{"id":807,"date":"2025-08-30T13:18:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T13:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/?p=807"},"modified":"2025-08-30T13:18:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T13:18:25","slug":"biden-pentagon-chiefs-lied-about-the-taliban-participation-in-withdrawal-from-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/biden-pentagon-chiefs-lied-about-the-taliban-participation-in-withdrawal-from-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"BIDEN PENTAGON CHIEFS LIED ABOUT THE TALIBAN PARTICIPATION IN WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Exclusive: U.S. generals ran cover for Taliban, despite violent attacks during bungled withdrawal<\/h1>\n

Generals Milley, McKenzie, and other Pentagon officials claimed the Taliban wasn’t attacking the U.S. during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, then contended that the Taliban was businesslike and helpful during the chaotic and deadly evacuation that ensued. Neither narrative was true.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"TALIBANChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and CENTCOM Commander Frank McKenzie repeatedly ran cover for the Taliban\u2019s behavior in 2021, denying that the Taliban had carried out attacks against U.S. and NATO bases during the withdrawal and defending the Taliban\u2019s behavior during the evacuation.<\/p>\n

In the weeks after the fall of Kabul, U.S. military brass such as\u00a0Milley<\/a> and Defense Secretary\u00a0Lloyd Austin<\/a> would\u00a0repeatedly<\/a> testify that the Taliban had broken every provision of the Doha Agreement<\/a> but one \u2014 its vow not to attack U.S. and NATO forces.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Taliban had also violated that provision, because the Taliban attacked U.S. and NATO bases in Afghanistan multiple times, both before and after President Joe Biden\u2019s “Go-to-Zero” order, including attacks on Bagram Air Base when U.S. troops were still there. The Taliban\u2019s official spokespeople would often take credit for the attacks too.<\/p>\n

The GOP-led House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC)\u00a0final report<\/a> from last year had a\u00a0section<\/a> about how \u201cTaliban Attacks on U.S. Bases Continue[d]\u201d during the U.S. military withdrawal in the spring and summer of 2021, but nowhere in that section nor anywhere else in the report did it include the key fact that Milley and McKenzie repeatedly and falsely claimed that these attacks hadn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n

Multiple key Biden Administration officials also repeatedly praised the \u201cbusinesslike\u201d character of the Taliban during the non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA), despite clear evidence that the Taliban was beating up some Americans and blocking some U.S. citizens from escaping Afghanistan, and in spite of overwhelming evidence that the Taliban was beating up and even executing some Afghans who wanted to flee Taliban rule. McKenzie played an especially\u00a0key role<\/a> in establishing this narrative, although Milley\u00a0played his part<\/a> too.<\/p>\n

HFAC\u2019s September\u00a0report<\/a> also made no mention of McKenzie\u2019s insistence that the Taliban had been\u00a0\u201cvery businesslike\u201d and \u201cvery pragmatic\u201d<\/a> and made no mention of Milley\u2019s claims that the Taliban was\u00a0not interfering<\/a> with the U.S. evacuation, nor did the report make any reference to other Biden Administration officials repeating this false \u201cbusinesslike\u201d mantra about the Taliban.<\/p>\n

Biden\u00a0issued a pardon to Milley<\/a> on his last full day in office in January 2025. McKenzie and other military leaders were not pardoned. McKenzie is currently\u00a0listed<\/a> as the Executive Director for the Global and National Security Institute at the University of Southern Florida.<\/p>\n

McKenzie did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to him through his email at the school. Nor did he respond to prior\u00a0Just the News<\/em>\u00a0reporting<\/a> about him.<\/p>\n

