 February 26, 2020, House Armed Services Committee, General Mark Milley. We know we're not gonna defeat the Taliban militarily and they're not going to defeat the government of Afghanistan militarily. You really blew that call, didn't you, General? Nice. I believe that that was a issue of strategic stalemate and that if we had remained in Afghanistan with the advisory levels of effort, then the government of Afghanistan and the Afghan security forces. Well, that's an interesting answer to a question. It's just not one I asked. You spent more time with Bob Woodward on this book than you spent analyzing the very likely prospect that the Afghanistan government was gonna fall immediately to the Taliban, didn't you? Not even close, Congressman. Oh, really, because you said right after Kabul fell that no one could have anticipated the immediate fall of the Ghani government. This is one of those moments where it really hits you just how utterly incompetent these three men are. Hell, on the very first day of testimony, we found out that they never even planned for the total collapse of the Afghan military and government. But you know who did know that that was gonna happen? Everyone else. How did we know that that was gonna be the outcome? Well, it's not because we're psychic. It's because that America has a bad habit of making the same mistake over and over. What happened when we left Somalia? Well, it gave Al Qaeda a massive propaganda victory that allowed them to then launch attacks on American soil. What happened when we left Iraq? Well, ISIS used that as a massive propaganda victory, swept through Iraq and the rest of the Middle East using American equipment. What happened in Afghanistan wasn't just a possibility. It was the most likely scenario. We become aware that Joe Biden tried to get Ghani to lie about the conditions in Afghanistan. He did that in July. Did you know that right away? I'm not aware of what President Biden. You're not aware of the phone call that Biden had with Ghani where he said, whether it is true or not, we want you to go out there and paint a rosy picture of what's going on in Afghanistan. There's some reporting that we like to confirm, regarding a call in June in July, rather, between President Biden and former Afghanistan president Ghani. One, that both leaders appeared completely unaware that the Taliban would take over and secondly, that they discussed plans to project that Afghan forces were still in control. Is that accurate? Can you tell us a little bit more about that call? Well, I'm not going to get into private, diplomatic conversations or leak transcripts of phone calls. You're the chief military advisor to the president. You said that the Taliban was not going to defeat the government of Afghanistan militarily, which by the way, they cut through them like a hot knife through butter. And then the president tries to get Ghani to lie. When did you become aware of that attempt? Well, there's two things there, Congressman, if I may. One is what I said was the situation with stalemate. And if we kept advisors with there, the government of Afghanistan and the army would have still been there. That's what I said. Whether that's right or wrong, I don't know, but. Seems wrong now with the Taliban in control. Well, we were through all the questions. We were through all the questions. Secretary Austin, Secretary Austin, are you capable of assessing whether another has the will to fight? No, we're not. And that's the point that the chairman made earlier. That's just like an incredibly disappointing thing for the secretary of defense to simply say, I can't assess whether someone has the will to fight. But it is consistent with your record. I mean, during the Obama administration, I think they gave you about $48 million to go train up some folks in Syria to go take on the Assad government. And I think your testimony was that only four or five survived first enemy. So what confidence should this committee have in you or should the country have in you when you've now confessed to us, and whether it's the swing and a miss in Afghanistan, that General Milley talked to the Senate about yesterday, total failure, or whether it was your failures in Syria, you don't seem capable to look at a fighting force and determine whether or not they have the will. Is that an embarrassment? We recall, Congressman, that the end result was the SDF that we stood up that was very, very instrumental in turning the tide of a battle up in Syria. Oh, yeah, turned it so much. You've got Assad in power in Syria. You've got the Taliban in power in Afghanistan. I mean, where have you been? It just seems like you're chronically bad at this. And you have admitted that, I guess, which is to your credit. But when people in the military, like Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller, stand up and demand accountability, when they say that you all screwed up, when they point out that General Milley's statement that the government of Afghanistan is not going to get defeated by the Taliban, well, he ends up in the brig. And you all end up in front of us and your former employer, Raytheon, ends up with a lot of money. Think about that. This American hero, Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller, who spoke out against this debacle caused by Joe Biden and these three clowns, was arrested, put in prison, and not even charged. By contrast, when Lieutenant Colonel Vindman ignored his chain of command and spoke out against Trump, he was hailed as a hero by the very same tyrant who's now in prisoning without charge, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller. Yeah, I wanted to follow up actually in this question. Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller, a Marine officer who questioned the withdrawal and questioned essentially the Commander-in-Chief, has been put in jail. Does President Biden believe that that is appropriate, given that President Biden called Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman a hero for speaking out against his Commander-in-Chief, even testified in Capitol Hill while in uniform? So how is this different, especially since you just said the President welcomes the candor and the advice of his military advisors? Does the President also see Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller as a hero? I don't have all the details on these circumstances. I understand that's gonna be frustrating to you, but we will work to get you an answer. I think we should, at the same time, he should be pinning a medal on Vindman and not on Rush Limbaugh. And I think, I think what we should be doing now, I think we should all stand and give Colonel Vindman a show of how much we supported him. Stand up and clap for Vindman. Get your, get up there. We have poured cash and blood and credibility into a gawning government that was a mirage. It fell immediately. And while the guy sitting next to you was off, you know, talking to Phil Rucker and was off doing his thing with Bob Woodward, we were buying into the big lie. The big lie that this was ever going to be successful and that we could ever rely on the Afghanistan government for anything at all. You know, General Mill, you kind of gave up the game earlier when you said you wanted to address elements of your personal conduct that were in question. We're not questioning your personal conduct. We're questioning in your official capacity going and undermining the chain of command, which is obviously what you did. You've created this whole chain of communication narrative. Did not undermine the chain of command and we managed it before. You absolutely did. And it, well, you know what? You said yesterday that you weren't gonna resign when senators asked you this question. And I believe that you guys probably won't resign. You seem to be very happy failing up over there. But if we didn't have a president that was so addled, you all would be fired. Because that is what you deserve. You have let down the people who wear the uniform in my district and all around this country. And you're far more interested in what your perception is and how people think about you and inside our Washington books than you care about winning. The gentleman's side has expired. This group has been capable of doing. I wanna say something about this book. Woodward's book suggested that Miley did what he did because there was a concern Trump was gonna nuke China. Woodward made his rounds on all the networks making this claim. But guess what? It turns out to be a complete lie. Miley himself testified that this was not the case and that Trump had no intention of attacking China. That it was some sort of rumor going around that Miley was trying to diffuse. That the Chinese fought wrongly that the United States was gonna attack them. I am certain, guaranteed certain that President Trump had no intent to attack. And it was my task to make sure I communicated that. And the purpose was to de-escalate. Once again, the Democrat state media is getting away scoff-free with spreading big lies to hurt Trump and his supporters. I've seen no fact checks and no retractions. Typical dry by media myth-making. And make no mistake, you're gonna be hearing people repeat this lie for years to come. That's it for this one. Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed it, please hit that like button and subscribe. Let me know what you think in the comments.