Top generals told Congress Tuesday that they had previously urged leaving roughly 2,500 U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan, contradicting President Biden's prior comments that no one had cautioned him against withdrawing all troops from the nation last month.
Biden voted down suggestions from two of his top military advisers regarding keeping military assets in Afghanistan during the military drawdown in August, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Gen. Frank McKenzie, the chief of U.S. Central Command, and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that they predicted an expedited pullout of all combat assets from Afghanistan would likely lead to the downfall of the Western-backed Afghan government and the military as early as last fall.
While both generals refused to elaborate on their particular proposals to the president, they did say that they shared their perspectives as to how many American soldiers should continue in Afghanistan with then-President Donald Trump and Biden.
At a news conference Thursday, the White House's senior representative elaborated on her earlier statement. "These discussions are about a variety of solutions related to risk assessments," Psaki explained. "Of course, there are those who come out with a variety of suggestions for what the best course of action is."
Milley said that then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper issued a memo on Nov. 9, 2020, advising that the Trump administration "maintain U.S. forces in Afghanistan at a level between about 2,500 and 4,500 until conditions are fulfilled for further reduction," based on his evaluation and the advice of commanders.
Psaki and Milley said the matter was revisited on Aug. 25, a day before the Kabul airport suicide attacks, when the president's advisers agreed that retaining soldiers in the nation would lead to an increase in instability.
Those remarks appeared to contradict an interview Biden gave to ABC after the drawdown, in which he told the news network's George Stephanopoulos that none of his highest generals and consultants advised him against proceeding with his planned withdrawal of troops.
Meanwhile, as military chiefs faced a tense Senate hearing examining how and why America lost its longest war, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Congress Tuesday that the Afghan army's abrupt fall took the Pentagon "off guard."
