The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan was one of the worst moments in American history, and a stain on the Biden administration. It resulted in the deaths of thirteen service members -- who the Biden administration largely ignored -- as well as left billions of dollars of equipment in the hands of the Taliban, who have taken control of Afghanistan (to the detriment of everyone, but especially women and girls).
So it's a slap in the face that the Senate quietly promoted a general in charge during that debacle:
The Senate on Monday quietly approved the promotion of an Army officer who oversaw the 82nd Airborne Division as it secured an airfield at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Christopher Donahue, who is now a four-star general, was left off a tranche of promotions that the Senate confirmed prior to the Thanksgiving holiday break, which indicated that a senator was blocking the promotion. However, the senator has since dropped the block, sources told the Washington Post.
Donahue, who was a Lt. General at the time, is considered the last person to leave Afghanistan during the disastrous withdrawal in the summer of 2021. An image of him climbing aboard a cargo plane at the end of the evacuation went viral at the time.
The promotion confirms Donahue as the head of U.S. Army forces in Europe.
Wow.
YUP.
Never forget.
One can make the argument there were failures at all levels. But the fact remains: he's the general. He was in charge. He should not be promoted following what happened.
We hope you're right.
He may have been following orders, but that does not mean he bears no responsibility for what happened that day.
Very much so.
We're not surprised.
If true, this makes the promotion even more insulting and awful.