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WASHINGTON (TND) — The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday released interview transcriptions showing a major military leader claims he cautioned against the complete U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
The Biden administration oversaw the final withdrawal of troops that August, completing an effort launched by the Trump administration the year prior. Troops were reduced down to 2,500 just days before Biden’s inauguration, the lowest amount of U.S. forces in Afghanistan since 2021 at the time.
The documents released Monday show Retired Gen. Austin Scott Miller claimed during a closed-door testimony he warned a Marine commander the complete withdrawal could result in “some really adverse conditions.”
My view was that going to zero things would go very bad very fast,” Miller said of the 2021 move. “And of course, define that, not prepared for a political or a security collapse while we’re still present, just wouldn’t be prepared.”
Miller testified that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had never spoken with him during his time in Afghanistan despite having frequent contact with the Trump administration. He later characterized the nature of the withdrawal as “traumatic” and compared it to events during the Vietnam War.
“But I think it’s not just Afghanistan, but, you know, the way we came out of there felt traumatic,” he said. “It just did. I mean, it felt traumatic for all of us, and probably not unlike what Saigon looked like for Vietnam veterans after spending so much time in Vietnam and seeing an evacuation off the roof.”
READ MORE | Retired US general admits he doesn’t know number of Americans ‘left behind’ in Afghanistan
White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said in 2022 the Biden administration “understand[s] the frustration” the move sparked in some.
“Quite frankly, we share that frustration and we try as hard as we can to streamline the process,” Kirby said.
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