 14 August in our neo 

1069
00:40:46,060 --> 00:40:48,360
planning Central Command assumed that 

1070
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:50,582
we would have to bring out a very large 

1071
00:40:50,582 --> 00:40:52,638
number of people . We did not regard 

1072
00:40:52,638 --> 00:40:54,360
the size of a potential Neo is 

1073
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:56,638
overwhelming or too much to accomplish . 

1074
00:40:56,638 --> 00:40:58,860
We did not regard a taliban takeover as 

1075
00:40:58,860 --> 00:41:01,082
inevitable , but neither did we rule it 

1076
00:41:01,082 --> 00:41:02,804
out and we identified critical 

1077
00:41:02,804 --> 00:41:04,971
indicators of an impending collapse of 

1078
00:41:04,971 --> 00:41:07,193
the Afghan National Defence Forces . We 

1079
00:41:07,193 --> 00:41:09,270
crafted branches to our base plan to 

1080
00:41:09,270 --> 00:41:11,437
account for a complete collapse of the 

1081
00:41:11,437 --> 00:41:14,040
Afghan security forces . The secretary 

1082
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:15,929
took action in May to make forces 

1083
00:41:15,929 --> 00:41:18,320
available to me for planning on july 

1084
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:20,487
the ninth , I requested that are based 

1085
00:41:20,487 --> 00:41:23,420
Neo force , the core package that would 

1086
00:41:23,420 --> 00:41:26,380
go in , Be put on 96 hour prepared to 

1087
00:41:26,380 --> 00:41:29,250
deploy orders by august 11th . It was 

1088
00:41:29,250 --> 00:41:31,306
evident to me that Kabul was at risk 

1089
00:41:31,306 --> 00:41:33,306
and I requested the deployment of a 

1090
00:41:33,306 --> 00:41:35,417
brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division 

1091
00:41:35,417 --> 00:41:37,417
and other elements of our own alert 

1092
00:41:37,417 --> 00:41:39,139
preplanned Force package and I 

1093
00:41:39,139 --> 00:41:41,194
requested that they be deployed into 

1094
00:41:41,194 --> 00:41:43,361
into H Kaya Ahmed Karzai International 

1095
00:41:43,361 --> 00:41:45,472
Airfield . These forces float swiftly 

1096
00:41:45,472 --> 00:41:47,361
into theater . Even as the Afghan 

1097
00:41:47,361 --> 00:41:49,583
National Defence Forces disintegrated , 

1098
00:41:49,583 --> 00:41:51,750
allowing thousands of civilians access 

1099
00:41:51,750 --> 00:41:53,750
to the airfield working with afghan 

1100
00:41:53,750 --> 00:41:55,861
partners , composed of elite commando 

1101
00:41:55,861 --> 00:41:57,917
units who did not fall apart and are 

1102
00:41:57,917 --> 00:41:59,917
arriving Neo forces . On august the 

1103
00:41:59,917 --> 00:42:01,917
16th , we cleared the air field and 

1104
00:42:01,917 --> 00:42:04,139
resume flight operations in a matter of 

1105
00:42:04,139 --> 00:42:06,194
hours With security reestablished by 

1106
00:42:06,194 --> 00:42:09,930
force ultimately comprising 5780 for US 

1107
00:42:09,930 --> 00:42:12,170
troops , eight maneuver battalions and 

1108
00:42:12,170 --> 00:42:14,680
hundreds of coalition forces operations 

1109
00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:16,902
continue without interruption until our 

1110
00:42:16,902 --> 00:42:19,360
final flights . By that time we 

1111
00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:21,790
evacuated over 124,000 people from 

1112
00:42:21,790 --> 00:42:24,270
Afghanistan . This was a difficult 

1113
00:42:24,270 --> 00:42:25,881
mission made possible by the 

1114
00:42:25,881 --> 00:42:27,992
exceptional professionalism and valor 

1115
00:42:27,992 --> 00:42:29,992
of the joint force on the ground in 

1116
00:42:29,992 --> 00:42:32,326
Afghanistan and across the entire world . 

1117
00:42:32,326 --> 00:42:34,437
I would specifically like to use this 

1118
00:42:34,437 --> 00:42:36,603
opportunity to thank the C 17 crews of 

1119
00:42:36,603 --> 00:42:38,603
the air mobility command for a feat 

1120
00:42:38,603 --> 00:42:40,826
rivalling and exceeding . In fact , the 

1121
00:42:40,826 --> 00:42:43,048
Berlin airlift . Moments after the last 

1122
00:42:43,048 --> 00:42:45,560
of the final five C 17 lifting off from 

1123
00:42:45,570 --> 00:42:47,570
H Kaya , I hold a briefing with the 

1124
00:42:47,570 --> 00:42:49,681
pentagon press corps and expressed my 

1125
00:42:49,681 --> 00:42:51,903
gratitude and admiration for the forces 

1126
00:42:51,903 --> 00:42:54,050
who carried out this Neo , I also 

1127
00:42:54,050 --> 00:42:56,106
provided various figures that convey 

1128
00:42:56,106 --> 00:42:58,328
the magnitude of their accomplishment . 

1129
00:42:58,328 --> 00:43:00,383
I won't reiterate those figures here 

1130
00:43:00,383 --> 00:43:02,606
and now , but I will say that after the 

1131
00:43:02,606 --> 00:43:04,828
passage of nearly a month , my pride in 

1132
00:43:04,828 --> 00:43:04,240
their accomplishments remains 

1133
00:43:04,240 --> 00:43:06,280
undiminished . I don't need to tell 

1134
00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:09,030
this body that on 26 August 11 Marines , 

1135
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:11,420
one sailor and one soldier made the 

1136
00:43:11,420 --> 00:43:13,531
ultimate sacrifice on behalf of their 

1137
00:43:13,531 --> 00:43:15,820
country . We will never forget them . 

1138
00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:18,422
This was a combat operation of the most 

1139
00:43:18,422 --> 00:43:20,200
difficult sort , A noncombatant 

1140
00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:22,440
evacuation carried out in contact with 

1141
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:24,607
the enemy . The enemy in this case was 

1142
00:43:24,607 --> 00:43:27,250
ISIS course in a vial tenacious foe 

1143
00:43:27,260 --> 00:43:29,593
that would undoubtedly have killed many , 

1144
00:43:29,593 --> 00:43:31,427
many more americans and innocent 

1145
00:43:31,427 --> 00:43:33,593
afghans at H kaya . If we're not worth 

1146
00:43:33,593 --> 00:43:35,816
if it were not for the vigilance of our 

1147
00:43:35,816 --> 00:43:38,430
forces there On 29 August we undertook 

1148
00:43:38,430 --> 00:43:40,710
an MQ nine strike against what we 

1149
00:43:40,710 --> 00:43:42,766
thought was an imminent threat to HK 

1150
00:43:42,766 --> 00:43:45,250
area . That strike was a mistake and I 

1151
00:43:45,250 --> 00:43:47,139
take full responsibility for that 

1152
00:43:47,139 --> 00:43:49,470
strike . I was under no pressure from 

1153
00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:51,970
any quarter to conduct the strike . It 

1154
00:43:51,970 --> 00:43:54,081
was based on our intelligence read of 

1155
00:43:54,081 --> 00:43:56,137
the situation on the ground while in 

1156
00:43:56,137 --> 00:43:58,026
many cases we were right with our 

1157
00:43:58,026 --> 00:44:00,026
intelligence and forestalled ISIS K 

1158
00:44:00,026 --> 00:44:01,970
attacks in this case we were wrong 

1159
00:44:01,970 --> 00:44:04,026
tragically wrong . I appreciate that 

1160
00:44:04,026 --> 00:44:06,248
there are many other topics of interest 

1161
00:44:06,248 --> 00:44:08,470
to this committee and I look forward to 

1162
00:44:08,470 --> 00:44:08,450
answering your questions on all of them . 

1163
00:44:08,460 --> 00:44:10,127
I'll close hereby reiterate , 

1164
00:44:10,127 --> 00:44:12,570
reiterating my profound gratitude and 

1165
00:44:12,570 --> 00:44:14,903
appreciation for every soldier , Sailor , 

1166
00:44:14,903 --> 00:44:17,210
Marine Airman and Guardian , as well as 

1167
00:44:17,210 --> 00:44:19,154
our Intelligence and Department of 

1168
00:44:19,154 --> 00:44:21,210
Defense Department of State comrades 

1169
00:44:21,210 --> 00:44:23,043
who contributed to each of these 

1170
00:44:23,043 --> 00:44:25,154
difficult missions . I remain humbled 

1171
00:44:25,154 --> 00:44:27,210
by their sense of duty and courage . 

1172
00:44:27,210 --> 00:44:29,432
Thank you . Mhm . Thank you . Mr I want 

1173
00:44:29,432 --> 00:44:31,488
to drill down a little bit on the 20 

1174
00:44:31,488 --> 00:44:33,377
keeping 2500 troops there and I'm 

1175
00:44:33,377 --> 00:44:35,432
struck as I listened to the comments 

1176
00:44:35,432 --> 00:44:37,543
that I think the real problem here is 

1177
00:44:37,543 --> 00:44:39,710
you have to make decisions in the real 

1178
00:44:39,710 --> 00:44:41,821
world . Um , you don't get to imagine 

1179
00:44:41,821 --> 00:44:43,766
an outcome that would make it more 

1180
00:44:43,766 --> 00:44:45,766
palatable . And I think that's what 

1181
00:44:45,766 --> 00:44:47,932
really factored into the 2500 . And as 

1182
00:44:47,932 --> 00:44:49,988
we talk about The 13 service members 

1183
00:44:49,988 --> 00:44:52,720
who died and attacked the leadership 

1184
00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:54,776
here for not having prevented that . 

1185
00:44:55,290 --> 00:44:57,512
How you can do that in an advocate that 

1186
00:44:57,512 --> 00:44:59,568
we should have stayed in Afghanistan 

1187
00:44:59,568 --> 00:45:02,690
longer so that more service members , I 

1188
00:45:02,690 --> 00:45:04,690
guess the only way you can advocate 

1189
00:45:04,690 --> 00:45:07,370
that is to imagine a scenario whereby 

1190
00:45:07,370 --> 00:45:10,080
we could have stayed in a chaotic war 

1191
00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:13,280
zone , not had soldiers get killed , 

1192
00:45:13,290 --> 00:45:15,512
not have made any mistakes . You know , 

1193
00:45:15,512 --> 00:45:17,568
how you cannot make mistakes in that 

1194
00:45:17,568 --> 00:45:19,623
chaotic environment . I don't know . 

