BOMBSHELL: Gen. McKenzie Admits The Taliban Offered The U.S. The Ability To Secure Kabul — He Rejected It (VIDEO)
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Un-dirty-word-believable. The head of U.S. Central Command said that he didn’t consider the offer to secure Kabul during the evacuation a “formal” one so he didn’t bother to pursue it.
During a grilling by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) General Frank McKenzie of CENTCOM made some pretty eye-opening admissions.
McKenzie confirmed (at least in part) a Washington Post report from August that said that high-ranking Taliban leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, offered the U.S. full control over the security of Kabul during the evacuation of Afghanistan, but that offer was rejected. The Taliban then took over control of the city while the United States maintained control over Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA).
“I met with Mullah Baradar on 15 August to pass a message to him that we were withdrawing, and if they attempted to disrupt that withdrawal we would punish them severely for that,” McKenzie began.
“But did he offer for you to have security over all of Kabul, not just the airport?” Gallagher interjected.
“As part of that conversation, [Baradar] said, ‘well, why don’t you just take security of all of Kabul?’ That was not why I was there, that was not my instruction, and we did not have the resources to undertake that mission,” McKenzie said.
“I did not consider that to be a formal offer and it was not the reason why I was there, so I did not pursue it,” he said later in the questioning.
Asked if the offer to remain in control of Kabul was relayed to President Joe Biden, McKenzie stated, “The offer was made in the presence of the president’s special representative to Afghanistan” before adding that he did not know if the offer was then reported to the White House.
Source: Daily Wire
WATCH: General McKenzie acknowledges the Taliban offered the United States the ability to secure Kabul. pic.twitter.com/0MUQDlnIKO
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 29, 2021
What’s bizarre about this is that McKenzie just dismissed it out of hand because his focus was on his orders — evacuation — and didn’t seem to think it warranted bringing it to the attention of the President or the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
In addition, let’s not forget that if this was an issue of bringing in more troops to secure the city, well, they had to do that to secure the airport because of their botched withdrawal.
. @PentagonPresSec says just now that new deployments to the Kabul airport will include three infantry battalions (two Marine, one Army).
That’s 3,000 additional troops, plus the 650 already in Kabul.
An Army brigade combat team also will deploy to the region in case needed.
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) August 12, 2021
Maybe the Taliban was just screwing around with Gen. McKenzie when he made the offer to secure Kabul during their Doha meeting. The Taliban knew that there wouldn’t be reprisals from the U.S. — the CENTCOM Commander made it pretty clear that the Biden-Harris administration is all bark and no bite.
Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, sat across from Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar and showed him a map with a circle around Kabul, about 20 to 30 kilometers (12.4 to 18.6 miles) outside the city.
McKenzie told Baradar that Taliban fighters had to stay outside the circle or the United States would strike them. McKenzie explained the U.S. would finish its withdrawal as soon as possible and the Taliban must not interfere, three senior defense officials told NBC News.
The Taliban representatives agreed not to interfere, but pointed out they already had fighters inside the circle in some places, and those fighters would not leave.
McKenzie explained his mission was the safe withdrawal of Americans and allies. The Taliban leaders agreed to let Americans leave and offered to provide a liaison for security around the airport.
The next day, Taliban fighters rolled into Kabul, and no U.S. warplanes bombed the insurgents, the three senior defense officials said.
Source: NBC News
How many Americans and our Afghan allies that we had given our word to protect were subjected to harassment and prevented from reaching the airport because of this order?
It’s just insane that a military leader wouldn’t investigate an offer that would have made the evacuation safer for civilians trapped in a country that was taken over by terrorists.
That wasn’t the only shocker from the queries by Rep. Gallagher. McKenzie also admitted that among the Taliban units “guarding” the Kabul airport was a group that specializes in suicide bombings.
In a hearing before @HASCRepublicans, CENTCOM Commander Kenneth Mckenzie confirmed to Rep. Gallagher that the Taliban’s Badri 313 unit, which specializes in suicide martyrdom, was guarding the Kabul airport prior to the suicide bombing that killed 13 American troops. pic.twitter.com/dhmkwkyNMj
— Rep. Gallagher Press Office (@RepGallagher) September 29, 2021
The fox was guarding the henhouse and the Biden-Harris administration let it.
It looks like the Biden-Harris administration is taking the Obama admin’s “leading from behind” to mean that the Taliban gets to dictate how and what happens. We saw that Joe caved to the Taliban’s “red line” date for evacuation leaving an unknown number of Americans and half of our Afghan allies behind while opening the doors for thousands of refugees who haven’t been vetted.
This is what happens when you put a Shambling Husk of Mediocrity in the White House with handlers that think they’re the new cast of a reboot of Aaron Sorkin’s West Wing and are acting it out in real-time.
Check out Doug’s latest book, The Art of Joe: The Political Brilliance of President Biden. If you have left-leaning family members, workmates, or classmates, to buy several copies and place them in common areas. Make sure you have your video camera ready for when they pick it up and thumb through it because they will be triggered which will make for a great viral video to share across social media. Also, buy a couple for the GOP NeverTrumpers that you know. Finally, both the book’s cover and the epilogue, Notable Quotable Joe are worth the price of admission. We’ve included before and after Biden on Afghanistan. Jen Psaki will no likey this book, but you will. BTW, the book is 95% bereft of any content. Just like Biden’s head.
