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President Donald Trump and Hegseth have repeatedly blasted the
Biden administration for the withdrawal, which Hegseth said
Tuesday was “disastrous and embarrassing.” He said the new
review will interview witnesses, analyze the decision-making and
“get the truth.”
There have already been multiple reviews of the withdrawal by
the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the State Department and
Congress, which have involved hundreds of interviews and studies
of videos, photographs and other footage and data. It's unclear
what specific new information the new review is seeking.
The Abbey Gate bombing during the final days of the Afghanistan
withdrawal killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans, and
wounded scores more. It triggered widespread debate and
congressional criticism, fueled by searing photographs of
desperate Afghans trying to crowd into the airport to get out of
Kabul, with some clinging to U.S. military aircraft as they were
taking off.
A detailed U.S. military review was ordered in 2023 to expand
the number of people interviewed, after a Marine injured in the
blast said snipers believed they saw the possible bomber but
couldn’t get approval to take him out.
The findings, released in 2024, refuted those assertions and
concluded that the bombing was not preventable. A congressional
review was highly critical of the withdrawal, saying the Biden
administration did not adequately prepare for it or for all the
contingencies and put personnel in danger.
Others, however, have faulted the State Department for not
moving quickly enough to decide on an evacuation, resulting in a
rush to get out as the Taliban took control of the country.
Critics have also blamed Trump for making a deal with the
Taliban in 2020 when he was president to remove U.S. troops from
Afghanistan, which decreased the number of forces on the ground
as the pullout went on.
Both Trump and then-President Joe Biden wanted an end to the war
and U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.
The new review will be led by Sean Parnell, the assistant to the
secretary of defense for public affairs. He will convene a panel
that will provide updates “at appropriate times,” but there is
no time frame or deadline for any report, which is very unusual.
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