1195
00:45:19,623 --> 00:45:21,457
And every member serving on this 

1196
00:45:21,457 --> 00:45:23,012
committee has been in those 

1197
00:45:23,012 --> 00:45:25,234
environments in one way or another . So 

1198
00:45:25,234 --> 00:45:27,346
you don't have the luxury of waving a 

1199
00:45:27,346 --> 00:45:29,512
magic wand and making all the problems 

1200
00:45:29,512 --> 00:45:31,568
go away and simply making a decision 

1201
00:45:31,568 --> 00:45:33,568
where nothing goes wrong . Um , and 

1202
00:45:33,568 --> 00:45:35,734
it's really frustrating to hear people 

1203
00:45:35,734 --> 00:45:37,901
advocate that we should stay and still 

1204
00:45:37,901 --> 00:45:39,901
decry what happened ? Did you think 

1205
00:45:39,901 --> 00:45:42,123
fighting in a war zone ? There wouldn't 

1206
00:45:42,123 --> 00:45:44,179
be similar mistakes if we had stayed 

1207
00:45:44,179 --> 00:45:43,830
there for another five or 10 years ? 

1208
00:45:43,830 --> 00:45:46,270
More civilians killed accidentally ? 

1209
00:45:46,270 --> 00:45:48,840
More us service members dead in exactly 

1210
00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:51,600
the same way that we just saw . Sorry . 

1211
00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:53,656
That's that's very frustrating . But 

1212
00:45:53,656 --> 00:45:56,040
could you talk to us a little bit about 

1213
00:45:56,050 --> 00:45:59,120
the 2500 um , soldiers are , sorry 

1214
00:45:59,130 --> 00:46:01,186
service members , it could have been 

1215
00:46:01,186 --> 00:46:03,297
left there . And and how you approach 

1216
00:46:03,297 --> 00:46:05,519
that decision and what exactly . Um but 

1217
00:46:05,519 --> 00:46:07,741
not what exactly your advice was to the 

1218
00:46:07,741 --> 00:46:09,963
President for what I said earlier , but 

1219
00:46:09,963 --> 00:46:12,130
how you approach that decision and how 

1220
00:46:12,130 --> 00:46:14,130
you attempt to deal with that while 

1221
00:46:14,130 --> 00:46:16,352
while advising the President , first of 

1222
00:46:16,352 --> 00:46:18,352
all , Chairman , uh let me be clear 

1223
00:46:18,352 --> 00:46:20,186
that I I support the President's 

1224
00:46:20,186 --> 00:46:22,463
decision to end the war in Afghanistan . 

1225
00:46:22,580 --> 00:46:24,820
I did not support staying in 

1226
00:46:24,820 --> 00:46:28,410
Afghanistan forever . Um , and let me 

1227
00:46:28,410 --> 00:46:30,299
also say , we've talked about the 

1228
00:46:30,299 --> 00:46:33,380
process that we use to uh provide input 

1229
00:46:33,390 --> 00:46:35,790
to the to the President . I think that 

1230
00:46:35,790 --> 00:46:38,350
process was a very thorough and 

1231
00:46:38,350 --> 00:46:41,510
inclusive policy process and the 

1232
00:46:41,510 --> 00:46:44,420
recommendations of the commanders uh 

1233
00:46:44,430 --> 00:46:47,210
were taken into consideration discussed 

1234
00:46:47,210 --> 00:46:49,380
and deliberated , deliberated on uh , 

1235
00:46:49,390 --> 00:46:53,170
throughout that process . Um as you 

1236
00:46:53,170 --> 00:46:56,880
indicated , I typically , I will always 

1237
00:46:56,890 --> 00:47:00,080
keep my recommendations to the 

1238
00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:03,310
President confidential . But I would 

1239
00:47:03,310 --> 00:47:06,220
say that in my view , there wasn't , 

1240
00:47:06,220 --> 00:47:09,430
there is no was no risk free 

1241
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:13,280
uh status quo option . I think 

1242
00:47:13,280 --> 00:47:15,670
that the taliban had been clear that if 

1243
00:47:15,670 --> 00:47:17,710
we stayed there longer , they were 

1244
00:47:17,710 --> 00:47:20,190
going to recommence attacks on our 

1245
00:47:20,190 --> 00:47:23,250
forces . I think while we it's 

1246
00:47:23,250 --> 00:47:25,530
conceivable that you could stay there , 

1247
00:47:25,540 --> 00:47:27,651
my view is that you would have had to 

1248
00:47:27,651 --> 00:47:30,130
deploy more forces in order to protect 

1249
00:47:30,130 --> 00:47:32,297
ourselves and accomplish any emissions 

1250
00:47:32,297 --> 00:47:34,519
that we would have been assigned . It's 

1251
00:47:34,519 --> 00:47:36,519
also my view mr Chairman , that the 

1252
00:47:36,519 --> 00:47:38,686
best way to end this war was through a 

1253
00:47:38,686 --> 00:47:41,070
negotiated settlement and sadly that 

1254
00:47:41,070 --> 00:47:43,840
did not happen . Thank you . And let me 

1255
00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:45,840
just also say that I know there are 

1256
00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:47,784
members of this this committee who 

1257
00:47:47,784 --> 00:47:49,951
think we should have stayed . Who were 

1258
00:47:49,951 --> 00:47:52,020
honest about that that application . 

1259
00:47:52,020 --> 00:47:53,964
I'm sorry . I think of Congressman 

1260
00:47:53,964 --> 00:47:56,131
waltz , who has been very honest about 

1261
00:47:56,131 --> 00:47:58,076
the fact that both under President 

1262
00:47:58,076 --> 00:47:57,760
trump and under President biden that we 

1263
00:47:57,760 --> 00:47:59,871
should have stayed . He's very honest 

1264
00:47:59,871 --> 00:48:01,927
about the fact that there were costs 

1265
00:48:01,927 --> 00:48:03,927
and risks and lives would have been 

1266
00:48:03,927 --> 00:48:05,982
lost . That's the type of discussion 

1267
00:48:05,982 --> 00:48:08,204
that we need to have . But to jump down 

1268
00:48:08,204 --> 00:48:10,371
that the president's throat because he 

1269
00:48:10,371 --> 00:48:12,427
actually had to make the decision an 

1270
00:48:12,427 --> 00:48:14,538
impossible situation . I think does a 

1271
00:48:14,538 --> 00:48:16,593
grave disservice to this committee's 

1272
00:48:16,593 --> 00:48:18,538
ability to do effective and honest 

1273
00:48:18,538 --> 00:48:21,650
nonpartisan oversight costs were going 

1274
00:48:21,650 --> 00:48:23,910
to be born here . There was no easy 

1275
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:26,110
option . Uh And I do hope that people 

1276
00:48:26,110 --> 00:48:28,332
will remember that as we go through the 

1277
00:48:28,332 --> 00:48:30,277
questions and answers um that will 

1278
00:48:30,277 --> 00:48:32,443
proceed without a yield to the ranking 

1279
00:48:32,443 --> 00:48:31,280
member . 

1280
00:48:40,470 --> 00:48:44,110
Thank you . Mr Chairman . Um General 

1281
00:48:44,110 --> 00:48:47,990
Milley was the D . O . D . In charge of 

1282
00:48:47,990 --> 00:48:50,120
making decisions about troop strength 

1283
00:48:50,130 --> 00:48:53,630
uh in this withdrawal or were you in a 

1284
00:48:53,630 --> 00:48:54,630
support role ? 

1285
00:48:59,370 --> 00:49:01,537
Let me put it this way on . You talked 

1286
00:49:01,537 --> 00:49:03,660
about the Neil or I'm talking about , 

1287
00:49:03,670 --> 00:49:05,930
let me just go back even further in 

1288
00:49:05,930 --> 00:49:09,730
january of this year . Were you of the 

1289
00:49:09,730 --> 00:49:11,841
opinion in your professional military 

1290
00:49:11,841 --> 00:49:14,063
judgment that we should have maintained 

1291
00:49:14,063 --> 00:49:16,230
2500 troops ? U.S . troops and support 

1292
00:49:16,230 --> 00:49:18,230
coalition effort and contractors in 

1293
00:49:18,230 --> 00:49:20,880
Afghanistan ? Yeah . My assessment that 

1294
00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:22,658
I read in the opening statement 

1295
00:49:22,658 --> 00:49:26,460
remained consistent . Um and did 

1296
00:49:26,460 --> 00:49:28,460
that did that professional military 

1297
00:49:28,460 --> 00:49:30,571
opinion change over the course of the 

1298
00:49:30,571 --> 00:49:32,420
next few months ? Not until 

1299
00:49:32,430 --> 00:49:34,700
presidential decision . And I rendered 

1300
00:49:34,700 --> 00:49:38,250
my opinions and it was a fulsome 

1301
00:49:38,250 --> 00:49:40,790
debate on all of that . And once 

1302
00:49:40,790 --> 00:49:43,012
decisions are made then I'm expected to 

1303
00:49:43,012 --> 00:49:45,068
execute lawful order and you've made 

1304
00:49:45,068 --> 00:49:47,068
that very clear . So my question is 

1305
00:49:47,068 --> 00:49:49,179
when the troop levels were ordered to 

1306
00:49:49,179 --> 00:49:50,957
be drawn down to zero and first 

1307
00:49:50,957 --> 00:49:53,250
stopping at 650 as General Mackenzie 

1308
00:49:53,250 --> 00:49:55,306
outlined , Was that your decision or 

1309
00:49:55,306 --> 00:49:57,306
gentle Mackenzie's decision to draw 

1310
00:49:57,306 --> 00:50:00,370
down to 650 . It was a task and then a 

1311
00:50:00,380 --> 00:50:02,436
troop to task analysis with the task 

1312
00:50:02,436 --> 00:50:05,590
being to go to zero . But you also have 

1313
00:50:05,590 --> 00:50:08,040
to defend the embassy . So I'm thinking 

1314
00:50:08,040 --> 00:50:10,262
about the chain of command , Somebody's 

1315
00:50:10,262 --> 00:50:12,373
making decisions about troop levels . 