Milley did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent to him through Princeton University, where he was named a\u00a0visiting professor<\/a> last year, and through JPMorgan Chase, where he has been a\u00a0senior adviser<\/a> since 2024. Nor did he respond to previous\u00a0Just the News<\/em>\u00a0reporting<\/a>\u00a0on him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Taliban fires rockets at U.S. bases, but Milley and others deny it<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Milley\u00a0said<\/a> on May 6, 2021 that \u201cthere have been no attacks against U.S. and coalition forces since the retrograde began on about 1 May, and that is also consistent for the past year.\u201d This was incorrect, as the Taliban had conducted indirect fire attacks against U.S. and coalition bases earlier in the year and would soon carry out similar small attacks against U.S. and coalition forces during the retrograde.<\/p>\n

A UAE-based English-language newspaper\u00a0reported<\/a> that \u201cthe Taliban fired two missiles on a coalition military base in Afghanistan’s Khost province\u201d on March 30, 2021. The Afghan military\u2019s Khost Protection Force\u00a0said at the time that the \u201cTaliban fired indiscriminate rocket missiles on the military headquarters of coalition forces in Khost city.\u201d The Taliban contended that the Doha Agreement had been broken by the West and so \u201ctoday these invaders were targeted.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, the Taliban violated every single promise it made in the Doha Agreement \u2014 not just breaking its vow to end its alliance with al-Qaeda, but also breaking its promise not to attack United States forces.<\/p>\n

An Afghan news outlet\u00a0similarly\u00a0reported<\/a> at the time that \u201ca joint military base of foreign and Afghan forces in eastern Khost province was targeted in a rocket attack by Taliban insurgents.\u201d\u00a0And another Afghan outlet\u00a0reported<\/a> on social media that\u00a0\u201cthe Taliban launched a missile attack on the base of the joint forces in Khost.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Taliban itself even\u00a0touted<\/a> the attack on the forces stationed at the airport in Khost city, with Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid\u00a0tweeting<\/a> on March 30, 2021 that \u201ca large number of rockets were launched in the vicinity of the center of Khost province on the old airfield of that province, which is the main center of the enemy’s mercenary forces. The missiles hit specific targets, and as a result, the enemy suffered heavy losses in life and property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite these reports, Milley later\u00a0told<\/a> the Senate on September 28, 2021 that \u201cthe one [provision of the Doha Agreement] that was met was the most important one \u2014 which was do not attack us or the coalition forces, and they did not.\u201d Milley repeated this argument to the House the following day. Austin also\u00a0wrongly claimed<\/a> in September 2021 that \u201cthe only thing that they lived up to was that they did not attack us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pentagon inspector general\u00a0said<\/a> in a mid-August 2021 report that, from April through June that year, the Taliban \u201cwere believed to have executed a few ineffective indirect fire attacks in the direction of U.S. or NATO bases.\u201d The Pentagon watchdog\u00a0stated<\/a> that the \u201cTaliban Conducted Limited Attacks on Coalition Bases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the Taliban attacks on U.S. and coalition bases in 2021 happened prior to Biden\u2019s Go-to-Zero order. The watchdog report\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201cthe Taliban fired rockets toward a coalition military base in Khost province in the early morning of April 2. …. Additionally, the Taliban fired rockets at an airport in Khost where U.S. troops were based. U.S. forces responded by conducting clearing operations in the vicinity of the base.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pentagon inspector general also\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201con April 7, 2021 the Taliban launched another rocket attack, this time against Kandahar air base, where several hundred U.S. troops were still based at the time.\u201d The\u00a0Afghanistan Times<\/em>\u00a0reported<\/a> that on that day Afghan provincial officials said that the \u201cTaliban unleashed a barrage of rockets at the Kandahar airport\u201d and that \u201csix rockets hit the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Taliban yet again touted the attack on a base where U.S. forces were located, with the Taliban spokesman\u00a0tweeting<\/a> that \u201cKandahar airbase, a key enemy military center, targeted with multiple missiles noon hours today. Missiles have hit targets, causing heavy human & material losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confronted with facts, the Pentagon waffles<\/h5>\n

