Biden's Afghan blunder has for reaching consequences, Austin and Milley should be fired

 The Hill:

The Biden administration is under scrutiny from international allies and adversaries over Afghanistan’s fast and furious descent into chaos ahead of the full exit of U.S. troops.

The Taliban’s quick advance across the country and the impotence of Afghan security forces is putting into stark relief the futile cost of two decades of U.S. and international engagement.

U.S. officials are stressing their commitment to Afghanistan’s survival and the safeguarding of hard-won freedoms for women, girls and minorities, who suffered some of the most brutal oppression under Taliban rule.

They also say they are determined to ensure al Qaeda is not revived in the country.

Yet the Taliban's gains and the State Department’s decision on Thursday to evacuate a wide swath of staff under military guard are raising questions over those commitments from the U.S.

“To our enemies, it says that the United States can be beaten,” said Cliff May, founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonpartisan policy institute focusing on national security.

“In fact, if it can be beaten by the Taliban, who cannot beat the United States, really,” May added. “As an enemy, we are toothless. As an ally, we are treacherous.”

The Taliban this week captured Afghanistan’s second- and third-largest cities, Kandahar and Herat, as well as the capital of the southern province of Helmand.

The group is believed to be in control of more than two-thirds of the country, reinforcing earlier warnings from the U.S. military that Kabul could fall in 30 days and the whole country in a few months.

Experts say Afghanistan's fall after the U.S.'s exit could be consequential in undermining American credibility on the world stage.

“I think this U.S. withdrawal, and the abrupt way in which it is being executed in the face of rapid Taliban gains, will have an even deeper impact than the U.S. departure from Vietnam in 1975, and far greater than the (temporary) 2011 withdrawal from Iraq,” retired Lt. Gen. David Barno, a visiting professor of strategic studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, wrote in an email to The Hill. Barno once commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

“Unfortunately, I believe this tragic outcome will be the dominant verdict on U.S. military power and international will for many years to come – unless it is eclipsed by another major conflict. It will be a catalyst for future miscalculation by America's adversaries, and promote a dangerous belief that U.S. military power and political will to defend its friends and allies are both waning,” he added.
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While Biden is primarily responsible I also hold Secretary of Defense  Austin and Joint Cheifs Chairman Milley responsible for this debacle.  If they agreed to this move they should go immediately and have someone with better judgment put in charge of the military.  If they disagreed with the decision they should have resigned rather than go forward with such a bad idea. 

See, also:

Mitch McConnell calls for airstrikes against Taliban: ‘It is not too late’

And: 

Gen. Petraeus Calls Situation in Afghanistan a Preventable Catastrophe