US President Joe Biden ignored the recommendations of senior military leadership not to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021 until all the Doha agreement conditions were met, former Chief of Staff, Special Operations Central Command Col. Seth Krummrich said during a congressional hearing on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2023) US President Joe Biden ignored the recommendations of senior military leadership not to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021 until all the Doha agreement conditions were met, former Chief of Staff, Special Operations Central Command Col. Seth Krummrich said during a congressional hearing on Thursday.
"General (Mark) Milley, general (Austin) Miller, and General (Kenneth) McKenzie all recommended not withdrawing until the Doha agreement conditions were met. These seasoned experts were ignored and the best-case scenario plan to withdraw immediately started the domino effect to catastrophe," Krummrich told the US House Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability.
Krummrich noted that both the United States government and the Taliban (under UN sanctions for terrorism) failed to follow the Doha agreement - the Taliban to follow the basics of the agreement, and the Biden administration failed to enforce the agreement.
"Looking at these decisions in total, it becomes clear our hasty actions set the conditions for the Afghan government's collapse, the Taliban slingshot to power, and the loss of 20 years of hope and progress for the Afghan people," Krummrich said.
Biden's decision to ignore the expert advice of the US military leadership and execute an immediate military withdrawal was "a shock and rude awakening for all planners," Krummrich added.
The United States withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, following a rapid takeover of the country by the Taliban. The US military led the chaotic evacuation of thousands of people from Afghanistan via the airport in Kabul, where a terrorist attack killed 13 US troops and 170 Afghans.
