Afghanistan Withdrawal: Should US Marines have been mingling with civilians prior to explosion that killed 13 US personnel?

I don't think they had a choice in that case. I assume this was the ECP and there was a need to review documentation prior to entry. The larger question should be, why did we pack everything up and leave the Afghans to fend for themselves? No residual support, no air, just a big fat "we're out, good luck, and screw you."

This is something that you don't have a choice about. I have spent two years in Iraq. You can't just make a bubble around you. Especially in this situation. It is impossible to conduct a zero risk operation in combat. The best you can do is to reduce the risk as much as you can.

If you are not trying to control an entire flood of panicked civilians who speak little English- tjen you have to view their papers and physically block or move them. The bomb that was used chewed a big enough area that even a barricaded checkpoint would have failed.

I heard a retired military or government official yesterday tell a story of asking a five-year-old if he would pull his protective forces out first or last if he was leaving a battlefield. The kid said last.
If the military personnel advising the president planned the withdrawal, they should be held responsible for their incompetence, if the president ignored their recommendations, they should resign in protest.

Those Marines and their attached support team were put in an impossible situation. Shame on Gen. Milly and his team for not taking responsibility and stepping down. I also can't fathom why our Marine Corps leadership didn't stand up and scream BULLSHIT. They let our people get sacrificed for political gain. A leadership failure from the highest level down to the Company grade on the ground who didn't speak up.
I understand that sometimes in a situation folks are gonna be left in harm's way and that is just the shit eating truth. But I refuse to believe someone wearing stars on their shoulder came up with such a terrible plan, watched it unfold, and didn't feel like they fell on their swords.
A simple "Yeah, that was a dumb fucking idea. Sorry Mom's and Dads" from somebody at the Pentagon should have been issued.

Hello. I really want to serve in the army. My father is a veteran and to congratulate him, I searched for [URL=https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/veterans-day.html]veterans day images[/URL] and found them on an excellent image search service. I hope that I will be able to become a good military man, but for now I am in college and this image search service helps me a lot.

Hello. I really want to serve in the army. My father is a veteran and to congratulate him, I searched for <a href='https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/veterans-day.html'>veterans day images</a> and found them on an excellent image search service. I hope that I will be able to become a good military man, but for now I am in college and this image search service helps me a lot.

This was rushed, any time you rush a withdrawal you are going to have a significant fails. Through History we have found a last ditch effort used when with drawing at the point your trying to meet mission standards in half the time.
Barriers are not in place, your short on personnel because everything needs to be accomplished right now. You are doing the best you can with what you have. Timeliness is paramount. But when time is limited you have to take shortcuts and accomplish the mission.
More time would have been the better answer. JMTC

In complex environments like this, even if the army wants only facts, there is no way around it. Lots of staff sections who briefed the Corps Commander had to make assumptions. If we have assumptions, then we want the "strong assumptions" which are essentially the truth that has to be played out to be observe. However, assumptions like how long will the Afghan Government and Military last were broached. Warfare is not always linear. We don't ever see all the powers in play in warfare.

I'm kind of the opinion a golden opportunity was squandered to engage the Taliban when they all came out from under their rocks. Can you imagine, with all of them out in the open like that.