Posted on Oct 6, 2021
Military Brass Resigned Over 'Black Hawk Down,' But Not Afghanistan
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The day after the battle, Maj. Gen. William Garrison, commander of the special operations task force that fought in it, assumed full responsibility for the outcome in a lengthy write-up to the commander-in-chief. Later that year, Defense Secretary Les Aspin resigned in one of the shortest tenures at the post, with the Somalia debacle cited as one of the strikes against him.
Honor
Honor
Military Brass Resigned Over 'Black Hawk Down,' But Not Afghanistan
Posted from thefederalist.comPosted in these groups: 
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Duty
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 2
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Operation Gothic Serpent involved a series of mistakes up and down the chain of command. It was appropriate for some of those involved to resign (especially considering that resigning didn't cost them anything).
When you say no one resigned over Afghanistan, I assume you are talking about the debacle of our withdrawal, rather than the decision to be there at all or the way the occupation was conducted. That debacle was a very different kind of failure.
The Biden administration timetable for a withdrawal presented an ethical dilemma -- what should an officer do when given an order he firmly believes is dangerously inappropriate?
British Major General James Brudenell faced that issue 25 October 1854 and made the decision that we have all been taught is required of us. He obeyed and did his best to carry out the order.
The US Joint Chiefs of Staff faced that issue in April 2021 and made a different decision - they "obeyed" the order about as poorly and ineffectively as possible without quite openly refusing.
When you say no one resigned over Afghanistan, I assume you are talking about the debacle of our withdrawal, rather than the decision to be there at all or the way the occupation was conducted. That debacle was a very different kind of failure.
The Biden administration timetable for a withdrawal presented an ethical dilemma -- what should an officer do when given an order he firmly believes is dangerously inappropriate?
British Major General James Brudenell faced that issue 25 October 1854 and made the decision that we have all been taught is required of us. He obeyed and did his best to carry out the order.
The US Joint Chiefs of Staff faced that issue in April 2021 and made a different decision - they "obeyed" the order about as poorly and ineffectively as possible without quite openly refusing.
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