"Why haven't you resigned?"

"All three of these guys need to go. They will do fine, as they all have four star pensions. Plus, they will probably get gigs on MSNBC or CNN."

General Mark Milley. Looks good all dressed up. Miles and miles of "fruit salad" (ribbons) on his dress uniform. A General's General - right? Maybe. Senator Tom Cotton, had the question of the day during the Senate hearings earlier this week. After some questioning, and not getting very satisfactory answers from this four star General Officer, Senator Cotton asked him, "Why haven't you resigned?" Ouch. Tough question coming from some former Captain in the Army Infantry. 

I admit. I watched, or listen to, much of the Senate hearing as well as the House hearing. Some of the Democrats asked tough questions, other Democrats fawned all over Austin, Milley and McKenzie. All of the Republicans had tough, pointed questions. After careful consideration, here are my thoughts:

• Both Milley and McKenzie had recommended we keep a force of 2,500 in country. Biden overruled them. Out of honor, both Generals should have tended their resignations immediately. They were right, and Biden was wrong.
• Milley should have NEVER agreed to be interviewed by Woodward for his book (as well as other books). Milley should have known Woodward was going to do a "hit" piece on the former President. He should have declined the offer. For that infraction alone, he should have been fired.
• Where in the world did the intel come from, that China was convinced Trump was going to launch on them in his final days in office? Somehow, Milley found out, and called his counterpart to assure him this was false. Here is the issue - this was huge. Maybe unprecedented. For another foreign power (with nukes), to think we were going to conduct a first strike, should have rattled us to the core. There should have been many calls to the CCP, starting with Trump calling Xi. Milley should have been canned for this issue also.
• McKenzie admitted the botched air strike, which killed an innocent man and his family, was his fault. McKenzie also admitted our "over the horizon" capabilities without having assets on the ground, was weak. So weak, we did not know our Hellfire missile was targeting the wrong house. And the purported strike by ISIS-K on our troops we were suppose to have taken out? Never happened. That intel was crap. McKenzie should be relieved - immediately.
• Both Austin and Milley blamed State for how bad things went. "They were calling the shots", they said in so many words. When Blinken was in front of the Senate panel, he cast the blame on the DOD. Bottom line? Nobody was in charge. That is why we left so many in country. That is why we lost 13 service people at the end. Nobody was in charge of this major cluster. Biden should be impeached for this alone.

Here is the way one Congressman summed this 20 year war up. Right after 9/11, Afghanistan was run by the Taliban and was a safe haven for terror groups like Al Qaeda to operate. Twenty years later, after spilling American blood and spending trillions, Afghanistan is again run by the Taliban, and Al Qaeda (and ISIS-K), are present in country. PLUS - now that we do not have a southern border (unlike 2001), the terrorists from Afghanistan have free access to our country. 

All three of these guys need to go. They will do fine, as they all have four star pensions. Plus, they will probably get gigs on MSNBC or CNN. The lessons of Afghanistan will be taught in our service academies for years to come. Under the heading of, "how to lose a winnable war". It will be the chapter right after the same lessons we did not learn from Viet Nam.