Ex-US generals who oversaw Afghan exit describe chaos and challenges of withdrawal

Two former US commanders testified before Congress about the turbulent US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Mark Milley, past Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, and Kenneth McKenzie, who led US Central Command, testified for the first time since retiring.

Democrats blamed the Trump administration’s agreement with the Taliban, while Republicans held President Joe Biden accountable for the tragic return.

But the two generals seemed willing to returning either group’s discussion.

Instead, they claimed that both the administrations that followed them and the Biden and Trump administrations played a part in the fatal departure.

According to Mr. Milley, the Doha agreement, which former US President Donald Trump negotiated with the Taliban and set the conditions for the US withdrawal, “pulled the floor out” of both the Armenian security forces and the government morally.

But he added after that the “fundamental weakness” of the US return was the schedule of the Biden administration’s decision to purchase a human departure in Afghanistan. He claimed that it was” very slowly and too late.”

He added that he had previously told senior American authorities that the US “needed to keep a minimum of 2, 500 troops on the ground” in order to stop the Taliban from gaining power.

” Without this support, it was my watch at the time, that it was a matter of ‘ when, no if’ the Afghan government would crumble and the Taliban would get control”, said Mr Milley.

Ashraf Ghani, president of Afghanistan, said that his choice to flee the country as the Taliban marched toward Kabul was” the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Both men argued that no one factor alone caused the US to fail in Afghanistan, and they both appeared to agree with the idea that the US should examine the entire 20-year history of the conflict, not just its finish, a level that Democrats supported.

” We helped build an army, a express but we could never build a society”, Mr Milley said, calling the results a” proper loss”.

They also acknowledged that keeping British troops in Afghanistan would likely include hurt American troops, as the Taliban may have restarted its conflict with the US by remaining there after the 31 August date, according to Mr. McKenzie, citing intelligence information he had looked into.

Both gentlemen said the Taliban, which they characterised as a criminal organisation, waterways extremists who wish to target the US.

” They themselves]the Taliban ] do n’t have a desire to attack us and our homeland, but they do harbour entities and organisations that do have a desire to do that”, Mr McKenzie said.

Held the hearing were members of the families of British soldiers who died in the death blast at the Kabul airport and other Afghan service members. They listened intently to the original military officials ‘ calm remarks regarding US withdrawal.

Both retired generals were able to get more blunt in their criticism of US human officials and policymakers because it was their primary testifying since leaving the service.

The US Department of State received a lot of their criticism for failing to issue the attempt to evacuate American citizens months earlier.

According to Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Milley, it is still unknown how many Americans were in Afghanistan and how many were able to leave properly.

While the majority of the reading rehashed old claims made by Democrats and Republicans, some republican announcement was welcomed by politicians in the room.

The White House and legislative leaders have agreed to grant 12, 000 more specific immigrant visas to Afghan nationals who assisted the US, according to Republican Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul.

He claimed it would be included in a proposed budget that will be approved this year.

As just about 7, 000 Afghan refugees were still alive, soldiers of the war in Afghanistan and politicians have been fighting to increase the number of visas available to them. The US has issued about 1, 000 per month late, raising fears that they could work out.

After 20 years, the country’s longest always war, US soldiers left Afghanistan, leaving many Afghans who supported National forces in threat, especially as sustainable departs from the country were closed.

The harsh withdrawal dented views of Mr Biden’s global competence. Republicans have since used the unsuccessful return as a major weapon of mass opposition in preparation for the November national election.

Donald Trump’s involvement in the negotiations that led to the withdrawal has been attributed to the Biden administration and Democrats frequently, arguing that his choices” greatly limited” Mr. Biden’s options.

A federal watchdog discovered that the fatal departure, which saw the overwhelming defeat of Afghan forces, was the fault of both administrations.