The promotion of a three-star normal who was a part of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has been paused by Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, three sources conversant in the transfer confirmed to CBS Information Saturday.
Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue was slated to be promoted to a four-star rank and take command of the U.S. Military in Europe. Nonetheless, he was not included in a batch of practically 1,000 promotions that moved by way of the Senate Armed Providers Committee this week regardless of receiving a Pentagon advice.
Mullin has put a maintain on the promotion. The intention is to permit for the brand new Republican-controlled Congress and President-elect Donald Trump to weigh in on the promotion given Donahue’s involvement within the Afghanistan withdrawal, two sources conversant in the scenario instructed CBS Information.
Behind the scenes, there’s an effort underway by the Military and different allies to persuade Congress to maneuver ahead and raise the maintain, which seems to be politically motivated, sources mentioned.
ALLISON JOYCE/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Throughout the marketing campaign, Trump incessantly talked about his shock that no officers have been consequently fired by President Biden for the chaotic withdrawal.
Navy officers execute U.S. coverage however don’t create it. It was the Trump administration that in February 2020 brokered the deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, nevertheless it was Mr. Biden who determined to execute that withdrawal regardless of the Taliban breaking the phrases of that U.S. settlement.
Donahue was the final U.S. soldier to exit Afghanistan in 2021. The U.S. evacuated about 125,000 individuals, together with 6,000 People, over the course of its withdrawal, throughout which dozens of Afghans and 13 U.S. service members have been killed in a suicide bombing outdoors Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul.
The U.S. underestimated the velocity with which the Taliban would seize Kabul and the well-documented U.S. logistical and planning failures have been a spotlight of a number of inner probes on the Pentagon, State Division, and in Congress.
An in depth State Division report launched final 12 months discovered that “inadequate” planning, communication failures and an incapacity to understand “the dimensions and scope of the operation” contributed to the chaotic operation.
CBS Information has reached out to Mullin’s workplace however didn’t obtain a response. It’s not clear whether or not Trump is conscious of the maintain.
contributed to this report.
