With the midterm elections coming up later this year, the broadcast networks wanted nothing to do with the continued fallout from President Biden’s disastrous and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan. So much so, that they blacked out how The Washington Post released an Army report Tuesday documenting how the Biden White House and State Department actively hindered and obstructed their efforts to plan and position assets ahead of the final withdrawal deadline.
Instead of covering yet another damaging story for the Biden presidency that was sure to harm Democratic Party’s chances in November, the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News fixated on Peloton’s financial woes. And over on ABC’s World News Tonight, they whined about Starbucks not letting workers unionize and touted the Oscar nominations.
“A new Army report looking into the chaos that followed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan shows the clear tension between top military commanders and Biden administration officials,” Fox News Channel anchor Bret Baier announced during Special Report. “Senior military officials say those White House officials slowed preparations for an evacuation putting the lives of U.S. troops at greater risk.”
National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin read from the “sworn testimony and 2,000 pages from an Army investigation, obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, paint a damning picture of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
According to the paper's assessment from those who had to deal with the Biden White House and State Department, they were of no help in the military’s efforts to prepare ahead of time to get Americans out:
“Senior White House and State Department officials failed to grasp the Taliban’s steady advance on Afghanistan's capital and resisted efforts by U.S. military leaders to prepare the evacuation of embassy personnel and Afghanistan allies weeks before Kabul’s fall,” endangering the lives of U.S. troops.
Another Army officer, who was involved in rescuing embassy personnel the day the facility was abandoned, described how some staff were “intoxicated and cowering in rooms” and others were dragging their feet “with absolutely no sense of urgency” as the Taliban were taking the city.
And the irritation with the Biden administration wasn’t just isolated to the troops on the ground. Griffin also read from the comments of high-ranking generals and other leaders in the command structure. They even pointed to Ambassador Ross Wilson as part of the problem:
Marine Brigadier General Farrell Sullivan, part of the evacuation planning, said engaging the U.S. Embassy was “like pulling teeth.” He wanted to stage supplies at Kabul airport by mid-July to evacuate 5,000 people, but was blocked.
Another commander said, quote, “The ambassador didn't get it. 10-districts-a-day were falling to the Taliban.”
Griffin also noted that Army Lieutenant General Erik Kurilla was on Capitol Hill Tuesday and warned of the “approximately 10,000 ISIS detainees” in facilities across Syria. She then suggested it was “reminiscent of the absence of planning about what to do with ISIS detainees at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan,” one of which escaped and “killed 13 Americans with a suicide bomb…”
This omission of new information regarding Biden biggest failure as president was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Capital One on ABC, Prevagen on CBS, and Ensure on NBC. Their information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
Fox News Channel’s Special Report
February 8, 2022
6:29:57 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: A new Army report looking into the chaos that followed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan shows the clear tension between top military commanders and Biden administration officials. Senior military officials say those White House officials slowed preparations for an evacuation putting the lives of U.S. troops at greater risk.
Today, on Capitol Hill, Lieutenant General Erik Kurilla, slated to be the next head of U.S. Central Command faced questions about Afghanistan and the Middle East, before heading to Europe where he will oversee U.S. troops being sent to bolster NATO's eastern flank.
National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reports tonight from the Pentagon.
[Cuts to video]
JENNIFER GRIFFIN: Sworn testimony and 2,000 pages from an Army investigation, obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, paint a damning picture of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Quote, “senior White House and State Department officials failed to grasp the Taliban’s steady advance on Afghanistan's capital and resisted efforts by U.S. military leaders to prepare the evacuation of embassy personnel and Afghanistan allies weeks before Kabul’s fall,” endangering the lives of U.S. troops.
The published report co-incited with the nomination hearing for General Erik Kurilla, the three-star general slated to head CENTCOM. Kurilla currently overseas the 18th Airborne Corps and many of the commanders who had to execute the Afghanistan evacuation.
LT. GEN. MICHAEL “ERIK” KURILLA: I believe we have a moral obligation to help those at risk Afghans to come out of Afghanistan.
GRIFFIN: An officer with the 10th Mountain Division described U.S. troops going room to room at the embassy on the day Kabul fell. Some State Department personnel were, quote, “intoxicated and cowering in rooms” others were operating “with absolutely no sense of urgency.”
A senior administration official told Fox many of these allegations are flatly untrue.
PRESS SECRETARY JEN PSAKI: There was a range of planning, including positioning military forces.
GRIFFIN: Marine Brigadier General Farrell Sullivan, part of the evacuation planning, said engaging the U.S. Embassy was “like pulling teeth.” He wanted to stage supplies at Kabul airport by mid-July to evacuate 5,000 people, but was blocked.
Another commander said, quote, “The ambassador didn't get it. 10-districts-a-day were falling to the Taliban.”
In today's hearing, Senators focused on Iran, China, and the threat posed by ISIS in Syria.
KURILLA: That’s approximately 10,000 ISIS detainees at about two dozen different detention facilities. That is an ISIS army in waiting.
[Cuts back to live]
GRIFFIN: General Kurilla's warning about ISIS detainees in Syria is reminiscent of the absence of planning about what to do with ISIS detainees at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. One of those detainees escaped after the U.S. pulled out and killed 13 Americans with a suicide bomb at Abbey Gate. Bret.
GRIFFIN: Jennifer Griffin, live at the Pentagon. Jennifer, thank you.
