Secretary of Defense: ‘I Don’t Have
the Capability’ to Escort Stranded
Americans to Kabul Airport
National Review,
by
Zachary Evans
Original Article
Posted By: Dreadnought,
8/18/2021 4:42:14 PM
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. will continue to evacuate all the Americans “they can” from Afghanistan, although the U.S. is currently unable to “go out and collect large numbers of people” from outside the Kabul airport.
“It’s obvious we’re not close to where we want to be,” Austin said at a press conference at the Pentagon. “We’re gonna get everyone that we can possibly evacuate, evacuated and I’ll do that as long as we possibly can, until the clock runs out, or we run out of capability.”
Austin admitted that U.S. capabilities to venture outside the airport are already limited, however. “I don’t have the capability
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Ribicon 8/18/2021 4:51:33 PM (No. 884087)
FTA: "Austin admitted that U.S. capabilities to venture outside the airport are already limited, however. “I don’t have the capability to go out and extend operations currently into Kabul,” explained the defense secretary." The greatest and by far the most expensive military in the history of the world has very impressive capabilities, especially after controlling an entire country for 20 years and then pouring a fortune into making its military self-sufficient. "USA, USA!," we chant with pride. But now with the Transgender Pride flags remove from our embassies, we are powerless in the face of a ragtag band of tribesmen armed with weapons we provided them.
33 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
EQKimball 8/18/2021 4:52:03 PM (No. 884088)
Meanwhile you have tens of thousands of people on the roads or outside the perimeter of the Kabul airport. Who is providing basic human services, including water, food, sanitation? The military is confined to the airport. What an absolute nightmare!
34 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Son of Grady 8/18/2021 4:53:34 PM (No. 884090)
These woke military fools are about to experience some "American Rage".
42 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
NorthernDog 8/18/2021 4:55:29 PM (No. 884091)
A column of diesel-powdered armored cars and tanks would be quite helpful about now. You could just roll over the Taliban and their battered trucks, and collect some of the stranded evacuees. But that would upset the global warming crowd.
37 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
daisey 8/18/2021 4:58:28 PM (No. 884093)
Talk about an inept administration. These people should have been evacuated first. Biden is as incompetent as they come. Can families sue the government?
35 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Schnapps 8/18/2021 5:05:10 PM (No. 884098)
Austin should check with Sleepy Joe who just told America that they planned for every contingency.
#4 has the answer. The Taliban are blocking the roads with Toyota and Ford pickups. We have vehicles that can flatten those like coke cans.
29 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
dman 8/18/2021 5:06:13 PM (No. 884100)
So who is incompetent [or worse] now? /s
15 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
MrDeplorable 8/18/2021 5:06:31 PM (No. 884101)
And this is the guy who "won" a Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for valor in combat, in 2003 as an Assistant Division Commander in Iraq. The only way a GENERAL could "win" a Silver Star is through Affirmative Action. Care to show us your citation and let us interview the witnesses to your "valor," General Austin? I thought not.
43 people like this.
Resign, and we’ll find someone who can do the job…
33 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Italiano 8/18/2021 5:07:50 PM (No. 884104)
Putin would know what to do with him.
26 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
edgar 8/18/2021 5:11:34 PM (No. 884106)
If there was any leadership in DC they would negotiate the exit of US and allied personnel with the taliban. Guess that ain't gonna happen.
14 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
volksford 8/18/2021 5:13:26 PM (No. 884109)
I guess this situation is a little more complicated than rooting out imaginary KKK members from the military or defending D.C. from hordes of deplorable insurrectionists
33 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
RedLegLeader68 8/18/2021 5:17:21 PM (No. 884112)
Excuse me, AO. Me and some of my guys from '68 + any number of guys from then on, could get this done ASAP. There is no more precious mission than saving American lives. Americans FIRST.
What the H*ll is going on? with all our our highly trained SF guys from every branch, plus some Army Rangers and Marine Recon units, this would be no problem; the USAF can have their SF guys there in a heart beat, so let's just get it done.
I'm about to p*k!
25 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 8/18/2021 5:24:02 PM (No. 884116)
Our Secretary of Defense sounds like somebody who is unwilling to fight. Perhaps he wants us to lose. Seriously, he should be fired, but Ole Empty Head won't do that.
18 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
bpl40 8/18/2021 5:24:55 PM (No. 884118)
Admiral Ramsey McDonald didn’t say “they can”. He just went and got them. Another era. Another kind of men.