A reporter\u00a0told<\/a> then-Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on April 7, 2021 at a press briefing that the Taliban had attacked Kandahar Airfield and Camp Chapman, and asked Kirby what the U.S. military was doing to stop these Taliban attacks on U.S. and NATO troops. Kirby\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201cwe condemn today\u2019s attack on Kandahar Airfield\u201d which he said was still home to several hundred U.S. and coalition personnel.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon spokesman\u00a0added<\/a> that \u201cwhile the attack resulted in no casualties or damage, the Taliban’s decision to provoke even more violence in Afghanistan remains disruptive to the opportunity for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reporter then\u00a0noted<\/a> Kirby still hadn\u2019t said what the U.S. military was doing about the Taliban\u2019s attacks against U.S. and coalition forces. Kirby\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201cwe always have the right of self-defense for our troops\u201d but said that \u201cour focus right now is on supporting a diplomatic process here to try to bring this war to a negotiated end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirby\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201cI’m not prepared today to give an assessment of this attack as balanced against the Doha Agreement, okay?\u201d when asked whether the Taliban attack against the Kandahar Airfield aimed at U.S. forces there was a violation of the agreement.<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s Go-to-Zero order came a week later, and the Taliban’s sporadic attacks against the U.S. and NATO continued.<\/p>\n

Reality sets in at the Pentagon<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Pentagon watchdog\u00a0cited<\/a> media reports which said that \u201can explosion inside Bagram Airfield on May 1 killed one and wounded 24 Afghan personnel.\u201d The Defense Intelligence Agency also\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201cthe Taliban launched two rocket attacks against coalition forces at Kandahar Airfield on May 2.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. military spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett\u00a0said<\/a> on May 1, 2021 that \u201cKandahar Airfield received ineffective indirect fire this afternoon\u201d and that, in response, \u201cU.S. Forces conducted a precision strike this evening, destroying additional rockets aimed at the airfield.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid again defended the Taliban attack against the U.S.,\u00a0tweeting<\/a> that day that the Taliban could \u201ctake every counteraction it deems appropriate against the occupying forces.\u201d An Afghan news outlet\u00a0reported<\/a> the same day that Afghan security officials in Parwan province said that \u201cone person was killed, and 24 others were wounded in an explosion while security force members were offering prayers at a mosque inside Bagram base.\u201d The security chief for Parwan police headquarters said that all the casualties were Afghan security forces.<\/p>\n

Kirby repeatedly downplayed the significance of the attacks from the Taliban, even as he acknowledged at least some of the attacks which occurred.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon spokesman\u00a0said<\/a> on May 3, 2021 that \u201cwhat we’ve seen are some small, harassing attacks over the course of the weekend\u201d but that \u201cwe’ve seen nothing thus far that has affected the drawdown.\u201d Kirby\u00a0said<\/a> again on May 13, 2021 that\u00a0\u201cwe have seen small harassing attacks\u201d from the Taliban, but said the attacks \u201chave not had an impact on the retrograde.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the well-founded reports of attacks circulating for three months, General Austin \u201cScottie\u201d Miller also\u00a0wrongly claimed<\/a> on June 7, 2021 that the Taliban hadn\u2019t attacked the U.S. during the retrograde: \u201cTo date \u2014 and it\u2019s to date \u2014 we have not seen that.\u201d When asked about the Doha Agreement\u2019s condition that the Taliban not attack U.S. forces, Miller later\u00a0admitted<\/a> to HFAC that the Taliban conducted \u201cat least a couple indirect fire attacks\u201d on U.S. forces.<\/p>\n

Biden admin maintains wishful thinking, denying attacks happened<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Derek Chollet, who would go on to be Austin\u2019s chief of staff, later\u00a0told<\/a> HFAC that the Taliban were \u201cmeeting the most important condition\u201d of the Doha Agreement in 2021, \u201cwhich was they were not shooting at U.S. military forces in Afghanistan.\u201d This was said long after news outlets and even Pentagon staff acknowledged the attacks.<\/p>\n

