CENTCOM commander says they will continue to work with the Taliban, who “protect us” at Kabul airport

General Kenneth McKenzie Jr (USMC), Commander USCENTCOM

As the situation in Kabul has turned deadly, those of us with military experience are wondering where the leaders are. We saw from Biden’s repeatedly disastrous press conferences that Biden can’t lead. The minute he’s pressed on anything except a softball question he literally tucks tail and runs. We’ve seen a lack of leadership from Secretary of Defense Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Milley, Secretary of State Blinkin, et. al. That leaves us to hope that our men and women in Afghanistan are being led by proper leaders at the combatant command level. Well….

For those who don’t know, the unified combatant commands (of which the Middle East and Afghanistan are in the “Central” region) are the modern incarnation of the supreme allied commanders from World War II (Eisenhower for instance in Europe). Each of the 11 combatant commands is lead by a 4-star officer who holds ultimate operational authority of his/her area of responsibility. While there are higher ranking officers in each branch of the military (for example the Chief of Staff of the individual branches), the unified combatant commander is the one actually leading the war in theater. The chiefs of staff actually are outside the chain of command on dealing with combat and strategy in-theater as the combatant commanders report directly to the President through the Secretary of Defense.

With that in mind, it’s unsettling to see our US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander General Kenneth McKenzie Jr say things like the Taliban “protect us” at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. With the dual suicide bombers that left dozens dead and scores wounded yesterday, they have proven they are incapable for providing the security that we are apparently going to continue to rely on. In a press conference (held virtually) the general discussed how operational security information has been shared with the Taliban for the last two weeks. That his comments came after the suicide bombings (allegedly carried out by ISIS) is all the more unsettling.

From the NY Post;

A “number of ISIS gunmen” then opened fire on US troops, he said.

The bombers appear to have somehow gotten past Taliban checkpoints on the outer perimeter of the airfield, McKenzie said, acknowledging there was “a failure somewhere.”

US officials are bracing for more attacks, and will continue to coordinate with the Taliban to secure the area.

“The threat from ISIS is completely real, we expect those attacks to continue and we are doing everything we can to be prepared for those attacks,” McKenzie said.

“That includes reaching out to the Taliban who are actually providing security for the outer cordon of the airfield,” he continued, “to make sure they know what we expect them to do to protect us

…

“We’ve reached out to the Taliban, we’ve told them you need to continue to push out the security perimeter,” he said.

There you have it. Our people will be at the whims of the Taliban until they get to the airport. Though under the apparent security blanket of American protection there, that’s a facade, as the Taliban are holding the security of the perimeter right up to the airport. This is not a good position tactically and a horrendous position strategically. Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) were employed by the Taliban before and were surely part of the tens of billions of dollars worth of top shelf American military gear left behind intact the Taliban now control.

Biden has remained committed to pulling all our troops out by the end of August 31. Things will likely be getting much worse in Kabul over the next few days. One way or another, it’s going to be over soon.

Category: "Teh Stoopid", "The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves", "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Afghanistan, Biden, General Whackos