17 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
greyseal 8/18/2021 5:25:35 PM (No. 884119)
Over at Ace of Spades HQ, there is a story about how the UK commander is angry with the commander of the US forces regarding our inability to rescue our own citizens (Austin doesn't want to break the "deal" with the Taliban) while the Brits are running convoys solo to get their people (and I suspect some of ours) out of Kabul to the airport. Meanwhile, our woke UN Ambassador has issued a VERY strongly worded statement to the Taliban that they should be respectful of women's rights if they want to be a member of the international community (I don't think they care).
Austin and Milley should be relieved of duty immediately. This is a s*** show of the first magnitude...
greyseal
32 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
downnout 8/18/2021 5:26:18 PM (No. 884123)
My God but this man is a complete, incompetent jerk! Resign!
29 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
earlybird 8/18/2021 5:28:05 PM (No. 884125)
He and the woke Thoroughly Modern Milley did a joint tap dance today. A sorry pair to be leading anything, let alone our country’s defense.
24 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
lakerman1 8/18/2021 5:31:07 PM (No. 884127)
We can't go out and extract Americans and others, because Biden gave our equipment to the Afhan government, and in turn, they sold the
stuff to the Taliban.
11 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
LanceLink1 8/18/2021 5:35:54 PM (No. 884134)
You are the Sec of Defense. You have the entire military at your disposal. Surly they can come up with something? How bout an air drop of lgbt flags or gender neutral bathroom tags? Something? Anything?
17 people like this.
A bunch of A-10s and helos armed with lots of rockets and .50cal ammo, and a few of those heavily-armed C-130s orbiting about should be able to open up some paths to get collect some people. A few tanks or armored D-11s to open the road... maybe a little napalm to warm things up a bit...
13 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
ProudSaber 8/18/2021 5:51:00 PM (No. 884145)
The Marines have a term they use on people like the SECDEF: A LIMP DICK. FOR OTHERS; HE IS USELESS.
11 people like this.
Milley and Austin: the salt and pepper shakers on the fly-buzzing tables of Joe Biden's greasy spoon cafe.
14 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
anniebc 8/18/2021 6:06:10 PM (No. 884164)
Talk about somebody who needs to be dragged. Hard!
6 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
skacmar 8/18/2021 6:10:14 PM (No. 884171)
If clowns Austin and Milley would have evacuated the citizens, embassy, allies who assisted us, and warned our allies before our military retreated in disgrace without warning in the middle of the night this would not be an issue. An old science always told me: PRIOR PLANNING PREVENTS POOR PERFORMANCE. Austin and Milley obviously gave no thought to their cowardly retreat of the US military without creating the chaos we are seeing. This was a totally avoidable situation. Nobody denies that the Taliban would have eventually come back in. But the poor planning and excuses for their failures are making Austin and Milley look totally incompetent.
9 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
udanja99 8/18/2021 6:12:47 PM (No. 884177)
Why aren’t we taking out the Taliban with drones? We know where they are and can hit them just like we hit Suleimani sitting in his car. We should have been doing that the second they started crawling out of their hidey-holes.
9 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
DVC 8/18/2021 6:13:06 PM (No. 884178)
Affirmative action hires never have any real capability to do their jobs.
14 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
GerardB 8/18/2021 6:23:46 PM (No. 884196)
Obama said to his teleprompter "Yes, we can!" and didn't and got a Nobel Peace Prize for his effort.
Biden's Afghanistan mantra, courtesy of his Defense Secretary is "America first out, after me".
Meanwhile the rest of the World looks on at America and wonders what so wrongly woke.
8 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
red1066 8/18/2021 6:24:39 PM (No. 884199)
If the arse wipes are sending text messages to Americans in Afghanistan telling them the U.S. can't help them, they could have sent a message weeks ago to tell Americans to get the hell out of Afghanistan now.
10 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
Shirl's court 8/18/2021 6:27:58 PM (No. 884205)
One day we will find out that a bunch of 20 year olds were running this country led by obama.
11 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
MNluxiegal 8/18/2021 6:42:09 PM (No. 884226)
Can you imagine President Donald J Trump allowing such a statement and not firing someone? Or - can you imagine Presidnt Trump even considering such a scenario? He would personally announce an all our rescue attempt with no holds barred in the process, but the announcement would take place after it is well along toward completion! If necessary he would take out any Taliban leader who interfered with the movement of Americans in Afghanistan.
9 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
rochow 8/18/2021 6:48:05 PM (No. 884232)
Hand in your resignation Mr. Incompetent! All you want is titles, decorations, up the ladder and $$$$$$. Get your fat rear end out of uniform and out of the Army! Take the fairy tale story teller and liar Milley with you on your way out! Or we will exchange you 2 fools for 2 other American refugees from that hell hole! You can stay there forever!
10 people like this.