Chollet, who was serving as the Counselor of the U.S. Department of State and was a top advisor to Secretary of State Antony Blinken,\u00a0told<\/a> HFAC that he did “not recall” assessing whether the Taliban met any of its other obligations under the Doha Agreement because \u201cthe most important thing on our minds was we did not want the Afghan war to resume \u2014 against us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ross Wilson, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan in 2021, later told<\/a> HFAC that \u201cthe Talibs had absolutely met their commitment not to attack American forces, personnel, or installations. It’s not an unimportant thing to me, and I think also to the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Chollet, Wilson\u00a0said<\/a> that he couldn\u2019t recall any Taliban indirect fire attacks directed against on U.S. bases in 2021, but\u00a0said<\/a> maybe there had been \u201cmisfires\u201d by the Taliban.<\/p>\n

Milley and McKenzie bend the meaning of “attacks”<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Milley was asked during an appearance before HFAC in March 2024 whether the Taliban stopped attacking the U.S. military in 2021, and the language of the military commander shifted from claiming that the Taliban had not attacked U.S. forces to suddenly arguing that the Taliban had not carried out any \u201clethal attacks\u201d on U.S. troops in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey, well, yes. Lethal attacks. They committed to not doing that. There were some attacks, but they committed to not conducting lethal attacks and by my memory I don\u2019t think there was a lethal attack on U.S. forces from February 2020 onward,\u201d Milley\u00a0said<\/a> during the HFAC hearing.<\/p>\n

Redefining the word “attacks”, Milley added that \u201cThere were some attacks. The issue was a lethal attack \u2014 really that\u2019s the fundamental piece. And there was also some specifics about no VBIEDs [vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices] in the cities. \u2026 I think it says no attacks on U.S. and coalition forces. I can tell you in conversation with Zal Khalilzad what you\u2019re talking about is lethal attacks really […] But the idea of not attacking coalition or U.S. forces, I would say largely that was adhered to by the Taliban.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his 2024 book tour, McKenzie then claimed <\/a>again \u2014 despite the evidence \u2014 that the Taliban never attacked U.S. forces in 2020 and 2021: \u201cThe Taliban had about seven things that they were supposed to do. They didn\u2019t do six of them, but one they did very well and scrupulously, in fact \u2014 they did not attack American forces in Afghanistan anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zalmay Khalilzad, the former special representative for Afghan reconciliation, later\u00a0told<\/a> HFAC that the Taliban never admitted to carrying out any of these attacks, but\u00a0characterized<\/a> the Taliban\u2019s words thusly: “Because you are violating the agreement, killing so many of us, sometimes local commanders, out of anger, may have done something, but it’s not something authorized by the military committee or by Commander Yaqoob or the political leadership. And so, if there is something that’s happened, we will investigate and get back to you, but it’s not authorized. But I am telling you that your violations \u2026 is creating a situation which has a lot of anger. We are losing a lot of people.”<\/p>\n

Biden admin praises Taliban’s “businesslike” approach<\/strong><\/h5>\n

McKenzie\u00a0described<\/a> the U.S. evacuation effort at the end of August 2021, saying: \u201cWe had gone from cooperating on security with a longtime partner and ally to initiating a pragmatic relationship of necessity with a longtime enemy. \u2026 The Taliban had been very \u2014 very pragmatic and very businesslike as we have approached this withdrawal.\u201d He added: \u201cI will simply say that they wanted us out. We wanted to get out with our people and with our \u2014 and with our friends and partners. And so for that short period of time, our issues \u2014 our view of the world was congruent, it was the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just the News<\/em> previously\u00a0reported<\/a> on how McKenzie turned down a Taliban offer in Doha in mid-August 2021 which potentially would have allowed the U.S. military to secure Kabul and conduct the NEO free from Taliban interference.<\/p>\n

Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan soon\u00a0echoed<\/a> McKenzie\u2019s \u201cbusinesslike\u201d remarks and said that the Taliban have \u201cbeen businesslike in their approach with us, not because they\u2019re nice guys \u2014 they\u2019re not \u2014 but because they\u2019ve had an interest along with us to make that evacuation mission run smoothly.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenzie again\u00a0testified<\/a> in late September 2021 that \u201cit was a very pragmatic, businesslike discussion\u201d with the Taliban when coordinating security at HKIA with them.<\/p>\n

National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne\u00a0said<\/a> in early September 2021 that the Taliban \u201chave been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents\u201d from Kabul airport and \u201chave shown flexibility\u201d and \u201cbeen businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Biden Administration repeatedly painted a rosy picture of the Taliban\u2019s actions toward American citizens during the evacuation.<\/p>\n

Austin\u00a0claimed<\/a> on August 18, 2021, that \u201cthe State Department, the Taliban are facilitating safe passage to the airport for American citizens, that is, U.S. passport holders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden repeated that notion in a White House\u00a0press conference<\/a> about how the Taliban was handling airport security, claiming that no Americans had been blocked from HKIA by the Taliban guards. \u201cLet me be clear: any American who wants to come home, we will get you home,\u201d Biden\u00a0said<\/a> on August 20, 2021, and he soon falsely insisted: \u201cWe have no indication that they haven\u2019t been able to get \u2014 in Kabul \u2014 through the airport. We\u2019ve made an agreement with the \u2014 with the Taliban. Thus far, they\u2019ve allowed them to go through. It\u2019s in their interest for them to go through. So, we know of no circumstance where American citizens are \u2014 carrying an American passport \u2014 are trying to get through to the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facts come out, Biden’s admin goes into damage control mode<\/strong><\/h5>\n

In reality, Americans had variously been beaten, threatened, beaten, blocked, and had their passports confiscated by the Taliban.<\/p>\n

The New York Post<\/em><\/a> and other media<\/a> reported that “Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told members of Congress on a conference call Friday that Americans attempting to evacuate Afghanistan have been beaten by the Taliban, directly contradicting President Biden\u2019s assertion<\/a> that U.S. citizens were not being blocked from the airport.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re also aware that some people, including Americans, have been harassed and even beaten by the Taliban,\u201d Austin reportedly\u00a0said<\/a> on the call. \u201cThis is unacceptable and [we] made it clear to the designated Taliban leader.\u201d But Austin tried to downplay the Taliban violence, insisting that \u201cwith the exception of those cases \u2026 we continue to see Americans and appropriately credentialed Afghans continue to move through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirby, the Pentagon’s press secretary, also\u00a0admitted<\/a> that day that Biden had been wrong, and admitted<\/a> that Afghan allies with proper paperwork had also been beaten up by the Taliban, but he worked to downplay that too, also saying he didn\u2019t see it as a major issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have made it clear to the Taliban that these Afghans, with the proper credentials should be allowed through the checkpoint. And again\u2026 certainly we recognize that there have been multiple cases of Afghans \u2014 even some credentialed Afghans being assaulted, and beaten, and harassed, no question,\u201d Kirby\u00a0said<\/a>. \u201cBut, by and large, those Afghans who have the proper credentials \u2014 and we have made it clear to the Taliban what those credentials look like, what they are. By and large, they are getting through the checkpoint. And we have not seen that become a major issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Biden\u00a0told reporters<\/a> that day that \u201cthus far, the Taliban have been taking steps to work with us so we can get our people out.\u201d Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u00a0said<\/a> on August 25, 2021 that he hoped the Taliban \u201ccontinue to cooperate\u201d \u2014 even as he knew that the Taliban\u2019s cooperation was problematic.<\/p>\n

