Military Officials Recommended Trump, Biden Keep Troops In Afghanistan
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR
4.5 • 24.9K Ratings
🗓️ 28 September 2021
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Each said that, before the Taliban's swift takeover and subsequent evacuation of Americans and allies from Afghanistan, they recommended American troops remain in the country. They also said they were caught by surprise at the speed with which the Afghan government collapsed.
This episode: White House correspondent Ayesha Rascoe, Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman, and national political correspondent Mara Liasson.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, this is Brandon Whitton, New Orleans, and I'm celebrating with the Pumpkin Spice La Teh, |
| 0:04.9 | because I just heard from my oncologist, two and a half years cancer-free. |
| 0:10.0 | This podcast was recorded at... |
| 0:12.0 | It is 2.40pm on Tuesday, September 28th, 2021. |
| 0:17.8 | Things may have changed by the time you hear it, but you should celebrate with a la Teh of your own, |
| 0:22.7 | and maybe a brownie. Okay, here's the show. |
| 0:25.5 | Yeah, no, no better reason to celebrate than that. Like, that's, that's amazing. |
| 0:33.6 | Congratulations. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Aisha Roscoe. I cover the White House. |
| 0:40.1 | I'm Mara Lias and National Political correspondent. And Tom Bowman is here. He covers the Pentagon for us. |
| 0:47.1 | Hi, Tom. Good to be with you. So, Tom is here with us today because today, top Pentagon |
| 0:52.7 | officials are testifying before the Senate. It was the first time since a completion of the |
| 0:57.8 | withdrawal from Afghanistan, and it was very contentious. Why would you propose a plan that |
| 1:04.7 | didn't get all American citizens out? I just can't imagine ever in the history of this country, |
| 1:08.8 | our US military would propose to leave a country without our citizens coming out first. I mean, |
| 1:16.8 | is we have we ever done that before? All of the American citizens wouldn't leave |
| 1:23.2 | Senator unless there was a non-combatant evacuation. And, you know, the plan was to leave the |
| 1:29.7 | embassy there. That was Republican Senator Rick Scott questioning Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. |
| 1:36.0 | Austin was testifying with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, |
| 1:42.1 | and Commander of US Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie. And clearly, this comes after |
| 1:50.0 | a very chaotic, a very controversial drawdown in Afghanistan. That drew criticism from allies, |
| 1:58.4 | from Republicans, from Democrats. What, Tom, what did they have to say about how this |
| 2:06.8 | withdrawal played out? Well, they tried to put the best face on it. Lloyd Austin, the Defense |
... |
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