{"id":20322,"date":"2019-12-20T16:41:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T16:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/12\/20\/us-troops-have-not-died-in-vain-in-afghanistan-joint-chiefs-chairman-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:09:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:09:19","slug":"us-troops-have-not-died-in-vain-in-afghanistan-joint-chiefs-chairman-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/20\/us-troops-have-not-died-in-vain-in-afghanistan-joint-chiefs-chairman-says\/","title":{"rendered":"US troops have not &#8216;died in vain\u2019 in Afghanistan, Joint Chiefs chairman says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The top U.S. military leader on Friday pushed back against recent reports and criticisms that American military and government leaders deceived the public about the state of the war in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/04\/isis-is-taking-a-beating-in-afghanistan-setting-the-stage-for-us-troop-withdrawal\/\" target=\"_blank\">Afghanistan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone has died in vain,\u201d Army Gen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/11\/joint-chiefs-chairman-cautions-iran-to-be-very-cautious-following-recent-spate-of-attacks\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mark Milley<\/a>, the Joint Chiefs Chairman said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI could not look myself in the mirror. I couldn\u2019t answer myself at two to three in the morning when my eyes pop open and see the dead roll in front of my eyes,&#8221; Milley said during a press briefing at the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Dec. 9, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/2019\/investigations\/afghanistan-papers\/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents\/\" target=_blank>Washington Post <\/a>published a bombshell story of comments made by U.S. officials as part of a project led by John Sopko known as \u201cLesson Learned\u201d about the war in Afghanistan, which revealed that American officials often pushed publicly rosy assessments and misleading statistics to drum up political support for the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sopko is the lead inspector general for a government watchdog group covering the conflict in Afghanistan. He told the Post that \u201cthe American people have constantly been lied to\u201d about the state and progress of the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/09\/afghanistan-war-metrics-were-manipulated-to-highlight-battlefield-success-according-to-bombshell-wapo-report\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4498939.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Afghanistan war metrics were manipulated to highlight battlefield success, according to bombshell WaPo report<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Sopko told the Washington Post that the documents it obtained showed \u201cthe American people have constantly been lied to\u201d about the state and progress of the conflict.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Milley said claims that there\u2019s been some kind of \u201ccoordinated lie\u201d over the last 18 years about the state of the war in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/04\/isis-is-taking-a-beating-in-afghanistan-setting-the-stage-for-us-troop-withdrawal\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Afghanistan<\/a> is a \u201cmischaracterization.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With hundreds of diplomats, military officials and intelligence folks \u201cyou can\u2019t get that level of coordination\u201d to carry out that kind of \u201cdeception,&#8221; Milley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The top American military commander told reporters that during his time in Afghanistan he gave \u201chonest assessments\u201d on the facts at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Secretary of Defense Mark Esper echoed Milley\u2019s sentiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s not like this war was hiding somewhere,&#8221; Esper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u201cinsinuation that there\u2019s been this large scale conspiracy is to me just ridiculous,\u201d Esper said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The documents obtained by the Washington Post have been compared by some to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/research\/pentagon-papers\" target=_blank>Pentagon Papers<\/a> \u2014 the DoD\u2019s secret history of the Vietnam war that was leaked by Daniel Ellsberg to the New York Times in 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those documents revealed that the U.S. had expanded the scope of operations in Vietnam and that American officials lied about the conduct and success of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Milley told reporters Friday that he believed the documents and comments obtained by the Washington Post about Afghanistan were \u201cfundamentally\u201d different in size and scope than the Pentagon Papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon Papers were written in \u201cadvance of decision making,\u201d Milley said, while the Afghanistan documents are \u201cpost facto interviews\u201d about lessons learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Joint Chiefs chairmen explained to reporters that for years American officials have said that there was no \u201crational\u201d or \u201creasonable\u201d chance of a military victory against the Taliban akin to the Japanese surrender in World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The war in Afghanistan, Milley said, was still in a \u201cstrategic stalemate\u201d where neither the Taliban nor the Afghan government can military defeat the other on the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The war will only end through an Afghan to Afghan settled peace agreement with the Taliban, Milley said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHistory will continue to evaluate\u201d the war in Afghanistan, Esper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. is still amid peace talks with the Taliban.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/18\/esper-wants-to-move-troops-from-afghanistan-to-the-indo-pacific-to-confront-china\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"146\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1280px-Flickr_-_DVIDSHUB_-_Operation_in_Nahr-e_Saraj_Image_5_of_7.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Esper wants to move troops from Afghanistan to the Indo-Pacific to confront China<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cI would like to go down to a lower number because I want to either bring those troops home, so they can refit and retrain for other missions or\/and be redeployed to the Indo-Pacific to face off our greatest challenge in terms of the great power competition that\u2019s vis-a-vis China.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are currently about 13,000 U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan. During a Monday visit to Kabul, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said President Donald Trump may soon announce a decision to reduce the American footprint in Afghanistan to as low as 8,600 troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper told reporters Monday that he has not yet issued any orders to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, but he explained that a reduced footprint with or without a settled peace agreement with the Taliban was still a possibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper said Monday he would like to reduce the footprint in Afghanistan and redeploy those forces to the Indo-Pacific to confront China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI could not look myself in the mirror. I couldn\u2019t answer myself at two to three in the morning when my eyes pop open and see the dead roll in front of my eyes.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":44966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,92,93,12,25,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3398],"class_list":["post-20322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3WANCIA2BNAAHAJJACEUCMN2SU","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/20\/us-troops-have-not-died-in-vain-in-afghanistan-joint-chiefs-chairman-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US troops have not &#039;died in vain\u2019 in Afghanistan, Joint Chiefs chairman says - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cI could not look myself in the mirror. 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