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Top former US generals blame Biden administration for chaotic 2021 Afghanistan exit
- Retired US generals Mark Milley and Kenneth McKenzie testified at a House hearing on Tuesday
- ‘Fundamental mistake’ was ‘timing of the State Department’, Milley says of 2021 US withdrawal
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The top two US generals who oversaw the evacuation of Afghanistan as it fell to the Taliban in August 2021 blamed the Biden administration for the chaotic departure, telling lawmakers on Tuesday that it inadequately planned for the evacuation and did not order it in time.
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The rare testimony by the two retired generals publicly exposed for the first time the strain and differences the military leaders had with the Biden administration in the final days of the war.
Two of those key differences included that the military had advised that the United States keep at least 2,500 service members in Afghanistan to maintain stability and a concern that the State Department was not moving fast enough to get an evacuation started.
The remarks contrasted with an internal White House review of the administration’s decisions found that US President Joe Biden’s decisions had been “severely constrained” by previous withdrawal agreements negotiated by former president Donald Trump and blamed the military, saying top commanders said they had enough resources to handle the evacuation.
Thirteen US service members were killed by a suicide bomber at the Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate in the final days of the war, as the Taliban took over Afghanistan.
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