The General Who Recommended Abandoning Bagram Air Base Has Already Left Afghanistan. Hmm...
By Bryan Preston Aug 18, 2021 7:47 PM ET
During Wednesday’s briefing by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CBS national security reporter Jennifer Griffin asked the two about the decision to abandon Bagram Air Base in the weeks leading up to Afghanistan’s collapse. That decision has proven to be crucial, as it left Afghanistan with no U.S. military support and now leaves the civilians stranded there with one option: to try to get to the Kabul international airport through Taliban checkpoints. The U.S. government issued a statement saying that it cannot guarantee their safety and that even if they can get to the airport, they will face a long wait.
That wait could have been made shorter and the evacuation safer with better planning and the use of Bagram Air Base, which has two runways. HKIA only has one.
Gen. Milley took up answering the question of why Bagram was abandoned after Austin acknowledged that some U.S. military aircraft have been piloted out of Bagram by the Taliban. Milley carefully said the plan was driven by Washington, designed on the ground in Afghanistan, and then briefed all the way up the chain. Here is the entire briefing. Fast-forward to about 29:17.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T9TADZNG9Y&ab_channel=NBCNewsmore
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/bryan-preston/2021/08/18/the-general-who-recommended-abandoning-bagram-air-base-has-already-left-afghanistan-hm-n1470790