1316
00:50:12,373 --> 00:50:14,790
And my understanding is it was not the 

1317
00:50:14,790 --> 00:50:17,500
D . O . D . It was the State Department 

1318
00:50:17,510 --> 00:50:19,732
or the White House . I want to know who 

1319
00:50:19,732 --> 00:50:22,750
said we're gonna go from 2500 to 6 50 

1320
00:50:23,110 --> 00:50:24,943
just protect Kabul and the State 

1321
00:50:24,943 --> 00:50:27,166
Department . It was a military analysis 

1322
00:50:27,166 --> 00:50:29,690
that 6 to 700 could adequately defend 

1323
00:50:29,690 --> 00:50:31,912
the embassy until the contract has come 

1324
00:50:31,912 --> 00:50:33,857
up . And that was then approved up 

1325
00:50:33,857 --> 00:50:35,968
through the chain and and approved at 

1326
00:50:35,968 --> 00:50:35,570
the highest levels who made the 

1327
00:50:35,570 --> 00:50:37,890
decision . Um 

1328
00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:44,930
I would I would say that that decision 

1329
00:50:44,930 --> 00:50:47,830
was made uh in a national security 

1330
00:50:47,830 --> 00:50:50,490
consultative process by the highest 

1331
00:50:50,490 --> 00:50:52,379
levels of our government . Yeah . 

1332
00:50:52,860 --> 00:50:56,270
General Mackenzie . Um did 

1333
00:50:56,660 --> 00:50:58,827
You receive advice from General Miller 

1334
00:50:58,830 --> 00:51:01,430
in the end of 20 and early 21-related 

1335
00:51:01,430 --> 00:51:04,410
troop levels in Afghanistan ? I 

1336
00:51:04,420 --> 00:51:06,642
remember I did . What was that advice ? 

1337
00:51:07,160 --> 00:51:09,730
The advice , his view and my view were 

1338
00:51:09,730 --> 00:51:11,952
essentially the same view . And my view 

1339
00:51:11,952 --> 00:51:14,008
was that we needed to maintain about 

1340
00:51:14,008 --> 00:51:16,230
2500 . Uh and that we also need to work 

1341
00:51:16,230 --> 00:51:18,230
with our coalition partners who had 

1342
00:51:18,230 --> 00:51:20,230
about 6000 troops in their NATO and 

1343
00:51:20,230 --> 00:51:22,286
other core countries that would that 

1344
00:51:22,286 --> 00:51:21,900
would remain there . Did your 

1345
00:51:21,900 --> 00:51:23,956
professional military opinion change 

1346
00:51:23,956 --> 00:51:26,122
over the course of the spring ? It did 

1347
00:51:26,122 --> 00:51:28,344
not . Did you communicate well , I know 

1348
00:51:28,344 --> 00:51:30,511
you communicate to the President , you 

1349
00:51:30,511 --> 00:51:32,900
said you did . Um were you present in 

1350
00:51:32,900 --> 00:51:34,622
the room when General Miller's 

1351
00:51:34,622 --> 00:51:36,622
recommendations were related to the 

1352
00:51:36,622 --> 00:51:38,511
President without going . General 

1353
00:51:38,511 --> 00:51:40,289
Miller was present in executive 

1354
00:51:40,289 --> 00:51:42,233
sessions that involve myself , the 

1355
00:51:42,233 --> 00:51:44,344
Secretary here , the Chairman and the 

1356
00:51:44,344 --> 00:51:46,456
President . And those recommendations 

1357
00:51:46,456 --> 00:51:49,070
of the parties as Secretary also said , 

1358
00:51:49,080 --> 00:51:51,290
were debated fully and I would just 

1359
00:51:51,300 --> 00:51:53,411
they were debated fully . I felt that 

1360
00:51:53,411 --> 00:51:55,520
my opinion was heard with great 

1361
00:51:55,520 --> 00:51:57,798
thoughtfulness by the President . Well , 

1362
00:51:57,798 --> 00:51:59,909
you know , Secretary Austin just made 

1363
00:51:59,909 --> 00:52:01,853
the point that there was a fulsome 

1364
00:52:01,853 --> 00:52:04,076
debate of the pros and cons and the and 

1365
00:52:04,076 --> 00:52:06,020
the costs and risks . Uh yet uh in 

1366
00:52:06,020 --> 00:52:08,131
august of this year , President biden 

1367
00:52:08,131 --> 00:52:09,964
told George Stephanopoulos in an 

1368
00:52:09,964 --> 00:52:12,298
interview . No , no one said that to me , 

1369
00:52:12,298 --> 00:52:14,480
referring to keeping some 2500 troops 

1370
00:52:14,490 --> 00:52:16,712
in Afghanistan . Was that an inaccurate 

1371
00:52:16,712 --> 00:52:18,934
statement by the President , sir ? I am 

1372
00:52:18,934 --> 00:52:21,101
not going to comment on a statement by 

1373
00:52:21,101 --> 00:52:22,546
the President . Okay , um 

1374
00:52:25,450 --> 00:52:27,506
General Mackenzie in mid june , your 

1375
00:52:27,506 --> 00:52:29,339
commanders on the ground , we're 

1376
00:52:29,339 --> 00:52:31,061
informing you that things were 

1377
00:52:31,061 --> 00:52:33,283
deteriorating as you testified a little 

1378
00:52:33,283 --> 00:52:32,650
while ago at that time . In your 

1379
00:52:32,650 --> 00:52:34,872
judgment , you should stop withdrawal , 

1380
00:52:34,872 --> 00:52:37,520
increased forces and uh or proceed with 

1381
00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:39,687
the retrograde . What did you decide ? 

1382
00:52:39,687 --> 00:52:41,909
At that time we decided to proceed with 

1383
00:52:41,909 --> 00:52:45,450
the retrograde . Okay . Was you you 

1384
00:52:45,460 --> 00:52:47,682
George to do that by the President ? We 

1385
00:52:47,682 --> 00:52:49,627
had we followed our original we're 

1386
00:52:49,627 --> 00:52:51,516
original orders . We follow those 

1387
00:52:51,516 --> 00:52:53,627
orders through to completion . It was 

1388
00:52:53,627 --> 00:52:55,738
at the President's Orders . My orders 

1389
00:52:55,738 --> 00:52:57,682
come from the Secretary of Defense 

1390
00:52:57,682 --> 00:52:59,738
through the uh to the President . So 

1391
00:52:59,738 --> 00:52:59,680
it's a very short chain of command for 

1392
00:52:59,680 --> 00:53:03,620
me . Okay . Uh Secretary Office on 23rd , 

1393
00:53:03,630 --> 00:53:05,686
you told this committee that you had 

1394
00:53:05,686 --> 00:53:07,574
developed a very detailed plan to 

1395
00:53:07,574 --> 00:53:09,630
conduct safe , orderly , responsible 

1396
00:53:09,630 --> 00:53:11,741
withdrawal . And we're executing that 

1397
00:53:11,741 --> 00:53:14,260
plan on August 18 , the president said , 

1398
00:53:14,850 --> 00:53:17,072
quote , the idea that somehow there was 

1399
00:53:17,072 --> 00:53:19,128
going to be a way that we could have 

1400
00:53:19,128 --> 00:53:21,350
gotten out with chaos ensuing . I don't 

1401
00:53:21,350 --> 00:53:23,461
know how that happens . Close quote . 

1402
00:53:23,461 --> 00:53:25,050
How do you reconcile those 

1403
00:53:25,050 --> 00:53:27,217
discrepancies between what you assured 

1404
00:53:27,217 --> 00:53:29,383
the Congress and what the President is 

1405
00:53:29,383 --> 00:53:32,660
telling us . Uh Thank you , sir . I um 

1406
00:53:32,670 --> 00:53:35,960
first of all in terms of the withdrawal 

1407
00:53:35,960 --> 00:53:37,960
of our troops and the retrograde of 

1408
00:53:37,960 --> 00:53:40,930
equipment . That plan is developed by 

1409
00:53:40,940 --> 00:53:44,570
General Miller and uh General Mackenzie 

1410
00:53:44,950 --> 00:53:48,420
was executed as planned and all of our 

1411
00:53:48,420 --> 00:53:51,580
equipment was retrograde ID . And we 

1412
00:53:51,580 --> 00:53:53,691
drew down the force that we wanted to 

1413
00:53:53,691 --> 00:53:56,080
draw down to that very small force that 

1414
00:53:56,080 --> 00:53:58,450
you saw at the embassy at the very end 

1415
00:53:58,450 --> 00:54:02,130
there the chaos that ensued uh 

1416
00:54:02,140 --> 00:54:04,170
followed the collapse of the of the 

1417
00:54:04,170 --> 00:54:06,320
military and the collapse of the 

1418
00:54:06,320 --> 00:54:08,487
government . And when those two things 

1419
00:54:08,487 --> 00:54:10,850
happen uh then it was going to be a 

1420
00:54:10,850 --> 00:54:13,440
chaotic situation and the collapse of 

1421
00:54:13,440 --> 00:54:15,607
the government and the collapse of the 

1422
00:54:15,607 --> 00:54:17,718
military was solely responsibility of 

1423
00:54:17,718 --> 00:54:19,718
this administration . I know you're 

1424
00:54:19,718 --> 00:54:21,940
trying to be careful politically but it 

1425
00:54:21,940 --> 00:54:24,107
was the State Department and the White 

1426
00:54:24,107 --> 00:54:23,320
House that told you to make those 

1427
00:54:23,320 --> 00:54:26,800
drawdown of troops from 2500 to 6 52 0 . 

1428
00:54:26,810 --> 00:54:28,921
It was the speed with which they done 

1429
00:54:28,921 --> 00:54:31,032
it that they carried out that order . 

1430
00:54:31,032 --> 00:54:33,088
That's what caused the chaos that we 

1431
00:54:33,088 --> 00:54:35,254
have . If they had allowed the D . O . 

