According to a Senate aide, a Republican senator has prevented a general who commanded forces in Kabul during the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan from being promoted.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, took the action after President-elect Donald Trump threatened to fire senior officers and officials who led the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump’s transition team is also considering the possibility of court-martial proceedings against current and former officers involved in the withdrawal.
Army Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue was nominated to lead U.S. Army operations in Europe and be promoted to four-star general. According to the Senate aide, Mullin put Donahue’s candidacy on hold despite it being one of over 900 recommended nominees that were given to the Senate.
Mullin’s office chose not to respond.
When Donahue boarded his U.S. military airplane out of Kabul in 2021, the Army named him the “last man out” of Afghanistan. The symbolism of the end of America’s 20-year war was captured in a night vision shot of Donahue boarding a cargo jet that went viral.
Donahue, the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division at the time, was sent to Kabul to supervise the evacuation of American embassy personnel and civilians as well as the ultimate withdrawal of U.S. forces after Taliban terrorists overthrew the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan.
In a social media post, retired General Tony Thomas, the former commander of Special Operations Command, claimed that Donahue was being used as a political pawn and that the decision to halt his advancement was a shame.
In a social media post, Heather Nauert, a Trump supporter who worked at the State Department during Trump’s first term as president, stated that she liked Mullin but disagreed with the decision to hold off on Donahue’s promotion.
“Holding up military promotions because of our shameful withdrawal from Afghanistan is wrong, unless there are facts I don’t know,” she wrote on X.
However, some Pentagon officials backed Mullin, claiming Donahue and other generals were partially to blame for the chaotic end of the 20-year conflict, including the Abbey Gate airport explosion that killed hundreds of Afghan civilians and 13 American service men.
Anthony Tata, a 28-year Army veteran who served as the Trump administration’s under secretary of defense for policy, contended Donahue need to be held “accountable.”
In addition to the hundreds of civilians, 13 service members were murdered and scores more seriously injured while under Chris Donahue’s leadership. In an apost to X on Saturday, he said, “Accuse whoever you want for that monumental failure, but Donahue received the praise for being the last boots on the ground, as shown by the staged photo.”
All promotions for general officers and flag officers should take place during the transition between presidential administrations, according to Ezra A. Cohen, the acting assistant secretary of defense for intelligence under the Trump administration.
“No single promotion should be the focus of this. “This is about making sure that promotions for [general officer and flag officer] are based on merit,” he wrote on X on Friday. “Unfortunately we know that the Biden Administration has heavily corrupted the promotion process.”
At Fort Liberty in North Carolina, Donahue is the current commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps.
Since the present Senate is about to go into recess and the incoming Republican-controlled Congress will begin operations in 2025, his elevation may now be in jeopardy.
Throughout the 2024 campaign road, Trump frequently discussed the pullout from Afghanistan, calling it the most disgraceful day in our nation’s history and a humiliation.
Trump joined the family of the victims at Arlington National Cemetery to lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing.
Later that day, Trump told the National Guard Association of the United States conference that the humiliation in Afghanistan was caused by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and that it was the catalyst for the decline of American respect and credibility globally.
As previously reported by NBC News, Trump’s transition team has started to gather a list of current and former U.S. military personnel who were involved in the botched evacuation and has investigated the possibility of court-martialing them for their involvement.
A commission to look into the withdrawal, namely who was directly involved in the decision-making process and how it was executed, is being considered by the transition team.
Earlier this month, two people with knowledge of the situation told NBC News that the commission could look into whether the military leaders involved could face treason-level charges.
However, the Trump administration may decide to focus on lesser accusations that emphasize the officers’ involvement rather than pursuing treason charges.
Earlier last month, an individual with knowledge of the strategy told NBC News that they wanted to lead by example.
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