Vox Sentences - "A strategic failure"

Top military officials testify about Afghanistan; WHO report says its workers committed sexual abuse in Congo.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Ellen Ioanes.

General: Afghanistan pullout was "strategic failure"

Rod Lamkey/Getty Images

• In congressional hearings this week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and other Pentagon leaders testified that they advised President Joe Biden against a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan. [New York Times / Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt]
• Milley and Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, leader of the US Central Command, both testified that they had suggested leaving 2,500 troops in the country to fend off the Taliban, who rapidly took over Afghanistan in a matter of weeks as the US withdrew. [BBC]
• Republican lawmakers repeatedly criticized Biden's actions in the hearings. The White House argues that military advisers had been “split” on their recommendations to Biden before the withdrawal. Press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden knew that leaving troops there “would also mean war with the Taliban and it would also mean the potential loss of casualties.” [The Hill]
• In a Tuesday hearing, Milley called the withdrawal “a logistical success but a strategic failure." However, he added that "decision makers are not required, in any manner, shape or form, to follow" military advice. [NYT / Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt]
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified the US had successfully evacuated 124,000 people before the fall of Kabul. [Washington Post / John Wagner, Eugene Scott, Karoun Demirjian, Alex Horton, and Felicia Sonmez]
• Austin placed the blame for the Taliban’s rapid takeover on the Afghan National Army, saying the forces “simply melted away — in many cases without firing a shot.” [Al Jazeera]

WHO workers accused of sex abuse in DRC Ebola response

• A WHO internal investigation found 83 aid workers were accused of sexual abuse during its response to the 10th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which took place from 2018 to 2020. [Al Jazeera]
• The investigation found that at least 21 WHO employees, both local and from outside the DRC, were perpetrators of the alleged abuse. The victims ranged in age from 13 to 43 years of age, and included 63 women and 12 men. [Washington Post / Claire Parker]
• The survivors first detailed their abuse in an investigation by the New Humanitarian and the Thomson Reuters Foundation last year. Women said that they were pressured to have sex to get or keep jobs, and that they had been exploited by employees of the DRC’s Ministry of Health, the WHO, and other international organizations. [NYT / Vimal Patel]
• The report found that many perpetrators refused to wear a condom; 29 of the victims became pregnant from the encounters, and some were forced to abort. The initial investigation involved other survivors, likely pointing to a more widespread problem. [Reuters / Emma Farge and Hereward Holland]

Support our journalism

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is accused of abusing her power after she allegedly met with state employees to approve a real estate appraiser’s license for her daughter — who had initially been refused the license. [AP / Stephen Groves]

• The House and Senate aim to vote Wednesday or Thursday on a measure to fund the government, avoiding a partial shutdown that would begin at midnight Friday. In the House, Democrats also plan to vote on a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that has divided moderates and progressives. [Washington Post / Tony Romm]
• Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party has selected Fumio Kishida as its next prime minister, a moderate, seemingly against the Japanese public’s preference for change. [NYT / Motoko Rich]
• The US has deported Aleksei Burkov, a Russian hacker who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020 for allegedly defrauding Americans to the tune of millions, even as Moscow seems unlikely to crack down on the activities of other cybercriminals. [CNN / Sean Lyngaas]

“It’s a real possibility in the not-too-distant future, six, 12, 18, 24, 36 months, that kind of timeframe, for reconstitution of al-Qaeda or ISIS.”

[Gen. Mark Milley, testifying in front of the House Armed Services Committee, on the possibility of terror groups resurfacing in Afghanistan]

Industrialized agriculture is making it difficult for independent farmers and ranchers to stay in business in America. Check out the first episode of a series on The Human Cost of Meat, developed with Vox's Future Perfect team. [YouTube]

Read more from Vox

The problem with corporate “values”

An “attack on American cities” is freezing climate action in its tracks

9 high-stakes issues SCOTUS will take up this coming term

How the Christian right embraced voter suppression

The worst horrors of factory farming could soon be phased out in Europe

This email was sent to you. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution.

View our Privacy Notice and our Terms of Service.

Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 11, Washington, DC 20036.
Copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.