1432
00:54:35,254 --> 00:54:37,366
D . To be in a command situation , we 

1433
00:54:37,366 --> 00:54:37,350
wouldn't have had this problem . 

1434
00:54:37,540 --> 00:54:39,707
General Mackenzie's testified that the 

1435
00:54:39,707 --> 00:54:41,929
only reason he couldn't keep bagram was 

1436
00:54:41,929 --> 00:54:44,040
because he had to draw 100 650 troops 

1437
00:54:44,040 --> 00:54:46,040
and his primary orders were to keep 

1438
00:54:46,040 --> 00:54:48,151
Hamid Karzai and the State Department 

1439
00:54:48,151 --> 00:54:50,262
safe . We just have to admit this was 

1440
00:54:50,262 --> 00:54:52,207
the State Department and the White 

1441
00:54:52,207 --> 00:54:54,262
House that caused this catastrophe . 

1442
00:54:54,262 --> 00:54:54,180
Not the Defense Department . I yield 

1443
00:54:54,180 --> 00:54:57,060
back . Mr . Chairman missile Andrew . 

1444
00:54:58,240 --> 00:55:00,570
Thank you . Mr Chairman . Good morning . 

1445
00:55:00,580 --> 00:55:02,469
And I want to thank our witnesses 

1446
00:55:02,469 --> 00:55:04,469
figure testimony today and for your 

1447
00:55:04,469 --> 00:55:06,280
service to our nation . Um My 

1448
00:55:06,280 --> 00:55:08,502
constituents and I have obviously a lot 

1449
00:55:08,502 --> 00:55:10,710
of questions about the planning that 

1450
00:55:10,710 --> 00:55:13,780
led up to this and I'll admit that I'm 

1451
00:55:13,780 --> 00:55:15,947
concerned that based on the conditions 

1452
00:55:15,947 --> 00:55:17,891
on the ground , General Milley and 

1453
00:55:17,891 --> 00:55:20,002
General Mackenzie recommended against 

1454
00:55:20,002 --> 00:55:21,669
final withdrawal . I wish the 

1455
00:55:21,669 --> 00:55:23,891
administration had been more thoughtful 

1456
00:55:23,891 --> 00:55:26,002
and not had rushed this . I've yet to 

1457
00:55:26,002 --> 00:55:28,280
hear the answer to the question though , 

1458
00:55:28,280 --> 00:55:31,260
of why did we not start withdrawing 

1459
00:55:31,740 --> 00:55:33,910
american citizens and S . I . V . S . 

1460
00:55:33,920 --> 00:55:36,031
Uh sooner we knew we were going to be 

1461
00:55:36,031 --> 00:55:38,031
withdrawing ? Whether we started we 

1462
00:55:38,031 --> 00:55:40,087
started doing that withdrawal and of 

1463
00:55:40,087 --> 00:55:42,198
the americans and S . I . V . S . And 

1464
00:55:42,198 --> 00:55:44,420
in january or May or or sooner than the 

1465
00:55:44,420 --> 00:55:46,310
actual execution of the auditor 

1466
00:55:46,310 --> 00:55:48,199
withdraw . I'd like that question 

1467
00:55:48,199 --> 00:55:50,199
answer it also , Secretary Austin , 

1468
00:55:50,199 --> 00:55:52,890
given the general's concerns , were the 

1469
00:55:52,890 --> 00:55:54,920
discussions about pushing the 

1470
00:55:54,930 --> 00:55:58,790
withdrawal back to spring Of 2022 or 

1471
00:55:58,790 --> 00:56:01,760
conditioning it on the criteria . Uh 

1472
00:56:01,770 --> 00:56:04,740
and the Doha agreement to ensure that 

1473
00:56:04,750 --> 00:56:06,639
we did the handoff correctly , we 

1474
00:56:06,639 --> 00:56:08,528
already uh weren't going to fully 

1475
00:56:08,528 --> 00:56:11,920
withdraw by May 2021 and 

1476
00:56:11,930 --> 00:56:15,250
Secretary Austin uh what was the 

1477
00:56:15,250 --> 00:56:17,306
military rationale of leaving by the 

1478
00:56:17,306 --> 00:56:20,440
end of august uh when the Taliban are 

1479
00:56:20,440 --> 00:56:22,273
at their strongest in the in the 

1480
00:56:22,273 --> 00:56:24,384
fighting season as opposed to waiting 

1481
00:56:24,384 --> 00:56:26,540
in the uh the more the winter months 

1482
00:56:26,550 --> 00:56:30,550
when the it is more of a allow in 

1483
00:56:30,550 --> 00:56:32,772
the taliban fighting season where there 

1484
00:56:32,772 --> 00:56:35,300
are relatively low of activity and 

1485
00:56:35,300 --> 00:56:37,560
they're at their weakest to start with 

1486
00:56:37,560 --> 00:56:39,727
those questions . And I'm sorry before 

1487
00:56:39,727 --> 00:56:41,727
you can we have got to stick to the 

1488
00:56:41,727 --> 00:56:43,782
five minute rule . So when the clock 

1489
00:56:43,782 --> 00:56:45,782
hits zero we're going to move on to 

1490
00:56:45,782 --> 00:56:47,893
other people . Go ahead . Mhm . Thank 

1491
00:56:47,893 --> 00:56:50,170
you sir . On the on the issue of why we 

1492
00:56:50,170 --> 00:56:54,000
didn't uh bring out civilians and S . I . 

1493
00:56:54,000 --> 00:56:57,820
V . S sooner . Again the call 

1494
00:56:57,820 --> 00:57:00,310
on on how to do that and and and when 

1495
00:57:00,310 --> 00:57:03,670
to do it is really a state department 

1496
00:57:03,680 --> 00:57:06,520
call . We provided input as I I said in 

1497
00:57:06,520 --> 00:57:08,780
my opening statement to the State 

1498
00:57:08,780 --> 00:57:11,520
department . Uh Their concerns 

1499
00:57:11,520 --> 00:57:13,576
rightfully were that number one they 

1500
00:57:13,576 --> 00:57:16,190
were being cautioned by the Ghani 

1501
00:57:16,190 --> 00:57:18,650
administration that if they if they 

1502
00:57:19,030 --> 00:57:20,950
withdrew 

1503
00:57:21,730 --> 00:57:25,630
american citizens and s ivy applicants 

1504
00:57:25,630 --> 00:57:28,200
at a at a pace that was too fast . Uh 

1505
00:57:28,210 --> 00:57:30,154
It would cause the collapse of the 

1506
00:57:30,154 --> 00:57:32,210
government that we were trying to uh 

1507
00:57:32,210 --> 00:57:35,690
prevent . Um And so I think that went 

1508
00:57:35,690 --> 00:57:38,170
into the calculus . Uh And when you add 

1509
00:57:38,170 --> 00:57:40,337
into the also into the calculus at the 

1510
00:57:40,337 --> 00:57:42,550
S . I . V . Process was very at that 

1511
00:57:42,550 --> 00:57:45,420
point very slow deliberate . Uh And not 

1512
00:57:45,420 --> 00:57:47,940
very responsive with your help . We 

1513
00:57:47,940 --> 00:57:50,290
were able to curtail the time that it 

1514
00:57:50,300 --> 00:57:52,860
took to work through that process . But 

1515
00:57:52,860 --> 00:57:54,638
a number of things kind of came 

1516
00:57:54,638 --> 00:57:57,660
together to uh to cause what happened 

1517
00:57:57,670 --> 00:58:00,250
to happen . But again , aren't we 

1518
00:58:00,250 --> 00:58:02,420
provided our input and we certainly 

1519
00:58:02,430 --> 00:58:04,541
would have liked to seen it go faster 

1520
00:58:04,541 --> 00:58:07,130
or sooner , but but again , they had a 

1521
00:58:07,130 --> 00:58:09,186
number of things to think through as 

1522
00:58:09,186 --> 00:58:12,860
well . Um in terms 

1523
00:58:12,860 --> 00:58:16,560
of uh adjusting or why we chose to 

1524
00:58:16,570 --> 00:58:20,540
why the president chose to leave uh uh 

1525
00:58:21,120 --> 00:58:23,970
in the summer versus waiting until the 

1526
00:58:23,970 --> 00:58:26,690
next year . Obviously a number of 

1527
00:58:26,690 --> 00:58:28,746
things went into his uh his decision 

1528
00:58:28,746 --> 00:58:32,220
calculus . Uh but you know , as as we 

1529
00:58:32,220 --> 00:58:36,200
came on board , the The agreement that 

1530
00:58:36,200 --> 00:58:38,422
had been made was that we were going to 

1531
00:58:38,422 --> 00:58:41,880
depart by May one . Uh We were able to 

1532
00:58:41,880 --> 00:58:44,460
work to get more time to ensure that we 

1533
00:58:44,460 --> 00:58:48,160
could conduct a deliberate uh and and 

1534
00:58:48,160 --> 00:58:51,720
safe and orderly retrograde . But 

1535
00:58:51,720 --> 00:58:55,290
again , uh you know , we the 

1536
00:58:55,300 --> 00:58:57,300
President made the decision that we 

1537
00:58:57,300 --> 00:58:59,800
would we would we would leave in the 

1538
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:02,078
summer versus going into the next year . 

1539
00:59:02,240 --> 00:59:05,270
So uh and I'll leave it at that sir , 

1540
00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:07,002
depending any more questions , 

1541
00:59:07,520 --> 00:59:11,270
Secretary , I I want to know how we 

1542
00:59:11,280 --> 00:59:13,502
now protect the country going forward . 

1543
00:59:13,720 --> 00:59:15,760
Former CIA Director and Secretary 

1544
00:59:15,760 --> 00:59:17,927
Defense Panetta said that our national 

1545
00:59:17,927 --> 00:59:20,038
security is threatened by the taliban 

1546
00:59:20,038 --> 00:59:22,149
takeover . One of our missions was to 

1547
00:59:22,149 --> 00:59:24,316
prevent a haven for terrorist groups . 

