Posted on 05/17/2026 5:51:01 AM PDT by cotton1706
Tillis, who is retiring after his tenure in the Senate ends in January 2027, posted a lengthy statement on X, warning that Hegseth continues to “disrespect our greatest allies and some of our best military professionals with impulsive decisions not grounded in reality or good judgment.”
“If the rumors are true that Hegseth is trying to sideline General Chris Donahue, one of our nation’s finest warfighters, by downgrading U.S. Army Europe-Africa to a 3-star command, he is taking another step down a dangerous path,” Tillis wrote, calling it “a step that is not in the best interests of our nation or our servicemembers.”
“Hegseth would do well to surround himself with more patriots like General Donahue and to get his henchmen, who are not qualified to carry Donahue’s bag, out of the Pentagon,” the senator added. “Keep your word, Mr. Secretary: choose meritocracy over your mediocre yes-men.”
Who Is General Chris Donahue?
General Christopher Donahue is a senior U.S. Army officer who has held a series of high‑level command roles and is most widely known for his role in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He gained public prominence for being the last U.S. service member to leave Afghanistan, boarding the final military aircraft on August 30, 2021, as American forces ended their 20‑year presence in the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
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Tillis needs to stfu.
So Donahue is one of the cabal that surrendered Bagram and all of our materiel? Bust his ass down to Private!
It would have been better if he had disregarded orders to leave Bagram? Sorry, that doesn’t wash.
” Satan knows his time is short” comes to mind...
The Trump Administration’s replacing a general is in no way comparable to the Democrat/Jacobin way of setting up LTG Michael Flynn to charge him, prosecute him, extort him, and ruin him financially (with the intent permanently to ruin his character) for making misrepresentation about his contacts with the Russians (in the midst of the Russian collusion sham-coup).
The Russian collusion coupsters set out to destroy Flynn, using clearly biased judges like Rudy Contreras and (particularly) Emmet Sullivan.
The Left has totally and viciously redefined replacing a new president’s general staff.
When the European forces are diminished and returned to America, the command structure diminishes.
When the command is gone, the commander becomes superfluous.
This is not an effort directed against any single officer. Hegseth is on record about the need to reduce the number of headquarters and general/flag officer positions. This includes reducing the number of four-star commands. Combatant Commanders like European Command will stay four-star, but their Service Components like U.S.Army Europe-Africa will all become three-star billets.
General Donahue a success? A failure? What difference does THAT make, if there are only so many slots available at the top levels. This is a RIF, not a demotion.
Does “overqualified” mean nothing when only so many openings are available?
It’s a side point, but why do we even have a Europe-Africa command?
Oh, I know. We’ve got to be everywhere, all the time. Just like the old Roman and British empires. That over-extension contributed to the collapse of both empires.
But this time it will be different.
I guess.
...maybe he should have had the balls to tell idiot Biden his bug out was a bad idea instead of being a go-along, get-along general handing assets to the enemy?? ...ymmv
Did Tillis warn (or even complain) when Obama forced about 200 general officers who did not buy into Obama’s woke/DEI agenda to retire?
Herein lies the problem Senator. You don’t have any respect for the command structure of the military. SECWAR is the Secretary of the Department and YOU SIR ARE NOT! You have no authority to DICTATE to the secretary how he is to manage the Department. By your words you are creating discord and disunity in the service. The General is directly responsible for the events in Afghanistan. He may have been on the last C-17 leaving the country. But he still was the General in charge. Senator Tillis, you need to mind to your business and let the military structure be run by SECWAR and the President of the USA!
It sounds like Gen. Donohue is the guy who left behind enough military hardware to make Al Qaeda the sixth most powerful army in the world.
Remove the failures and successes are possible.
That’s what DS Tillis fears!
Who is Thom Tillis?
Lame duck Tillis trying to pretend he’s still has any relevance.
Away with you, Thom. You’ll answer for your treachery soon enough.
CNN
Trump said he will demand the resignation of “every single senior official who touched the Afghanistan calamity.” Vice President-elect JD Vance also promised to go after those involved in the withdrawal, saying, “the people who screwed this up are going to suffer some consequences.”
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