Reply 33 - Posted by:
Hermit_Crab 8/18/2021 7:05:23 PM (No. 884257)
Lloyd (Idi) Austin DaDa. Could send in some of his beloved black tranny soldiers, but they might break a nail, So that is out.
8 people like this.
Reply 34 - Posted by:
Scout Finch 8/18/2021 7:13:00 PM (No. 884265)
If this worthless POS SecDef doesn’t resign now, or get fired, the gigs up. The Democrats are already running a Marxist regime. They don’t need our votes. They have their RINO buddies to assist.
3 people like this.
Reply 35 - Posted by:
watashiyo 8/18/2021 7:43:16 PM (No. 884300)
Austin Power could care less. There are no black Americans left behind. And if there are some, the Taliban won't touch them, well, that's what the stand-up black comedians are saying.
8 people like this.
Reply 36 - Posted by:
doctorfixit 8/18/2021 8:38:44 PM (No. 884340)
But Affirmative Action Austin has the capability to smear Patriots as racists.
5 people like this.
Reply 37 - Posted by:
mizzmac 8/18/2021 9:02:16 PM (No. 884363)
He has the entire US Military at his disposal and he "doesn't have the capability"??? Next.
5 people like this.
Reply 38 - Posted by:
Agent Orange 8/18/2021 9:11:09 PM (No. 884370)
As a retired MSgt, I'm not just embarrassed with the goings on in Afghanistan, It’s ten time worse that leaving Saigon in 75; but for our military leaders and the pResident both to say that Americans were not a priority to be rescued from Afghanistan, you’ve got to be $****ing me.
This worthless chief of staff needs to relieved of his duties, and have a general courts-martial for treason and dereliction of duty.
Just where in heck are the so-called military generals and admirals that are supposed to be in charge of our military. They all need to be fired and courts-martial for not defending the Constitution of the United States of America and the lives of our countries men and women stuck in harms way.
This is beyond my imagination to think our military’s so-called leaders would just tell the Americans in Afghanistan to “F” off, “You are not a priority.” If they aren’t, just who in the devil is?
Signed: One very p***ed off MSgt USAF (ret)
6 people like this.
Reply 39 - Posted by:
stablemoney 8/18/2021 9:16:17 PM (No. 884377)
So what are the 5000 troops that have just been sent to Afghanistan for?
4 people like this.
Reply 40 - Posted by:
EJKrausJr 8/18/2021 9:17:18 PM (No. 884378)
Why not? You guys had 20 years to plan for such an event. What on earth were you doing? Looking for domestic White Supremacists?
4 people like this.
Idi Amin doesn't have the ability to do anything but plant two lips on Lunch Bucket's wrinkled arse.
1 person likes this.
Reply 42 - Posted by:
MickTurn 8/18/2021 10:31:26 PM (No. 884444)
Well Moron, if the Military left LAST this would not be a problem now would it?
My God, Have all the supposed smart people in the Pentagon gone STUPID all at once?
This is a BS LIE!
1 person likes this.
Reply 43 - Posted by:
bighambone 8/18/2021 10:43:21 PM (No. 884460)
It’s pretty evident what is happening. The Taliban is happy to allow the Americans and other foreign nationals to leave Afghanistan, but is not going to allow any Afghans to leave. If the Taliban does allow some Afghans to leave it will not be before huge bribes are paid to them by Biden. When the Americans have been evacuated, the Taliban are going to tell the US military to leave Kabul Airport and get out of Afghanistan. If the Taliban start firing artillery or rockets into the airport no aircraft will be able to land or take off and aircraft on the ground there would be sitting ducks for artillery shells to destroy them. If there are about 6,000 US troops and about 1,000 UK troops at the airport they are going to need a lot of logistic support before long, and that’s where the rub will come into play.
1 person likes this.
Reply 44 - Posted by:
vhs68 8/19/2021 12:45:33 AM (No. 884544)
Actually #25, i learned your comment at an engineering firm i once worked for as the 7 P's.
PROPER PRIOR PLANNING PREVENTS PIZZ POOR PERFORMANCE.
0 people like this.
Reply 45 - Posted by:
mifla 8/19/2021 11:16:29 AM (No. 884961)
Had plenty of capacity when dealing with the Jan 6 protesters though. Priorities.
1 person likes this.
Reply 46 - Posted by:
broken01 8/19/2021 9:05:27 PM (No. 885632)
I never thought that we’d have a more buffoonish Secretary of Defense than Chuck Hagel but Lloyd Austin takes the cake. As an Army General he should know something about military tactics, logistics etc. He does NOT inspire confidence in that position and needs to be fired.
0 people like this.
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