1548
00:59:24,316 --> 00:59:26,316
And and I quote , we have failed in 

1549
00:59:26,316 --> 00:59:28,371
that mission end , quote similarly , 

1550
00:59:28,371 --> 00:59:30,482
the Director of the D A . Is assessed 

1551
00:59:30,482 --> 00:59:32,316
That al Qaeda could threaten the 

1552
00:59:32,316 --> 00:59:35,310
Homeland in 1-2 years . So I agree that 

1553
00:59:35,320 --> 00:59:37,270
over the horizon operations can be 

1554
00:59:37,270 --> 00:59:39,470
effective . However , I'm concerned 

1555
00:59:39,470 --> 00:59:41,850
that without complementary operations 

1556
00:59:41,850 --> 00:59:43,906
they will be insufficient to keep us 

1557
00:59:43,906 --> 00:59:45,794
safe . Secretary Austin . Are you 

1558
00:59:45,794 --> 00:59:47,739
confident that over the hawaii and 

1559
00:59:47,739 --> 00:59:49,906
capabilities on their own can mitigate 

1560
00:59:49,906 --> 00:59:52,072
the terrorist threat we face ? Are you 

1561
00:59:52,072 --> 00:59:51,970
confident that we can prevent 

1562
00:59:51,980 --> 00:59:54,560
Afghanistan from becoming a haven and 

1563
00:59:54,560 --> 00:59:56,671
how you keep our country safe ? And I 

1564
00:59:56,671 --> 00:59:58,727
apologize . But the gentleman's time 

1565
00:59:58,727 --> 01:00:00,727
has expired . So that that question 

1566
01:00:00,727 --> 01:00:02,893
will have to go unanswered . Like that 

1567
01:00:02,893 --> 01:00:05,060
other record . Mr Wilson . Thank you . 

1568
01:00:05,060 --> 01:00:07,282
Mr Chairman . In an interview on august 

1569
01:00:07,282 --> 01:00:09,504
16th , President biden promised to keep 

1570
01:00:09,504 --> 01:00:11,560
military troops in Afghanistan until 

1571
01:00:11,560 --> 01:00:13,616
every american citizen who wanted to 

1572
01:00:13,616 --> 01:00:15,782
leave was able to leave . This did not 

1573
01:00:15,782 --> 01:00:17,616
happen . Nor can we confirm that 

1574
01:00:17,616 --> 01:00:19,560
Blinken claim that sent he sent 19 

1575
01:00:19,560 --> 01:00:21,727
separate messages to americans telling 

1576
01:00:21,727 --> 01:00:23,838
them to leave the country since March 

1577
01:00:23,838 --> 01:00:25,782
of this year . Also unclear is the 

1578
01:00:25,782 --> 01:00:27,616
truth of the biden claim that no 

1579
01:00:27,616 --> 01:00:29,782
military commander recommended leaving 

1580
01:00:30,110 --> 01:00:32,630
Behind a residual force . Even though 

1581
01:00:32,630 --> 01:00:34,741
all of you starting courageously with 

1582
01:00:34,741 --> 01:00:36,852
General Scott Miller have now made it 

1583
01:00:36,852 --> 01:00:38,963
clear that your professional military 

1584
01:00:38,963 --> 01:00:41,130
advice was to do so . On August 26 . I 

1585
01:00:41,130 --> 01:00:42,970
formally requested all letters 

1586
01:00:42,980 --> 01:00:44,869
referenced that day by biden from 

1587
01:00:44,869 --> 01:00:47,200
command . Military commanders advising 

1588
01:00:47,200 --> 01:00:49,810
him on the Afghanistan withdrawal to 

1589
01:00:49,810 --> 01:00:52,032
date . I haven't received a response As 

1590
01:00:52,032 --> 01:00:54,260
a 31 year Army veteran myself , 

1591
01:00:54,270 --> 01:00:56,270
grateful to have four sons who have 

1592
01:00:56,270 --> 01:00:58,159
served in Iraq Egypt the southern 

1593
01:00:58,159 --> 01:00:59,826
border in Afghanistan . I was 

1594
01:00:59,826 --> 01:01:02,140
immediately skeptical letters existed . 

1595
01:01:02,510 --> 01:01:04,780
President biden left behind thousands 

1596
01:01:04,780 --> 01:01:06,700
of american citizens , green card 

1597
01:01:06,700 --> 01:01:10,610
holders , brave interpreters and Afghan 

1598
01:01:10,610 --> 01:01:12,610
media reporters who worked with the 

1599
01:01:12,610 --> 01:01:15,410
United States biden was correct when he 

1600
01:01:15,410 --> 01:01:17,410
said the buck stops with him as the 

1601
01:01:17,410 --> 01:01:19,880
person responsible for Afghanistan as 

1602
01:01:19,880 --> 01:01:22,102
well as for the terrorists that are now 

1603
01:01:22,102 --> 01:01:24,158
crossing the southern border to plan 

1604
01:01:24,158 --> 01:01:26,324
attacks on american neighborhoods . In 

1605
01:01:26,324 --> 01:01:28,269
addition to betraying the american 

1606
01:01:28,269 --> 01:01:30,480
citizens and the U . S . Allies In 

1607
01:01:30,480 --> 01:01:33,380
Afghanistan , the buying decision to 

1608
01:01:33,380 --> 01:01:35,436
have a premature withdrawal left the 

1609
01:01:35,436 --> 01:01:38,370
people of Afghanistan who had 60,000 

1610
01:01:38,370 --> 01:01:40,870
troops killed by the Taliban under the 

1611
01:01:40,870 --> 01:01:43,370
complete control . The Taliban , a 

1612
01:01:43,370 --> 01:01:45,860
barbaric terrorist organization . As 

1613
01:01:45,870 --> 01:01:48,500
General Milley has confirmed with al 

1614
01:01:48,500 --> 01:01:51,610
Qaeda . Again , Biden was correct . The 

1615
01:01:51,610 --> 01:01:54,100
buck stops with him . The war has moved 

1616
01:01:54,100 --> 01:01:55,950
from Afghanistan to american 

1617
01:01:55,950 --> 01:01:58,480
neighborhoods equally endangering our 

1618
01:01:58,490 --> 01:02:02,100
allies of India and Israel Mr Secretary , 

1619
01:02:02,300 --> 01:02:04,680
even before the withdrawal , there were 

1620
01:02:04,690 --> 01:02:06,746
frustrating reports of americans and 

1621
01:02:06,746 --> 01:02:08,968
green card holders being turned away at 

1622
01:02:08,968 --> 01:02:10,857
the gates of the airport or being 

1623
01:02:10,857 --> 01:02:12,857
instructed by the administration to 

1624
01:02:12,857 --> 01:02:14,968
stay away from the airport entirely . 

1625
01:02:14,968 --> 01:02:16,912
While other countries were sending 

1626
01:02:16,912 --> 01:02:18,857
their special forces into Kabul to 

1627
01:02:18,857 --> 01:02:21,023
retrieve their citizens and bring them 

1628
01:02:21,023 --> 01:02:23,246
to the airport . You repeatedly refused 

1629
01:02:23,246 --> 01:02:25,468
to do the same even after Promising and 

1630
01:02:25,468 --> 01:02:27,579
a Pentagon Press Conference on August 

1631
01:02:27,579 --> 01:02:29,523
18 that quote , we're going to get 

1632
01:02:29,523 --> 01:02:31,579
everyone we can possibly to evacuate 

1633
01:02:31,579 --> 01:02:33,801
and I'll do that as long as we possibly 

1634
01:02:33,801 --> 01:02:36,760
can until the clock runs out or if we 

1635
01:02:36,760 --> 01:02:39,480
run out of capability . End of quote Mr 

1636
01:02:39,480 --> 01:02:41,640
Secretary , the american public needs 

1637
01:02:41,640 --> 01:02:44,110
to know did the clock run out or did 

1638
01:02:44,110 --> 01:02:46,330
you run out of capability ? Did you at 

1639
01:02:46,330 --> 01:02:48,530
any point as president biden for any 

1640
01:02:48,530 --> 01:02:50,830
more time or more support to enable 

1641
01:02:50,830 --> 01:02:52,886
your forces to stay and complete the 

1642
01:02:52,886 --> 01:02:54,997
full evacuations of american citizens 

1643
01:02:54,997 --> 01:02:57,400
not leaving them behind has promised . 

