The major mistake made by senior US military leadership here in the Pentagon was sending the war-fighting 82nd Airborne to Kabul instead of sending a half-dozen Army MP units. Sending MP units instead of combat units to 'Checkpoint Charlie', crowd-management type missions in Germany and other parts of Europe during the Cold War was SOP for the sole purpose of letting the Russkies know that we had no intention of (using regular combat units) that might spark an all-out conflict.
Of course, our very uneducated, history-ignoring senior Generals in this building wouldn't know about that because their desire is to burn up as much combat materiel and equipment as possible so that the military contractors and suppliers are given fresh orders... which makes most of our so-called 'military missions' all about feeding the 'military industrial complex' instead of successfully managing a mission.
Army MP's were more than capable of handling ALL of the mission requirements in Kabul, with our regular combat units like the 82nd waiting in the wings in case full-blown military might was needed. Sending our combat units in first to get a black eye and then told not to militarily respond only makes the entire US military look both weak and led by people who have no idea how our military works or should be used... which is the case in both the civilian and military leadership in our country today.
This attack was not a political failure. This attack was a military failure. The President of the US, SecState nor any other political person was in Afghanistan with personal charge of preventing such an attack. The US military was in total charge. If anyone is to lose their job over this attack it should be the individuals in charge of maintaining security. The entire 20-year loss of Afghanistan is a total US MILITARY failure due to substandard US military leadership. Better US military officers are needed. Our officer training schools are NOT producing the leaders needed. Military generals need to immediately replace subordinates who fail. And, the President needs to immediately replace Generals who fail.