Why are we holding hearings on the Afghanistan withdrawals?

[Orrex]

The primary effect is to give Republicans an opportunity to masturbate publicly while also tongue-polishing Trump’s festering taint.

I’ve heard about 2 hours of it, and the endlessly repeated mantra, facts notwithstanding, is that Biden screwed up worse than anyone has ever screwed up anything.

I can’t wait to see the Republicans focusing their ire at Trump if we ever see hearings about his January 6 coup attempt.

[sop]

1. This revelation by Milley was interesting:

"Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed on Tuesday that Donald Trump's administration had issued an order to withdraw from Afghanistan days after the then-president lost the 2020 election."

[Orrex]

2. Yes, that is quite interesting

Alas, I had forgotten it amid the spectacle of Tom Cotton’s boisterous self-gratification.

[maxsolomon]

3. Pay now or pay later?

Honestly, I think there are Dem Senators who want the opportunity to bloviate about the withdrawal, as well.

Get it over with and throw it in the memory hole.

[StarfishSaver]

4. Because It's an important part of their job

Congress has a responsibility to exercise oversight over executive departments and the military and they don't relinquish that responsibility just because some Republican senators are big mouthed idiots.

It's interesting that many people, including Democrats just a few weeks ago were very upset and angry about how the withdrawal was proceeding and demanded answers. Congressional Democrats are conducting its oversight to help get those answers for the American public and now folks are unhappy about that.

[Orrex]

5. I guess my question is priority

They’re making a big noise about an astonishingly successful withdrawal of personnel, unprecedented in its scope, ending a war that should have ended 19 years and 11 months ago.

But still weirdly silent on the attempted destruction of the republic, almost certainly facilitated by sitting members of Congress.

In short, I’m not sure why this hearing was so urgent, while a much more urgent threat to the nation percolates gently in the background.

I am not a person of faith, so I find no reassurance in promises that the wheels of justice are turning when there is little or no indication of such movement.

[StarfishSaver]

6. It's really not a question of priorities

The Senate Armed Services committee has a very different responsibility and function than the January 6th select committee. On the insurrection. Oversight hearings are very different than investigations. Oversight can be started immediately and usually can be done fairly quickly because they require a different type of preparation and follow-up.

The investigations into January 6th are far more complex, and require significantly different type of focus and attention. They are being conducted by a different committee with different jurisdictions and authorities.

Holding oversight hearings now on Afghanistan in no way detracts from the investigations into January 6th. It's a different committee on a separate track with different responsibilities.

And I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that Congress has been silent about January 6th. Not only has a special committee been put together to investigate what happened, several members of Congress are actually suing Trump and Giuliani and numerous members have been talking about this regularly

[Orrex]

7. As I said, I'm not a person of faith

Last edited Tue Sep 28, 2021, 02:53 PM - Edit history (1)

I’ll believe that action has been taken when Trump is jailed and bankrupt. Until then, it amounts to a lot of posturing.

As for the Senate Armed Services Committee, I’d be more interested in hearing about the twenty year disaster than the successful withdrawal. Especially since every question I heard was answered with some variation of “I love the flag,” “I’m not at liberty to say,” or “you’ll have to ask the other department.”

It seems that there’s always quick, decisive action when addressing matters that occur on a Democrat’s watch, but when it’s a Republican, well, we’ll get around to it eventually.

[StarfishSaver]

8. The reason there's "quick, decisive action when addressing matters that occur on a Democrat's watch

Is that when Democrats are in charge, they take their oversight responsibility seriously and conduct it properly, regardless who the president is. And since Democrats didn't control the Senate between 2015 and 2021, they weren't in a position to conduct oversight over the Trump regime.

But unlike Republicans, they aren't going to stand down and not look at things that go wrong just because they went wrong under a Democratic president. That's one of the things that makes Democrats not Republicans.

[Orrex]

15. We'll see

Or we won’t. Absent some major successes, after the midterms we’ll be hearing a lot of “well, wed do something, but the Republicans hold both houses, so what can we do?”

[StarfishSaver]

16. So you've decided for 10 months before the election that the Democrats are going to lose both houses

If you think that's already a given, why do you care what they do now?

[Orrex]

18. When a subject line begins with "So," what follows can generally be ignored

Last edited Sat Oct 23, 2021, 11:42 AM - Edit history (1)

As in this case, the reply amounts to a self-serving misrepresentation of the antecedent post, with the intent of making it easier for the respondent to give a seeming zinger of an answer.

Despite your poorly supported assurances, I am not optimistic about our electoral odds if we don’t rack up some major, visible accomplishments by then.

[marble falls]

9. It's the only hook the RW has to hang a hat from because Joe Biden actually gets shit done well ...

... including the exit from Afghanistan that General Milley will set them straight over today.

[StarfishSaver]

10. The hearing is being held by a Democratic-controlled committee

It's part of Congress' job to do oversight like this, even when the White House and the committee are controlled by the same party.

I think the hearing went very well for Biden and the Democrats - and the Republicans looked like idiots, as usual.

[marble falls]

11. Including about 10 Republicans, including Hawley, Ernst etc.

[StarfishSaver]

12. Yes. That's how committees work

Are you suggesting the committees should never do any work because they have Republicans on them?

[marble falls]

13. Trying to start a fight? ...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215902181

Like I said, Milley will explain things to the RW.

[FSogol]

14. When Trumpy agreed to hand over Afghanistan to the Taliban until he left office was 11 months

How many people did he evacuate and how many Afghanis did he save? ZERO.

Every mouth-breathing Repub at this hearings is a colossal hypocrite.

This doesn't get repeated enough.

[Orrex]

17. Exactly

For all that Repub fuckheads are acting like Biden personally assaulted every member of the armed forces, the evacuation was an astonishing success.