1644
01:02:57,410 --> 01:02:59,610
If so . What was divided response 

1645
01:03:02,000 --> 01:03:04,170
first of all sir ? Thank you for your 

1646
01:03:04,170 --> 01:03:06,226
personal service in our military and 

1647
01:03:06,226 --> 01:03:08,337
thanks for the service of your family 

1648
01:03:08,337 --> 01:03:11,620
members . Were we remain grateful . Um 

1649
01:03:12,200 --> 01:03:15,250
on the on the issue of evacuating 

1650
01:03:15,260 --> 01:03:19,220
american citizens and S ivy holders um 

1651
01:03:19,700 --> 01:03:22,520
R . S . I . V . Applicants . This work 

1652
01:03:22,520 --> 01:03:24,520
continues on . You know , we're not 

1653
01:03:24,520 --> 01:03:27,240
finished and we'll make sure that uh 

1654
01:03:27,250 --> 01:03:29,472
that we stay focused on this to get out 

1655
01:03:29,472 --> 01:03:32,240
every american citizen uh that wants to 

1656
01:03:32,240 --> 01:03:35,040
leave and and has the right credentials 

1657
01:03:35,050 --> 01:03:38,770
to be able to leave um on the issue of 

1658
01:03:38,770 --> 01:03:41,760
the security at the airport . It was my 

1659
01:03:41,760 --> 01:03:43,890
assessment and remain , I remain 

1660
01:03:43,890 --> 01:03:46,160
convinced of this that the risk to 

1661
01:03:46,160 --> 01:03:49,560
mission and risk to force was beyond 

1662
01:03:49,560 --> 01:03:52,700
significant . And had we stayed there 

1663
01:03:52,710 --> 01:03:55,100
much longer we would have endured 

1664
01:03:55,100 --> 01:03:58,340
continued attacks by ISIS K . And 

1665
01:03:58,340 --> 01:04:01,200
potentially the taliban and you know , 

1666
01:04:01,210 --> 01:04:04,100
as each day went forward . Uh as that 

1667
01:04:04,100 --> 01:04:06,322
risk increased , you know , we stood to 

1668
01:04:06,322 --> 01:04:08,433
have aircraft shot down , we stood to 

1669
01:04:08,433 --> 01:04:10,390
have people injured on additional 

1670
01:04:10,390 --> 01:04:12,612
people injured on the airfield . And so 

1671
01:04:12,612 --> 01:04:15,150
as we wait , those risks . Mr Secretary , 

1672
01:04:15,160 --> 01:04:18,530
I need to have this completed . And in 

1673
01:04:18,530 --> 01:04:20,650
fact , I'll be sending your questions 

1674
01:04:20,650 --> 01:04:23,900
for the record and uh I really want to 

1675
01:04:23,900 --> 01:04:26,090
know how many americans have been left 

1676
01:04:26,100 --> 01:04:28,940
behind and so we'll get that . But I 

1677
01:04:28,950 --> 01:04:30,950
will be providing questions for the 

1678
01:04:30,950 --> 01:04:32,970
record . But I sadly believed that 

1679
01:04:32,970 --> 01:04:35,137
american families today are at greater 

1680
01:04:35,137 --> 01:04:37,510
risk of murderous attacks at home than 

1681
01:04:37,510 --> 01:04:39,454
ever before . You talked about the 

1682
01:04:39,454 --> 01:04:41,566
attacks at the airport . No , they're 

1683
01:04:41,566 --> 01:04:43,680
coming here and that is that uh in 

1684
01:04:43,680 --> 01:04:45,569
history we are at greater risk of 

1685
01:04:45,569 --> 01:04:47,624
suicide bombers can operate from the 

1686
01:04:47,624 --> 01:04:50,580
safe haven of Afghanistan Justice 9 11 . 

1687
01:04:50,590 --> 01:04:52,830
And with the open southern borders , 

1688
01:04:52,840 --> 01:04:56,150
the example of May 8th mass murder of 

1689
01:04:56,150 --> 01:04:58,970
over 80 girls in Kabul should have not 

1690
01:04:58,970 --> 01:05:01,610
been forgotten . The buck stops with 13 

1691
01:05:01,610 --> 01:05:04,000
murdered Marines Mr biden gentleman 

1692
01:05:04,000 --> 01:05:06,630
disregarding the military advice and I 

1693
01:05:06,630 --> 01:05:08,741
believe the president should resign . 

1694
01:05:08,741 --> 01:05:10,963
Mr I'm prepared to begin my questions . 

1695
01:05:11,070 --> 01:05:13,403
Mr Orson is recognized for five minutes . 

1696
01:05:14,590 --> 01:05:17,440
Heads up . I don't have a speech . Some 

1697
01:05:17,450 --> 01:05:19,672
launch into my questions right now . So 

1698
01:05:19,672 --> 01:05:22,740
get ready to answer them . Um with 

1699
01:05:22,740 --> 01:05:25,330
regards General Milley with regards to 

1700
01:05:25,340 --> 01:05:28,850
the November 11 unsigned unclassified 

1701
01:05:28,860 --> 01:05:30,910
signed order whose signature was on 

1702
01:05:30,910 --> 01:05:34,910
that order . Former president trump . 

1703
01:05:35,490 --> 01:05:38,490
Okay . And then two days uh six days 

1704
01:05:38,490 --> 01:05:41,320
later that was rescinded after 

1705
01:05:41,320 --> 01:05:44,490
discussion . Is that correct ? Um And 

1706
01:05:44,500 --> 01:05:47,380
were the uh one of the top three 

1707
01:05:47,380 --> 01:05:50,420
concerns with that particular 

1708
01:05:50,890 --> 01:05:54,010
order ? Well , the 

1709
01:05:54,690 --> 01:05:57,910
Construction had two lines Line , one 

1710
01:05:57,910 --> 01:05:59,890
was withdrawal force , us military 

1711
01:05:59,890 --> 01:06:01,834
forces from Somalia by 31 December 

1712
01:06:02,480 --> 01:06:04,750
Second sentence was withdrawal US 

1713
01:06:04,750 --> 01:06:07,960
military forces from Afghanistan by 15 

1714
01:06:07,960 --> 01:06:11,100
January . Uh So I went over and spoke 

1715
01:06:11,110 --> 01:06:13,500
uh to the White House , had some 

1716
01:06:13,500 --> 01:06:15,722
conversations with some folks , not the 

1717
01:06:15,722 --> 01:06:17,722
President . Um And we discussed the 

1718
01:06:17,722 --> 01:06:19,667
cost , risk benefit etcetera . The 

1719
01:06:19,667 --> 01:06:21,333
feasibility , acceptability , 

1720
01:06:21,333 --> 01:06:23,278
suitability of that order . Okay , 

1721
01:06:23,278 --> 01:06:23,230
Alright . It was subsequently , was 

1722
01:06:23,230 --> 01:06:26,870
that the first time ? Well , I asked 

1723
01:06:26,880 --> 01:06:30,800
Secretary Austin In the in the last 20 

1724
01:06:30,800 --> 01:06:33,090
years um given the history in 

1725
01:06:33,090 --> 01:06:35,420
Afghanistan . So the first order at all 

1726
01:06:35,420 --> 01:06:38,160
that's come out um asking for a 

1727
01:06:38,160 --> 01:06:40,104
withdrawal that we have withdrawal 

1728
01:06:40,104 --> 01:06:42,420
plans or withdrawal orders at all in 

1729
01:06:42,420 --> 01:06:45,620
the last 20 years from Afghanistan ? 

1730
01:06:45,630 --> 01:06:48,220
Absolutely . As you know , we increased 

1731
01:06:48,220 --> 01:06:51,400
our footprint in Afghanistan over time 

1732
01:06:51,400 --> 01:06:53,860
and then we uh and shrunk it . But 

1733
01:06:53,860 --> 01:06:57,130
that's but that's but not not not wait , 

1734
01:06:57,130 --> 01:06:59,297
withdrawal . Not complete withdrawal . 

1735
01:06:59,297 --> 01:07:02,080
That's different . I'm talking about 00 . 

1736
01:07:03,380 --> 01:07:05,380
This would be the first time . Then 

1737
01:07:05,580 --> 01:07:07,690
This November 11 quarter would have 

1738
01:07:07,690 --> 01:07:10,740
been the first Ask for a withdrawal to 

1739
01:07:10,740 --> 01:07:14,340
zero your knowledge to my knowledge 

1740
01:07:14,350 --> 01:07:16,517
within the details from from President 

1741
01:07:16,517 --> 01:07:19,170
or or anything for any president , I 

1742
01:07:19,170 --> 01:07:21,392
should say . Thank you . Um Just trying 

1743
01:07:21,392 --> 01:07:23,470
to get the timeline set and this 

1744
01:07:23,470 --> 01:07:25,192
relates to General for General 

1745
01:07:25,192 --> 01:07:28,600
Mackenzie Talk about the 2500 . Um 

1746
01:07:28,980 --> 01:07:31,091
The recommendation ? The discussion , 

1747
01:07:31,091 --> 01:07:34,480
we had about 2500 troops . Was that for 

1748
01:07:34,480 --> 01:07:37,560
a particular set of missions . And did 

1749
01:07:37,560 --> 01:07:40,770
those missions change therefore that 

1750
01:07:40,770 --> 01:07:43,400
2500 became 650 became zero . 

1751
01:07:44,680 --> 01:07:47,990
So when we look at the 2500 , uh we 

1752
01:07:47,990 --> 01:07:50,212
were looking at a force that would have 

1753
01:07:50,212 --> 01:07:52,323
the ability to do very limited advise 

1754
01:07:52,323 --> 01:07:54,268
assist at a high level . assist in 

1755
01:07:54,268 --> 01:07:56,434
logistics management for the afghans , 

1756
01:07:56,434 --> 01:07:58,546
but it would have been functioning at 

1757
01:07:58,546 --> 01:07:58,500
very high levels . That was the force 

1758
01:07:58,500 --> 01:08:00,611
that we wanted to continue to keep on 

1759
01:08:00,611 --> 01:08:02,722
the ground . Uh as we went down to as 

1760
01:08:02,722 --> 01:08:04,944
we looked at going down to 6 50 you get 

1761
01:08:04,944 --> 01:08:06,889
a force that is almost exclusively 

1762
01:08:06,889 --> 01:08:09,056
built around the ability to defend the 

1763
01:08:09,056 --> 01:08:11,111
embassy and the airfield And provide 

1764
01:08:11,111 --> 01:08:13,520
entry level Logistics two , the Afghans 

1765
01:08:13,530 --> 01:08:15,670
by that . I mean a package comes into 

1766
01:08:15,680 --> 01:08:17,736
the airport , you get it over to the 

1767
01:08:17,736 --> 01:08:19,791
Afghans , they drive it away and you 

1768
01:08:19,791 --> 01:08:22,013
have no way to track what happened . We 

1769
01:08:22,013 --> 01:08:24,830
lost that capability . But based on the 

1770
01:08:24,830 --> 01:08:27,960
civilian leadership saying this is what 

1771
01:08:27,970 --> 01:08:30,081
the civilian leadership wants to do . 

1772
01:08:30,081 --> 01:08:32,026
You get to . And I know and I know 

1773
01:08:32,026 --> 01:08:34,192
you're not arguing this point , You're 

1774
01:08:34,192 --> 01:08:36,192
just you make the recommendations , 

1775
01:08:36,770 --> 01:08:38,840
giving your best advice and then 

1776
01:08:39,110 --> 01:08:41,332
civilian leadership has the opportunity 

1777
01:08:41,332 --> 01:08:43,499
to say thank you and but here's what I 

1778
01:08:43,499 --> 01:08:45,221
would rather be doing . That's 

1779
01:08:45,221 --> 01:08:47,221
absolutely correct . So the mission 

1780
01:08:47,670 --> 01:08:50,360
changed the mission fundamentally 

1781
01:08:50,360 --> 01:08:53,080
changed when we if you going to zero 

1782
01:08:53,080 --> 01:08:55,191
means you're going to reduce all your 

1783
01:08:55,191 --> 01:08:57,247
capability to do any kind of real on 

1784
01:08:57,247 --> 01:08:59,358
the ground work . Even at a truncated 

1785
01:08:59,358 --> 01:09:01,590
level with the afghan forces . You're 

1786
01:09:01,590 --> 01:09:03,590
gonna be talking at the ministerial 

1787
01:09:03,590 --> 01:09:05,701
level , at the very highest levels of 

1788
01:09:05,701 --> 01:09:07,868
government only . And you're not going 

1789
01:09:07,868 --> 01:09:09,757
to have any real visibility about 

1790
01:09:09,757 --> 01:09:11,923
what's going on on the ground . Yeah . 

