If the three Pentagon leaders testifying before Congress this week knew that President Joe Biden's orders to pull troops out of Afghanistan were not appropriate, they should have resigned, Rep. Scott Perry told Newsmax Wednesday.
"When I was watching the hearing as a person who was honored to serve for over 30 years in uniform, it looked like the Three Stooges to me," the Pennsylvania Republican and retired Pennsylvania Army National Guard brigadier general said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "I will tell you what I did when they issued orders to me that I didn't feel were appropriate and would not and could not carry out, I left the military. That's the appropriate thing to do."
Perry did not expand on what those orders were.
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, will return to Congress Wednesday to testify before the House Armed Services Committee.
In their testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the three testified that they had all advised Biden to leave a residual force of troops in Afghanistan. Biden, however, has said that he does not recall receiving such advice.
If Milley, Austin, and McKenzie knew that Biden's orders would imperil troops, the country, and the mission in Afghanistan, it was "their duty to do something about it it," said Perry.
"It might seem like it's histrionic, it's dramatic," he added. "Well, we lost soldiers for no reason; we've killed Afghan civilians for no plausible reason. This is the fallout from not having the moral integrity and fortitude that is required of military officers. This is what you get."
Meanwhile, Biden's comment that he doesn't recall is the "operative phrase," said Perry.
"He might actually believe himself or someone is lying," the congressman continued. "Either the president's lying or the top three military leaders in the country are lying. Why people lie is to avoid accountability, and that's what's occurring right now. They're trying to manage the damage."
However, nobody is apologizing for the situation they created or surrendering, and the 13 service members who were killed in a terrorist bombing at the Kabul airport died for "political purposes," said Perry.
"I think America is very clearly seeing the rot that is occurring at the top of this fish, at the head of this fish," said Perry. "It starts with President Biden right down through the top of the chain of command. These people absolutely all have to go one way or the other, whether they resign or they are impeached."
Lawmakers have called for an investigation on Milley, said Perry.
"He deserves his day in court but there needs to be an investigation to determine what happened here so that accountability for these losses can be provided," he added.
Meanwhile, Perry said he hopes to hear, in Wednesday's testimony, who issued the orders or made the decision to leave the Bagram Airfield, and who decided to leave $85 billion in equipment behind in Afghanistan and in the hands of "our enemy, a terrorist superstate."
"It's not that we just want to impune somebody's character for no reason," said Perry. "It's not political. Somebody must be responsible for the failures on behalf of the United States of America."
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