General Milley Predicted Afghanistan Withdrawal Wouldn't Be a Saigon Moment

On Monday, Gen. Mark Milley received a preemptive pardon from former President Biden, concluding a presidency marked by the tumultuous Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021.

Milley acknowledged the pardon and declared in a statement that he does not wish to spend the rest of his life battling "retribution."

Congressional critics argue that they have not yet finished with Trump.

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., an Afghanistan veteran, stated that while Mark Milley might be pardoned, they will still investigate ways to hold him responsible.

Assessments after the withdrawal of the military often focus on why the evacuation of civilians was not completed before leaving the region.

The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Milley, has acknowledged that the withdrawal resulting in the loss of 13 U.S. lives was a "strategic failure."

In a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in 2024, Milley accused the State Department of causing a delay in a Noncombatant Evacuation Operations (NEO) order to withdraw U.S. civilians from the country, but commended the military's performance.

The order to leave the country was not received until mid-August 2021, which was two weeks before the deadline set by Biden.

"I believe that was too slow and too late, which led to a chain reaction resulting in the past few days. There were numerous other errors committed throughout the process, but I think that was the most significant."

According to Alex Pritsas, a former counterterrorism official at the Defense Department, the U.S. military is responsible for supporting the State Department in a non-combatant evacuation operation. However, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from a combat theater as it relates to an act of war is the responsibility of the Department of Defense. Ultimately, the decision was made not to leave a residual force behind.

In June 2021, Milley stated in congressional testimony that the U.S. would not witness the same events as the fall of Saigon in Vietnam, where U.S. personnel were rescued from rooftops.

"The Taliban are not the North Vietnamese Army, as I don't see Saigon 1975 in Afghanistan."

The pardon of Milley was one of several preemptive pardons, which also included Fauci and members of the January 6th Committee.

Milley expressed gratitude for the President's pardon action, stating that he and his family were deeply affected by it.

He continued, "Having devoted 43 years to our country in military service, upholding and safeguarding the Constitution, I do not wish to spend the rest of my time battling those who unjustly seek revenge for perceived wrongs. I do not want to put my loved ones, comrades, and fellow soldiers through the resulting turmoil, expense, and stress."

The former top investigator on the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Afghanistan probe, Jerry Dunleavy, stated that General Milley made a mistake by dismissing the comparison between the fall of Saigon and the impending fall of Kabul, overestimated the size of the Afghan forces, underestimated the speed and scope of Taliban district control, and pushed a false narrative that Afghanistan fell in only 11 days.

In a closed-door briefing with lawmakers, Milley incorrectly predicted that Ukraine would fall to the Russians in just three days after a disaster where 13 troops were murdered at Abbey Gate and the Taliban regained power.