1791
01:09:11,923 --> 01:09:14,034
Generally to do what I try to address 

1792
01:09:14,034 --> 01:09:13,520
that . I did . I just wanted to clarify 

1793
01:09:13,520 --> 01:09:15,631
one thing . The 11 November . What is 

1794
01:09:15,631 --> 01:09:17,798
actually not the first one ? The first 

1795
01:09:17,798 --> 01:09:20,020
one is the Doha agreement which directs 

1796
01:09:20,020 --> 01:09:22,060
going to zero by one May . The 11 

1797
01:09:22,060 --> 01:09:23,930
november order is an accelerated 

1798
01:09:23,940 --> 01:09:26,160
withdrawal to bring it to zero by 15 

1799
01:09:26,160 --> 01:09:29,030
january . So two different . Yeah , 

1800
01:09:29,170 --> 01:09:31,170
that's great . Yeah , that's Yeah , 

1801
01:09:31,170 --> 01:09:33,337
thank you . Thank you . Thank you very 

1802
01:09:33,337 --> 01:09:36,980
much . I appreciate that . Um I'll just 

1803
01:09:36,980 --> 01:09:39,470
have for the record , I'll ask this 

1804
01:09:39,470 --> 01:09:41,910
question because this gets to kind of 

1805
01:09:41,910 --> 01:09:45,400
follow on to all of this . Um is 

1806
01:09:45,410 --> 01:09:48,320
what our how do you define over the 

1807
01:09:48,320 --> 01:09:51,910
horizon capabilities And what are those 

1808
01:09:51,910 --> 01:09:54,050
specifically and how do we execute 

1809
01:09:54,050 --> 01:09:56,272
those ? And we're going to explore that 

1810
01:09:56,272 --> 01:09:58,494
a little bit more probably here today . 

1811
01:09:58,494 --> 01:10:00,717
So I'll be we have 15 seconds . I'll be 

1812
01:10:00,717 --> 01:10:02,883
prepared to talk a little bit about it 

1813
01:10:02,883 --> 01:10:02,500
today . But I think more more 

1814
01:10:02,510 --> 01:10:04,677
importantly , I'll be prepared to come 

1815
01:10:04,677 --> 01:10:06,843
over at the direction of the secretary 

1816
01:10:06,843 --> 01:10:09,010
and provide a classified briefing will 

1817
01:10:09,010 --> 01:10:08,860
be very helpful and there may be an 

1818
01:10:08,860 --> 01:10:11,360
opportunity in the future to travel to 

1819
01:10:11,360 --> 01:10:13,416
the region and hear directly what it 

1820
01:10:13,416 --> 01:10:15,471
looks like the Chairman's permission 

1821
01:10:15,471 --> 01:10:18,630
sir . I would offer that uh briefing by 

1822
01:10:18,640 --> 01:10:20,840
General Mackenzie along with joint 

1823
01:10:20,840 --> 01:10:22,729
staff representation of my policy 

1824
01:10:22,729 --> 01:10:24,840
people . Yeah , we we will definitely 

1825
01:10:24,840 --> 01:10:26,951
be following up on on that . I mean , 

1826
01:10:26,951 --> 01:10:29,360
the issue of what we do going forward 

1827
01:10:29,370 --> 01:10:31,314
to deal with the counter terrorism 

1828
01:10:31,314 --> 01:10:33,426
threat out of South Asia is something 

1829
01:10:33,426 --> 01:10:35,481
this committee has already looked at 

1830
01:10:35,481 --> 01:10:35,120
and we'll continue to look at for a 

1831
01:10:35,120 --> 01:10:37,176
very , very long time . Mr Turner is 

1832
01:10:37,176 --> 01:10:39,360
recognized . Thanks . Mr Chairman . I 

1833
01:10:39,360 --> 01:10:41,690
served on both the House Armed Services 

1834
01:10:41,690 --> 01:10:43,857
Committee and Intelligence Committee . 

1835
01:10:43,857 --> 01:10:46,023
The Intelligence Committee has already 

1836
01:10:46,023 --> 01:10:47,968
been briefed from the intelligence 

1837
01:10:47,968 --> 01:10:47,290
community concerning their 

1838
01:10:47,290 --> 01:10:49,457
participation of the august 29th drone 

1839
01:10:49,457 --> 01:10:51,623
attack , john Mackenzie , you've taken 

1840
01:10:51,623 --> 01:10:53,850
in front of us full responsibility for 

1841
01:10:53,850 --> 01:10:56,230
that . I have a series of Uh 

1842
01:10:56,240 --> 01:10:58,407
information that I would like released 

1843
01:10:58,407 --> 01:11:00,240
to this committee so that we can 

1844
01:11:00,240 --> 01:11:02,296
adequately provide oversight to what 

1845
01:11:02,296 --> 01:11:04,640
occurred on August 29 . What we know 

1846
01:11:04,640 --> 01:11:06,807
from your prior statements is that you 

1847
01:11:06,807 --> 01:11:08,862
did not know who it was , who was in 

1848
01:11:08,862 --> 01:11:11,270
the car , whose house it was or who or 

1849
01:11:11,270 --> 01:11:13,950
how many people were in the house . 

1850
01:11:13,950 --> 01:11:16,061
This greatly concerns me . As we look 

1851
01:11:16,061 --> 01:11:18,061
to the over horizon claims that the 

1852
01:11:18,061 --> 01:11:20,172
administration has of its ability for 

1853
01:11:20,172 --> 01:11:22,730
counterterrorism . You did not as your 

1854
01:11:22,730 --> 01:11:25,090
goal was stated thwart or disrupt an 

1855
01:11:25,090 --> 01:11:26,868
imminent attack . You killed an 

1856
01:11:26,868 --> 01:11:28,979
innocent man and yet an attack didn't 

1857
01:11:28,979 --> 01:11:31,201
happen . So there are serious questions 

1858
01:11:31,201 --> 01:11:31,100
concerning both the information that 

1859
01:11:31,100 --> 01:11:33,100
you had and the manner in which the 

1860
01:11:33,100 --> 01:11:35,322
execution occurred . So I would request 

1861
01:11:35,322 --> 01:11:37,433
that it be released to this committee 

1862
01:11:37,433 --> 01:11:39,656
and the Intelligence Committee relevant 

1863
01:11:39,656 --> 01:11:41,544
video excerpts from the drones of 

1864
01:11:41,544 --> 01:11:43,711
August 29 . The protocols that were in 

1865
01:11:43,711 --> 01:11:45,544
place prior to this drone attack 

1866
01:11:45,544 --> 01:11:47,489
mission . The intelligence that an 

1867
01:11:47,489 --> 01:11:49,656
attack was imminent against our forces 

1868
01:11:49,656 --> 01:11:51,156
and the approval of any of 

1869
01:11:51,160 --> 01:11:53,790
authorization to modify those protocols . 

1870
01:11:53,960 --> 01:11:56,071
Including approvals for delegation of 

1871
01:11:56,071 --> 01:11:58,182
authority including target engagement 

1872
01:11:58,182 --> 01:12:00,550
authority who approved at the diode and 

1873
01:12:00,550 --> 01:12:02,717
in the administration and the data the 

1874
01:12:02,717 --> 01:12:05,240
secretary released to the IgC . I just 

1875
01:12:05,240 --> 01:12:07,407
want to make it clear Mr Secretary the 

1876
01:12:07,407 --> 01:12:09,073
fact that you have an I . G . 

1877
01:12:09,073 --> 01:12:10,629
Investigation does not stop 

1878
01:12:10,629 --> 01:12:12,518
congressional oversight . I'll be 

1879
01:12:12,518 --> 01:12:14,629
sending you a list of all those . I'd 

1880
01:12:14,629 --> 01:12:14,040
like your consent that you're going to 

1881
01:12:14,040 --> 01:12:15,984
be providing those to us . They're 

1882
01:12:15,984 --> 01:12:18,040
certainly within the jurisdiction of 

1883
01:12:18,040 --> 01:12:20,760
our two committees acknowledged sir . 

1884
01:12:20,760 --> 01:12:22,990
And you you are correct , there is an a 

1885
01:12:23,000 --> 01:12:25,111
review going on on the other strike . 

1886
01:12:25,111 --> 01:12:28,670
Thank you Secretary um several million 

1887
01:12:29,150 --> 01:12:31,510
with indignation in front of the House 

1888
01:12:31,520 --> 01:12:34,200
and the Senate . You have commented on 

1889
01:12:34,200 --> 01:12:36,367
the statements in the press concerning 

1890
01:12:36,367 --> 01:12:38,360
your phone conversation with your 

1891
01:12:38,360 --> 01:12:41,500
counterparts generally in china . Let's 

1892
01:12:41,500 --> 01:12:43,722
be clear to give you some help with the 

1893
01:12:43,722 --> 01:12:45,778
indignation . Those comments were in 

1894
01:12:45,778 --> 01:12:47,944
the press because that's where you put 

1895
01:12:47,944 --> 01:12:50,430
them Now . You claim that you had 

1896
01:12:50,430 --> 01:12:52,374
information and it's all over that 

1897
01:12:52,374 --> 01:12:54,374
China was worried about an imminent 

1898
01:12:54,374 --> 01:12:57,740
attack . You did not tell the President , 

1899
01:12:57,750 --> 01:13:00,090
the Vice President , the White House 

1900
01:13:00,090 --> 01:13:02,257
Chief of Staff , the national security 

1901
01:13:02,257 --> 01:13:04,368
adviser to the Secretary of Defense , 

1902
01:13:04,368 --> 01:13:06,479
the Secretary of State , the Director 

1903
01:13:06,479 --> 01:13:08,534
of National Intelligence . Either of 

1904
01:13:08,534 --> 01:13:10,701
the relevant committees in the House , 

1905
01:13:10,701 --> 01:13:10,530
including the Big Eight which you know 

1906
01:13:10,530 --> 01:13:12,530
include intel . You didn't tell the 

1907
01:13:12,530 --> 01:13:14,530
Intelligence Committee , you didn't 

1908
01:13:14,530 --> 01:13:14,400
tell the Armed Services Committee . You 

1909
01:13:14,400 --> 01:13:16,530
report that after you took upon 

1910
01:13:16,530 --> 01:13:18,086
yourself to have this phone 

1911
01:13:18,086 --> 01:13:20,252
conversation that you told them of the 

1912
01:13:20,252 --> 01:13:22,141
conversation heard not that China 

1913
01:13:22,141 --> 01:13:23,863
believed that we were going to 

1914
01:13:23,863 --> 01:13:25,974
imminently attack them . Which by the 

1915
01:13:25,974 --> 01:13:28,252
way has never been true in my lifetime . 

