Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) accused Milley of spending so much time with journalists writing “D.C. insider tell-all books” that he failed to recognize that the situation in Afghanistan was growing worse.
“It seems to me that you put a high priority on making sure that you were favorably portrayed by the D.C. press corps,” the lawmaker told the general Tuesday. “You spent a lot of time doing that.”
“Fair enough, if that’s your priority,” Hawley added. “But at the same time, we had a rapidly deteriorating, frankly, disastrous situation in Afghanistan, which resulted in the death of 13 soldiers, including one from my home state, hundreds of civilians, and hundreds of Americans left behind. And in my view, that mission can’t be called a success in any way, shape or form, logistical or otherwise.”