Josh Hawley and Lt. Col. Lloyd Austin, the top military advisor to the President, tell Congress that they didn t know that the Taliban were going to defeat the government of Afghanistan. They also admit that they don t know why the government failed to anticipate the fall of President Obama's Afghanistan government. And they admit they don't know why they didn't know it was going to fall to the Taliban. And then they tell Congress why they can't be trusted to make sense of it. They also fail to answer a question from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-GA, about why they couldn't see it coming and why they should have known it was coming. And they also say they're not capable of assessing whether a soldier has the will to fight. And finally, they fail to assess whether or not a soldier even has the ability to fight in the fight against ISIS in Syria, which is what the committee asked them to do, and they say they have no idea if they can do so they can t even do that? This is not good enough, and it's a problem that needs to be fixed, not just in the White House, but across the board, across the country. Listen to the whole country, and the rest of the country, to see how incompetent our government is and how we need to do our part to make things right in order to keep our troops safe and secure in the face of the enemy. If you want to know what's going on in Afghanistan, listen to this video, then you need to listen to the full speed and do your part to get the full story. in this episode of "The Big Lie." Watch it on the fact set. and listen to it on this week's Fact Set. Subscribe to the "Big Lie" on the Big Lie and let us know what you think of it in the next week's Big Lie! Tweet us what you thought of it! and share it on Insta: or share it with a friend! or tell us what a lie you think about it on your feed & what you're going to do about it? and what you would like to do in the comments section if you have a lie or a lie? or a piece of advice you think it's not a big lie about what s going to happen next week? We'll be listening to the Big lie, and we'll be hearing about it next week!
00:00:33.000You really blew that call, didn't you, General?
00:00:38.000I believe that that was an issue of strategic stalemate and that if we had remained in Afghanistan, Well, that's an interesting answer to a question, it's just not one I asked.
00:00:51.000You spent more time with Bob Woodward on this book than you spent analyzing the very likely prospect that the Afghanistan government was going to fall immediately to the Taliban, didn't you?
00:01:02.000Not even close, Congressman. Oh, really?
00:01:03.000Because you said right after Kabul fell that no one could have anticipated the immediate fall of the Ghani government.
00:01:09.000When did you become aware that Joe Biden tried to get Ghani to lie about the conditions in Afghanistan?
00:01:15.000He did that in July. Did you know that right away?
00:01:21.000You're not aware of the phone call that Biden had with Ghani where he said, whether it is true or not, we want you to go out there and paint a rosy picture of what's going on in Afghanistan.
00:01:29.000You're the chief military advisor to the president.
00:01:32.000You said that the Taliban was not going to defeat the government of Afghanistan militarily, which, by the way, they cut through him like a hot knife through butter.
00:01:39.000And then the president tries to get Ghani to lie.
00:01:41.000When did you become aware of that attempt?
00:01:43.000Well, there's two things there, Congressman, if I may.
00:01:47.000It's what I said was the situation was stalemate, and if we kept advisers with there, the government of Afghanistan and the Army would have still been there.
00:01:56.000That's what I said. Whether that's right or wrong, I don't know.
00:01:58.000Seems wrong now with the Taliban in control.
00:02:00.000Well, we withdrew all the advice. I have a question for Secretary Austin.
00:02:02.000Secretary Austin, are you capable of assessing whether another has the will to fight?
00:02:12.000No, we're not, and that's the point that the chairman made earlier.
00:02:16.000That's just like an incredibly disappointing thing for the Secretary of Defense to simply say, I can't assess whether someone has the will to fight.
00:02:24.000But it is consistent with your record.
00:02:25.000I mean, during the Obama administration, I think they gave you about $48 million to go train up some folks in Syria to go take on the Assad government.
00:02:33.000And I think your testimony was that only four or five survived first contact with the enemy.
00:02:38.000So what confidence should this committee have in you or What should the country have in you when you've now confessed to us, and whether it's the swing and a miss in Afghanistan that General Milley talked to the Senate about yesterday, total failure, or whether it was your failures in Syria, you don't seem capable to look at a fighting force and determine whether or not they have the will.
00:02:59.000You recall, Congressman, that the end result was the SDF that we stood up that was very, very instrumental in turning the tide of A battle up in Syria.
00:03:23.000And those forces had significant effect on the ISIS network.
00:03:28.000It just seems like you're chronically bad at this.
00:03:31.000And you have admitted that, I guess, which is to your credit.
00:03:35.000But, you know, when people in the military, like Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller, stand up and demand accountability, when they say that you all screwed up, when they point out that General Milley's statement that, The government of Afghanistan is not going to get defeated by the Taliban.
00:03:51.000Well, he ends up in the brig, and you all end up in front of us, and your former employer, Raytheon, ends up with a lot of money, and we have poured cash and blood and credibility into a Ghani government that was a mirage.
00:04:05.000It fell immediately. And while the guy sitting next to you was off talking to Phil Rucker and was off doing his thing with Bob Woodward, We were buying into the big lie.
00:04:16.000The big lie that this was ever going to be successful and that we could ever rely on the Afghanistan government for anything at all.
00:04:23.000You know, General Mill, you kind of gave up the game earlier when you said you wanted to address elements of your personal conduct that were in question.
00:04:30.000We're not questioning your personal conduct.
00:04:33.000We're questioning... In your official capacity, going and undermining the chain of command, which is obviously what you did.
00:04:40.000You've created this whole chain of communication narrative.
00:04:42.000Did not undermine the chain of command in any manner shape or form.
00:04:44.000Yeah, you did. You absolutely did. Did not.
00:05:08.000You have let down the people who wear the uniform in my district and all around this country.
00:05:12.000And you're far more interested in what your perception is and how people think about you in insider Washington books than you care about winning, which this group seems incapable of doing.