1916
01:13:28,252 --> 01:13:30,419
And it may be true since they believed 

1917
01:13:30,419 --> 01:13:32,474
it . That's why they're digging iCBM 

1918
01:13:32,474 --> 01:13:34,530
holes faster than they can fill them 

1919
01:13:34,530 --> 01:13:36,641
with ICBMS . But you chose instead to 

1920
01:13:36,641 --> 01:13:38,808
handle it yourself with a phone call . 

1921
01:13:38,808 --> 01:13:42,040
So generally you offered all of the 

1922
01:13:42,040 --> 01:13:44,151
concerning intelligence and I'm going 

1923
01:13:44,151 --> 01:13:46,318
to request that you provide it to us . 

1924
01:13:46,318 --> 01:13:48,262
I would like you to provide us the 

1925
01:13:48,262 --> 01:13:50,429
relevant intelligence information that 

1926
01:13:50,429 --> 01:13:52,990
you based your belief that China was 

1927
01:13:52,990 --> 01:13:54,934
going to believe that there was an 

1928
01:13:54,934 --> 01:13:56,880
imminent attack . I also want your 

1929
01:13:56,880 --> 01:13:58,880
request for declassification of the 

1930
01:13:58,880 --> 01:14:00,602
approval that you release that 

1931
01:14:00,602 --> 01:14:02,580
information that china believed so 

1932
01:14:02,590 --> 01:14:04,090
including your request for 

1933
01:14:04,090 --> 01:14:06,880
declassification of your conversation 

1934
01:14:06,880 --> 01:14:09,190
that you had with general lee and any 

1935
01:14:09,190 --> 01:14:11,412
approvals . I want a transcript of your 

1936
01:14:11,412 --> 01:14:13,640
call with general lee And I also want 

1937
01:14:13,640 --> 01:14:15,696
any readouts memorandum is notice of 

1938
01:14:15,696 --> 01:14:18,800
cause or outcomes . Now you chose to 

1939
01:14:18,800 --> 01:14:21,270
talk to reporters instead of us . And 

1940
01:14:21,270 --> 01:14:23,450
that's great . It's a great concern . 

1941
01:14:23,460 --> 01:14:26,490
No one in Congress knew that one of two 

1942
01:14:26,490 --> 01:14:28,490
of the major nuclear powers thought 

1943
01:14:28,490 --> 01:14:30,870
that they were were perhaps being 

1944
01:14:30,870 --> 01:14:33,037
threatened for attack . Mr Secretary . 

1945
01:14:33,037 --> 01:14:35,148
That turns my questions to you then . 

1946
01:14:35,148 --> 01:14:39,010
Mr Secretary , if you learn that 

1947
01:14:39,010 --> 01:14:42,120
Russia or China believes that they may 

1948
01:14:42,120 --> 01:14:45,250
be subject to an attack by the United 

1949
01:14:45,250 --> 01:14:47,820
States as a member of the President's 

1950
01:14:47,820 --> 01:14:49,720
Cabinet . Do you believe that 

1951
01:14:49,720 --> 01:14:51,830
information should be handled at the 

1952
01:14:51,830 --> 01:14:53,886
cabinet level and with the President 

1953
01:14:53,886 --> 01:14:55,997
with the national security adviser of 

1954
01:14:55,997 --> 01:14:57,886
the Secretary of Defense . Do you 

1955
01:14:57,886 --> 01:14:57,620
believe the chair and ranking member of 

1956
01:14:57,620 --> 01:14:59,509
intel on the House Armed Services 

1957
01:14:59,509 --> 01:15:01,731
Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee 

1958
01:15:01,731 --> 01:15:03,787
need to know these Or do you believe 

1959
01:15:03,787 --> 01:15:06,250
that uh a belief of the possibility of 

1960
01:15:06,250 --> 01:15:08,417
an attack by the United States against 

1961
01:15:08,417 --> 01:15:10,306
Russia and china is appropriately 

1962
01:15:10,306 --> 01:15:13,860
handled by the Chairman of the Joint 

1963
01:15:13,860 --> 01:15:16,170
Chiefs of Staff in a phone call with 

1964
01:15:16,170 --> 01:15:18,059
his counterpart with one of those 

1965
01:15:18,240 --> 01:15:20,370
nations . Please tell me that you 

1966
01:15:20,370 --> 01:15:22,481
believe it elevates to the level that 

1967
01:15:22,481 --> 01:15:24,592
you would elevate that to the Cabinet 

1968
01:15:24,592 --> 01:15:26,814
and to Congress and not just have it be 

1969
01:15:26,814 --> 01:15:30,030
subsequently told to us all by 

1970
01:15:30,030 --> 01:15:32,086
newspaper articles in the Washington 

1971
01:15:32,086 --> 01:15:34,141
post . The new york times as General 

1972
01:15:34,141 --> 01:15:38,020
Milley chose to do . Thank you , sir . 

1973
01:15:38,030 --> 01:15:41,490
Uh Obviously we would want to follow 

1974
01:15:41,490 --> 01:15:43,212
standard protocol and what you 

1975
01:15:43,212 --> 01:15:46,950
described as is what I would uh type of 

1976
01:15:46,950 --> 01:15:50,470
actions that I would consider taking . 

1977
01:15:50,480 --> 01:15:53,410
But General Milley as what I heard him 

1978
01:15:53,410 --> 01:15:55,521
say yesterday and I think again today 

1979
01:15:55,521 --> 01:15:58,200
is that his chain of command , the 

1980
01:15:58,200 --> 01:16:00,880
Secretary of Defense at the time was 

1981
01:16:00,890 --> 01:16:04,430
was aware uh of of the actions . And 

1982
01:16:04,430 --> 01:16:06,530
so after what he said yesterday is 

1983
01:16:06,530 --> 01:16:08,863
after . I'm sorry . No , that's correct . 

1984
01:16:08,863 --> 01:16:11,150
What I said yesterday today if I could 

1985
01:16:11,160 --> 01:16:13,216
hold on just second , every time has 

1986
01:16:13,216 --> 01:16:15,438
expired . Mr Turner is very clever . He 

1987
01:16:15,438 --> 01:16:18,030
made a very direct attack as his time 

1988
01:16:18,030 --> 01:16:20,252
was expiring . I'm going to violate the 

1989
01:16:20,252 --> 01:16:22,030
rules here a little bit and let 

1990
01:16:22,030 --> 01:16:24,197
chairman really respond to that direct 

1991
01:16:24,197 --> 01:16:26,419
attack hopefully briefly and then we'll 

1992
01:16:26,419 --> 01:16:28,252
move on to the next witness with 

1993
01:16:28,252 --> 01:16:30,474
respect to the intelligence . I have it 

1994
01:16:30,474 --> 01:16:32,670
right here . I'll be happy to share it 

1995
01:16:32,670 --> 01:16:35,350
with you . I guarantee that that 

1996
01:16:35,350 --> 01:16:37,950
intelligence was disseminated two in 

1997
01:16:37,950 --> 01:16:40,390
the president's PDB the vice president , 

1998
01:16:40,560 --> 01:16:44,500
the DNI Director CIA uh the Secretary 

1999
01:16:44,500 --> 01:16:46,860
of Defense uh the Assistant to the 

2000
01:16:46,860 --> 01:16:49,082
President for National Security Affairs 

2001
01:16:49,082 --> 01:16:51,370
uh and others . That was significant . 

2002
01:16:51,380 --> 01:16:53,491
And there was a lot of it , it wasn't 

2003
01:16:53,491 --> 01:16:55,547
just a singular report . There was a 

2004
01:16:55,547 --> 01:16:55,200
lot , I'll be happy to share that with 

2005
01:16:55,200 --> 01:16:57,200
you and go over to with you line by 

2006
01:16:57,200 --> 01:16:59,422
line . Uh And it was significant and it 

2007
01:16:59,422 --> 01:17:01,311
was concerning to the point where 

2008
01:17:01,311 --> 01:17:03,533
Secretary of Defense esper , by Admiral 

2009
01:17:03,533 --> 01:17:05,756
Davidson and myself along with others , 

2010
01:17:05,756 --> 01:17:08,150
had conversations about it . And I was 

2011
01:17:08,150 --> 01:17:10,440
directed by then Secretary Defense 

2012
01:17:10,440 --> 01:17:12,860
esper . Uh first he directed his 

2013
01:17:12,870 --> 01:17:14,926
Assistant Secretary Defense for asIA 

2014
01:17:14,926 --> 01:17:17,092
pacific Affairs to make calls and then 

2015
01:17:17,092 --> 01:17:19,203
me same thing . Uh , this is all done 

2016
01:17:19,203 --> 01:17:21,203
with oversight . And I tried to lay 

2017
01:17:21,203 --> 01:17:23,370
that out in the memoranda . I tried to 

2018
01:17:23,370 --> 01:17:25,092
lay it out in a timeline in an 

2019
01:17:25,092 --> 01:17:27,259
unclassified way that you can use it . 

2020
01:17:27,259 --> 01:17:27,100
And we're gonna I'm sorry , do we have 

2021
01:17:27,100 --> 01:17:29,211
to leave it at that ? We have to take 

2022
01:17:29,211 --> 01:17:30,822
it up at a later date . Your 

2023
01:17:30,822 --> 01:17:32,544
convenience . Mr . Courtney is 

2024
01:17:32,544 --> 01:17:31,640
recognized .