Ambassador John Bass, the lead State Department official for the evacuation,\u00a0would later tell<\/a> HFAC that “what I can recall are reports of Americans being beaten because the Talibs at a particular checkpoint would not recognize their documents, told them to go away,\u201d and that \u201cAmericans who were beaten when they presented themselves with other members of their family at a Taliban checkpoint and the Talibs said, \u2018Okay, you can go ahead, but everybody else has to move away,\u2019 and in the course of either an argument or an effort to prevent that physical separation of a family unit, American citizens or family members were beaten.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ross Wilson, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, also\u00a0told<\/a> HFAC that the Taliban would turn away Americans seeking to evacuate from Afghanistan: \u201cThe Talibs were very difficult to deal with. \u2026 It often happened that \u2014 not \u2018often\u2019 \u2014 it happened that the Talibs turned away American passport holders.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. troops watched helplessly as the Taliban killed Afghan civilians<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Taliban carried out many acts of violence against Afghan allies attempting to flee Afghanistan, even murdering many of these Afghans, often within view of the Marines guarding the gates. The U.S. military\u2019s rules of engagement (ROE) at HKIA forbid the Marines from intervening and stopping the Taliban\u2019s murderous acts targeting civilians.<\/p>\n

Lieutenant Colonel John Naughton\u00a0said<\/a> during the 2022 CENTCOM briefing that Marines reported seeing the Taliban turn away potential evacuees, beat up potential evacuees, and even shoot at potential evacuees, and \u201cso as the chevron became largely impassible and potential evacuees became more and more desperate they began to seek out and utilize alternate ingress routes to bypass Taliban checkpoints.\u201d Thus did the Taliban violence reduce security around the airport and make the crowds even more uncontrollable, increasing the ability of a suicide bomber to make his way to the gates.<\/p>\n

