Former CENTCOM commander preferred troops to stay in Afghanistan ‘indefinitely’

Mike Brest

August 12, 07:00 AM August 12, 07:01 AM

Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command at this time last calendar year when the army withdrew from Afghanistan, thought troops should've been kept there "indefinitely."

McKenzie initially advised that the United States manage a pressure presence of 4,500, and then when the military dropped its degree to 2,500 in the closing days of the Trump administration, it was his advice that they keep it there, he informed Politico in an job interview about the initial anniversary of the withdrawal.

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"It was my viewpoint that if we went from 2,500 to zero, the federal government of Afghanistan would not be ready to sustain alone and would collapse," he explained.

McKenzie preemptively responded to the critics of his belief that they should've retained a troop presence "indefinitely," declaring, "I know the criticism: The Taliban are likely to come immediately after you, and you’re heading to have to beef up your forces. The commander on the floor and I did not feel that was essentially the situation. For 1 issue, at 2,500, we had been down to a really lean battle functionality, not a good deal of assault area there for the Taliban to get at. Two, we would have coupled the 2,500 presence with a robust diplomatic campaign to put pressure on the Taliban."

He continued: "What would have happened if we stayed at 2,500? It’s just tricky to know that. Here’s what we do know as a subject of heritage — if you go to zero, they collapse."

The Trump administration initially agreed to withdraw U.S. forces when it signed the Doha Settlement with the Taliban on Fed. 29. 2020, to guarantee the military remaining by May perhaps 1, 2021. President Joe Biden decided to lengthen their existence till Sept. 11, however he then moved it up to the finish of August.

The Taliban launched a navy offensive in early August ahead of the impending U.S. withdrawal and ended up ready to quickly overthrow the U.S.-backed Ghani governing administration. The navy then released a noncombatant evacuation procedure in which they ended up able to transport more than 120,000 Afghans who were afraid of living beneath a Taliban regime, however hundreds of Afghan allies were left at the rear of.