Top U.S. general says he shares 'pain and anger' after Afghanistan
withdrawal
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[September 02, 2021]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S.
general on Wednesday said he shared the "pain and anger" and mixed
emotions of many in the military after the United States completed its
withdrawal from Afghanistan, which included an evacuation effort that
cost the lives of 13 service members.
Nearly 2,500 Americans were killed in the United States' longest war,
including 13 service members in a suicide bombing by Islamic State last
week outside Kabul's airport. Many of them were just babies when the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks took place, triggering the conflict nearly 20
years ago.
The Taliban, who America toppled from power at the start of the war and
fought for two decades, took control of the country last month after the
U.S.-trained Afghan military crumbled.
"My pain and anger comes from the same as the grieving families, the
same as those soldiers that were on the ground," said the chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Mark Milley, speaking to
reporters for the first time since the U.S. military completed its
withdrawal on Monday.
Milley made his comments at a news conference that was somber rather
than celebratory. In his opening remarks, Milley noted: "There are no
words that I or the secretary (of defense) or the president or anyone
else will ever do to bring the dead back." In addition to the 13 service
members killed on Thursday, more than a dozen were injured and medically
evacuated from Kabul.
"This is tough stuff," Milley said. "War is hard. It's vicious. It's
brutal. It's unforgiving."
Milley added that he was a professional soldier and he would "contain"
his pain and anger.
Some active-duty troops and veterans have questioned what their tours of
duty in Afghanistan were worth after the Taliban took over Afghanistan.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed the importance of
respecting all perspectives, as he honored the services of generations
of veterans.
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U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley discusses the end of
the military mission in Afghanistan during a news conference at the
Pentagon in Washington, U.S., September 1, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn
Hockstein
"I will always be proud of the part that we played in
this war. But we shouldn't expect Afghan war veterans to agree any
more than any other group of Americans," Austin told reporters at
the same news conference.
"I've heard strong views from many sides in recent days, and that's
vital. That's democracy. That's America." In images that have been
painful for service members, the Taliban have posed for photos in
recent days at military bases built by the U.S.-led military
coalition, which were handed over to Afghan forces which crumbled
even before the American military could even finish its withdrawal.
Many troops and veterans are also bothered by the estimated
thousands of at-risk Afghans who have been left behind, including
some who worked as interpreters for the military.
Over the years, 800,000 Americans deployed to Afghanistan as the
mission morphed from punishing the Taliban for sheltering al Qaeda
into a vast, ambitious nation-building exercise.
As many as 20 percent of veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which
can include irritability or outbursts of anger, according to the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; editing by Jonathan
Oatis)
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