The initial Abbey Gate investigation found that \u201cthe Taliban used excessive force which resulted in civilian evacuees seeking alternate routes to Abbey Gate to avoid Taliban checkpoints\u201d and that \u201cthe change in routes dramatically increased the number of evacuees in the canal area at Abbey Gate between 25-26 August 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARCENT investigators\u00a0contended<\/a> that the rules of engagement originally \u201cauthorized offensive engagement of the Taliban as a declared hostile force\u201d but that \u201cthe Taliban became a temporary and tactically expedient partner force, armed, and near Service members at Abbey Gate.\u201d ARCENT\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201cthis temporary and expedient partner used excessive force against the civilian population which was observed by certain service members attempting to conduct a NEO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the Taliban murdering civilians within view of U.S. troops, ARCENT\u00a0said<\/a> that U.S. military commanders \u201cconstrained Service members\u2019 authority under the ROE to stop the violence due to a justifiable concern of jeopardizing the mission and potentially incurring additional civilian casualties in what would escalate to open combat at the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARCENT\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201cunder the ROE, service members understood they had the right to defend others only if they were verified AMCITS [American citizens] or coalition military forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ARCENT investigation\u00a0also said<\/a> that \u201cMarines knew about the Taliban using excessive force\u201d and that \u201cseveral Marines, working near the chevron, stated they personally witnessed the Taliban shoot civilians.\u201d The investigative report\u00a0said<\/a> U.S. military snipers \u201cspecifically described a vantage point from the west side of the sniper tower, looking down the outer corridor toward the chevron, where they could view an area controlled by the Taliban\u201d and that the snipers said \u201cit was at that location where they observed these shootings occur.\u201d The report also said the command center at HKIA \u201creceived reports describing violence and excessive force that resulted in the death of civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARCENT\u00a0claimed<\/a> that \u201cany escalation by U.S. forces to intervene in Taliban use of excessive force would have created an unnecessary and definite risk to mission and risk to U.S. forces.\u201d The U.S. military leaders at Abbey Gate \u201cwere aware that violence occurred,\u201d ARCENT\u00a0said<\/a>, but these leaders \u201cexplained that \u201cif U.S. forces engaged the Taliban, leaders assessed the situation would devolve into a firefight between U.S. forces and the Taliban. This almost certainly would have caused military and civilian casualties and jeopardized the mission to maximize the number of evacuees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott Mann\u2019s book\u00a0Pineapple Express<\/em>\u00a0recounted<\/a> just one of the many instances of the Taliban murdering Afghan civilians at HKIA and U.S. forces being told not to intervene: \u201cMajor Ian Wookey \u2026 swallowed hard as he listened to a pilot who had just seen a civilian execution along the airport\u2019s southwest perimeter wall. \u2018Enemy is in the clear,\u2019 the pilot said, almost by rote. \u2018Permission to engage.\u2019 The answer came back quickly. \u2018Negative. Repeat, negative. Do not engage.\u2019 Apaches were some of the most advanced weapons belonging to the most powerful military in the world, and now they could not fire on insurgents who were killing innocent people.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the Marines who worked in the Joint Operations Center at Kabul airport\u00a0admitted<\/a> that \u201cwe were not tasked to look for Taliban shooting people, and because of the limited ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] assets, we did not really monitor the Taliban trying to kill people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another Marine\u00a0told<\/a> investigators: \u201cIt was weird seeing Taliban in direct support of the battalion. We were basically told that if they shot at the crowd, we couldn\u2019t do anything unless we saw an American passport holder in direct peril. We couldn\u2019t engage or kill the Taliban unless we saw that. There was lots of weapons pointing for the duration, but we couldn\u2019t engage, even if we saw executions, unless we saw a blue passport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet another Marine also\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201cI saw humanity at its worst at HKIA. Coming out of Mosul, two clans were killing each other and that was pretty heinous, but this was way worse.” Another corpsman said <\/a>that \u201cit was hard to watch, like the Taliban beating a pregnant woman. But you just have to turn around and walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews\u00a0said<\/a> that \u201cwe witnessed the Taliban beating and killing people \u2014 not just hitting them, breaking their faces, and bashing their skulls in.\u201d The Marine sniper continued: \u201cI saw them shoot at\/around people. I saw them severely beat people, to unconsciousness or what I believed was death. I saw that and passed it up. We obviously have been going back and forth with the Taliban for decades, they are good at working around our RoEs. They would hit civilians with buttstocks and pipes until they fell and didn\u2019t get up. That prompted me at one point, since I was routinely radioing this up to the chain of command, to ask if we were allowed to do anything about it. I was told that only if we saw Americans or ourselves being physically harmed, we were not allowed to do anything.\u201d Vargas-Andrews said one night was particularly bad as he watched eight or nine civilians \u201cbeaten to the point of immobilization.\u201d He said when he radioed that in \u201cI was told to clear the net of radio traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vargas-Andrews also\u00a0described<\/a> a recon patrol he and his fellow Marines conducted by climbing across rooftops to observe the Taliban position at the chevron. The Marine sniper said: \u201cWe got photos of the Taliban, the gear they were holding, and what they did to the civilians. \u2026 Up against the wall, they had 12-15 individuals flex cuffed against the wall. We saw the Taliban moving unconscious or lifeless bodies around. … I was trying to get pictures to either let us engage or get the task force commander to talk to the Taliban about what they were doing. The amount of brutality we saw over less than a two-week period, it was unsettling to see people get beaten senseless for no reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Department official Jayne Howell\u00a0told<\/a> HFAC that\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cthe Taliban periodically would start, either at the very minimum, beating people with sticks, and in the worst cases, they were using live bullets and shooting at people in the crowd if they felt that the crowd was out of control.\u201d She said she observed the Taliban violence with her own eyes, \u201cIt was terrible. It was chaotic. It was heartbreaking.\u201d Howell also\u00a0said<\/a> that consular officers under her watch reported to her that they saw people being shot by the Taliban.<\/p>\n

Despite all of this, HFAC\u2019s report last year never mentioned how McKenzie and others claimed the Taliban had been \u201cbusinesslike\u201d during the chaotic \u2014 and sometimes murderous \u2014 evacuation.<\/p>\n