Resignation Call: Austin Needs to Step Down

Let’s face it. President Biden didn’t act alone when it came to the disaster that became the Afghanistan pullout. There are others who are responsible – and others who need to be held accountable.

At the top of the list is Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. And, there are plenty of retired flag officers who are calling on both him and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley to resign.

Accountability is critical because lives were lost and other lives have been abandoned in Afghanistan, which has become enemy territory.

A total of 90 retired flag officers are calling for the resignation of Austin and Milley because they were the principal advisors to Biden. They “should have recommended against this dangerous withdrawal in the strongest possible terms.” They went on to say that if they didn’t do everything within their power to stop the U.S. from withdrawing so quickly and as chaotically as what happened, they should resign.

Even if they did do everything within their power to persuade Biden to slow down to ensure that citizens were ensured safety, the flag officers believe that “they should have resigned in protest as a matter of conscience and public statement.”

So, no matter how you look at it, both Austin and Milley need to resign because they did not do their job in a satisfactory manner.

When there is a tragedy in the world, there should be accountability. Those in charge are responsible for avoiding tragedy – and, therefore, they should be the ones who are held accountable.

When General Kenneth McKenzie, the Commander of the U.S. Central Command, made the announcement that the last U.S. flight departed out of Kabul on Monday, August 30, it ended the 20-year mission in Afghanistan.

Leaving also allowed the Taliban to celebrate – and the terrorists went as far as setting off fireworks as they celebrated their victory over Afghanistan.

And, while the last U.S. flight left, there were still hundreds of Americans who were left behind in Afghanistan.

There is no way that we can call this a successful mission. We failed. We failed not only our ally but also Afghan citizens and Americans. The United States suffered a significant amount of damage to our reputation because we are now cowards. We left our ally to suffer at the hands of terrorists. And, many countries across Europe are faced to clean up the mess as they accept Afghan migrants into their country for the purposes of asylum.

Plenty of people have already called for President Biden to step down. Everything about the way he handled Afghanistan was wrong. To be fair, though, he didn’t act alone. He had Austin and Milley providing him with intel and recommendations as to what needs to happen next.

It would only be fair to call on the resignation of Austin and Milley. They helped to create the tragedy and they must answer for how they failed their country.

Austin has shown no signs of resigning. He stands by his decisions.

As the flag officers have said, “The consequences of this disaster are enormous and will reverberate for decades beginning with the safety of Americans and Afghans who are unable to move safely to evacuation points.”

Perhaps if Austin doesn’t resign, he should be forced to communicate with every family who has been negatively affected by his decisions. After all, he should have to face some kind of personal consequences for his poor decisions.