The city was the Center of Gravity for the entire theater of operations. After a long campaign, the enemy seized all the surrounding territory. Your forces, and the city were surrounded.
With each passing day, the perimeter of the area you controlled shrunk. For months you made the argument for more forces in order to avoid a complete collapse and defeat, but your requests up the chain received a simple, repeated reply; “No.”
The question was now not if the city fell, but when and how.
You began talks with the enemy who surrounded you. As you would expect from enemies in such a long conflict, there were suspicions, mistrust, and constant positioning – but in the end an agreement was reached.
Not great, but not as bad as an unconditional surrender or a blood bath. While under the watchful eyes of the besieging forces, you and the civilians who supported you were allowed to leave in peace. Yes, you had to leave almost all your weapons behind, but you marched out. The date of leaving – such a historically important date – was in itself a humiliation – but it is one you knowingly accepted.
If this sounds like a thumbnail description of our recent national humiliation in Kabul, it isn’t. That is a thumbnail description of the defeat of Pemberton’s Confederate Army at the hands of Grant’s Union Army at Vicksburg in 1863.
Did Pemberton simply “withdrawal” from Vicksburg, or did he surrender? Did he “retrograde” his army, or was he defeated?
Words mean things, so let’s dig in to it.
Did you know there is a “DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms” that was just updated in August 2021?
Before we get in to that, I want you to review the exchange between CENTCOM Commander General Kenneth McKenzie, USMC and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) at today’s House Armed Services Committee meeting on the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In case you don’t get the video below, you can see the clip here.
Back to the DOD dictionary. The first thing that is not surprising but in a dark way is funny, is what is not defined.
“Victory” is not only undefined, the word cannot be found anywhere, neither can “retreat” or “surrender.”
Maybe it is just me, but these might be words of interest to those in the profession or arms, maybe not.
“Defeat” isn’t defined by itself either, but is used 13 times to define other terms. Same treatment as “withdrawal” that is used to help define other words 7 times.
A word used a lot over the summer about our cascading defeat in Afghanistan, “retrograde,” is defined.
“retrograde — The process for the movement of non-unit equipment and materiel from a forward location to a reset (replenishment, repair, or recapitalization) program or to another directed area of operations to replenish unit stocks, or to satisfy stock requirements.”
This is good. We have a doctrinal definition of “retrograde” but for the other words we will have to go to a civilian dictionary, specifically the online version of Merriam-Webster.
– victory: the overcoming of an enemy or antagonist
– retreat: an act or process of withdrawing especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable
– withdrawal: an operation by which a military force disengages from the enemy
– surrender: to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand
– defeat (noun): frustration by nullification or by prevention of success
Perhaps it would be harsh to use the phrase “weasel words,” but it is fair to say that our senior military leadership is being a little loose and sealawyery in their use of the language.
Let’s start with “retrograde.”
By DOD’s own definition, we did not “retrograde” from Afghanistan – especially when you consider all the equipment we left behind. So, that is right out.
Did we conduct a “withdrawal?”
On its own, did we simply “disengage” from an enemy? Is the Taliban still our enemy? Is the operation still ongoing against the Taliban? Is that what we’ve told the American people, and is that in line with the President’s intent and direction and guidance? As the President has consistently – even in front of the UN – said the conflict against the Taliban is over, I do not believe withdrawal is the correct word either. If so, we are just layering new lies on top of old ones.
Did we “surrender?”
Well, did we “yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand?” In an objective telling of 2021, the answer clearly is “yes.”
Let’s look at that last word from the Taliban’s point of view. Did they “defeat” the United States and achieve a “victory” over us? Did they “overcome the power of the United States and prevent our success?” Again, an objective telling of the last 20-years states the answer is clearly, “yes.”
Did they force us to execute a withdrawal from what was “difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable?” That is, by definition, a “retreat.”
We cannot learn from our failures if we do not speak about them in clear terms, regardless of how much they may hurt our reputations, or even in our tender age – our feelings and self-esteem.
No more than Pemberton’s Confederate forces “retrograde” their forces in a “withdrawal” from Vicksburg, neither did we from Afghanistan.
We retreated after a negotiated conditional surrender. The Taliban defeated the United States, achieving a great victory for themselves after a 20-year struggle.
It is important that we accept this fact – but more importantly – we need to demand that our senior leadership not just accept this fact, but say it. Institutionally, the long-term health and success of our culture demands that we speak clearly of our failures so we do all we can to avoid them in the future.
Happy talk got us to the humiliation of 2021, and if we allow it, it will begat more humiliations.
