PRESIDENT BIDEN’S TREACHEROUS TEAM

Twenty years ago this week, U.S. Special Forces and a U.S. Marine Task Force began offensive operations against al Qaeda and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the wake of the 9-11-2001 terror attack. It was the deadliest in world history, killing 2,977 Americans. Within days, the U.S. was joined by NATO allies, united by the pledge, “Never again!”

September 28 and 29, 2021, the Senate and House Armed Services Committees held hearings on the disastrous end of this bloody, two-decade-long war which took the lives of 2,464 American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and 3,840 U.S. civilian contractors. More than 24,000 U.S. and allied troops were seriously wounded.

Last week’s hearings could and should have been an opportunity to determine who is responsible for the catastrophic defeat our nation suffered at the “end” of a brutal contest in which we won all the major battles, but still lost the war. It didn’t happen.

Instead, we witnessed our senior military leaders making excuses, obfuscating, distorting, and attempting to blame Donald Trump to deflect blame for this unmitigated disaster they and their feckless president caused.

Ironically, the outcome of the hearings was best summarized by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), a man who has his own issues with truth-telling. Blumenthal chided Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, for providing “no real responses,” and after repeatedly asking who should be held accountable for leaving American citizens and our allies behind, concluded, “There is nobody in charge.”

General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Commander, United States Central Command, testified they urged President Biden to keep 2,500 U.S. troops, 5,000 NATO personnel in-country and retain possession of Bagram Air Base until all American citizens, Afghan allies, and third-country civilians were evacuated. Biden evidently ignored this advice. When asked in a televised interview on August 18th, if he was advised to leave troops in Afghanistan, the president said: “No. No one said that to me I can recall.” The functional words here were “I can recall.”

Many assumed this response was another presidential lie, like so many others: “We will leave no one behind.” “We have enormous leverage over the Taliban,” “We have ‘over the horizon’ counter-terrorism capabilities.” But was it a deliberate falsehood? The only alternative raises serious questions about our president’s cognitive competence and who other than our senior military officers are giving this president military advice.

Two things are certain: the headline, “Top Generals Contradict Biden,” is true. So is the acknowledgement by two of our top military officers; the American people and our homeland are now at “greater risk from terrorism” because of the way this war ended.

Congressional hearings with 5 minute Q&As are inadequate if the objective is to determine who should be held accountable for the humiliation our nation suffered in the worst military, national security, and humanitarian disaster in U.S. history. But it’s about more than fixing blame. It’s about doing everything necessary to prevent anything like what occurred in August 2021—and the atrocities now underway in Afghanistan—from ever happening again.

To that end we urge the formation of a “Joint, bi-partisan commission on Operation Enduring Freedom.” Here are a few suggested parameters:

· Give the commissioners authority to review classified messages, meetings, and transcripts of calls particularly calls made between General Milley and PRC General Li and the call made by the president to Communist China’s leader, Xi Jinping, on September 9th

· Require the commission to deliver its report no later than 1 September 2022.

This is the only way we can keep the pledge: “Never Again.”

Oliver L. North is a combat-decorated U.S. Marine, No.1 bestselling author, founder and CEO of Fidelis Publishing LLC and Fidelis Media LLC. Find out more about him at www.olivernorth.com. David Goetsch is a Marine Corps veteran, member of the Florida Veteran’s Hall of Fame, professor of business, Christian counselor, and author of 77 books. Find out more about him at www.david-goetsch.com. Order their new book, We Didn’t Fight for Socialism at barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com.

David ValinskiOctober 4, 2021