Officers involved with the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan may be held accountable

| November 17, 2024 | 16 Comments

Donald Trump’s transition team is reportedly creating a list of officers involved with the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. This list will be a compilation of currently serving officers and retired/former officers. This list is being generated with the view of investigating these officers’ roles with the possibility of bringing up charges. If applicable, retired officers involved with the Afghanistan withdrawal may see orders placing them back on active duty to face charges.

From NBC news:

Hegseth calls the withdrawal a “humiliating retreat” and says leaders at the Pentagon were not held accountable for the deadly attack at Abbey Gate, which killed 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians. Nor were they held accountable for a subsequent U.S. airstrike in Kabul that officials thought would kill the Islamic State group leader behind the suicide attack but instead killed 10 innocent Afghans, including seven children, he wrote.

“These generals lied. They mismanaged. They violated their oath. They failed. They disgraced our troops, and our nation. They got people killed, unnecessarily,” he wrote. “And, to this moment, they keep their jobs. Worse, they continue to actively erode our military and its values — by capitulating to civilians with radical agendas. They are an embarrassment, with stars still on their shoulders.”

The transition team is looking at the possibility of recalling several commanders to active duty for possible charges, the U.S. official said.

It’s not clear the Trump administration would pursue treason charges, and instead could focus on lesser charges that highlight the officer’s involvement. “They want to set an example,” said the person with knowledge of the plan.

Speaking to NBC News days before the election, Howard Lutnick, one of the two advisers leading the transition, said Trump learned after his first administration that he had hired Democratic generals, and he would not make that mistake again.

Additional Reading:

Kube, C., Lee, C.E., & Hillyard, V. (2024, November 17). Trump transition team compiling list of current and former U.S. military officers for possible courts-martial. NBC News. Link.

Category: Afghanistan, Donald Trump, Government Incompetence, Joe BIden, Middle East, Military issues, Taliban

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Berliner

Not to mention all the military equipment, worth millions, left behind during withdrawal. Iran now owns some of it.

Berliner

correction… BILLION$
(wife gave me decaf by mistake)

Amateur Historian

The dreaded decaf.

David

Like non-alcoholic beer – all the bad breath, none of the fun

Amateur Historian

😆 🤣 😂

26Limabeans

“possibility of recalling several commanders to active duty for possible charges”.
Wow. When was the last time this was used in a more than
individual sense?

Amateur Historian

4 years late…

HT3

I’d love to hear exactly what Harris did/recommended as “the last person in the room.” I’m sure her input amounted to squat!

Anonymous

comment image

Deckie

One dumb, useless, traitorous motherfucker.

fm2176

If a Private falls asleep on guard and the enemy penetrates the perimeter, he’s going to have his ass handed to him by his NCOs and officers. For that matter, if a Trainee is caught sleeping on fire watch and the Drill Sergeant walks in, he’s going to get some up close and personal time. Maybe it involves paperwork, or maybe it’s paid in sweat equity, but in both scenarios, the junior enlisted are held accountable for their actions or lack thereof.

We’ve often discussed the politics that go along with senior GO/FO positions. Most really good and apolitical officers retire as O-6’s (or below, depending on branch and means of commissioning), while others that get see stars top out at O-8. It’s odd (not really), that the nominative and ostensibly temporary paygrades of O-9 and O-10 require further steps for our politicians to approve them. If they don’t check certain blocks, they retire as 2-Stars.

The decision makers and advisors for our botched withdrawal should be held accountable. Start with Austin, then Milley, and then go down from there. The withdrawal was designed to make Trump look bad and Biden look like a strong leader. It was poorly planned, executed even worse, and led to the needless loss of a lot of lives. Even if the results don’t impress us, make the senior Generals and Admirals uncomfortable by pulling them away from the Pentagon or their post-retirement six-figure jobs and making them squeeze back into a uniform to appear before Congress or in a military courtroom.

AW1Ed

They were just following orders.
*cough*

5JC

Might some people relocating to Canada for reals.

Skivvy Stacker

I wonder what Miley thinks of certain “privileges” now?

Anonymous

Opportunity for starting MAGA defense improvements… military shipbuilding capacity vs. Tlthe Chicoms in need of much help before the next war:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/weak-shipbuilding-could-us-navys-090002221.html

SFC D

We publicly hang a company commander for losing track of a 8 inch crescent wrench and a GP small. The pentagon can’t track a yuge portion of a $800+ billion dollar budget and its business as usual. This shit ends now.