US defense secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered a "comprehensive" departmental review of the "chaotic" 2021 withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, an issue over which the Republicans had repeatedly targeted the previous Joe Biden administration.
"I have concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people," Hegseth wrote in a memo.
The Pentagon chief further said a special review panel, to be convened by assistant secretary of defense Sean Parnell, would "thoroughly examine the previous investigations."
"The investigations to be reviewed by the panel will include but not limited to, findings of fact, sources, witnesses, and analyze the decision making that led to one of America's darkest and deadliest international moments," the memo read.
"This team will ensure accountability to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation," it added.
The United States' August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan led to the Taliban sweeping aside the Afghan troops. This forced the last American troops to mount an evacuation from Kabul's airport, in an effort which got more than 120,000 people out of the war-torn country in a matter of days.
On August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber targeted crowds of people on the perimeter of the Kabul airport. More than 170 people, among them 13 US soldiers, were killed.
Biden, who was the US president during the withdrawal, had consistently defended the decision to leave Afghanistan. However, according to critics, the move triggered a catastrophic collapse of the Afghan forces.
This paved the way for the Taliban to return to power in Afghanistan, two decades after their first regime was ousted by the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
(With AFP inputs)
"I have concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people," Hegseth wrote in a memo.
Memo regarding the Review of the U.S. Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/2V7Dt8biOm
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) May 20, 2025
The Pentagon chief further said a special review panel, to be convened by assistant secretary of defense Sean Parnell, would "thoroughly examine the previous investigations."
"The investigations to be reviewed by the panel will include but not limited to, findings of fact, sources, witnesses, and analyze the decision making that led to one of America's darkest and deadliest international moments," the memo read.
"This team will ensure accountability to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation," it added.
The United States' August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan led to the Taliban sweeping aside the Afghan troops. This forced the last American troops to mount an evacuation from Kabul's airport, in an effort which got more than 120,000 people out of the war-torn country in a matter of days.
On August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber targeted crowds of people on the perimeter of the Kabul airport. More than 170 people, among them 13 US soldiers, were killed.
Biden, who was the US president during the withdrawal, had consistently defended the decision to leave Afghanistan. However, according to critics, the move triggered a catastrophic collapse of the Afghan forces.
This paved the way for the Taliban to return to power in Afghanistan, two decades after their first regime was ousted by the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
(With AFP inputs)
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