WASHINGTON — Afghan security forces will collapse without American financial backing and it will be harder to target al Qaeda militants when U.S.-led forces withdraw from Afghanistan in September, a leading U.S. general stated Thursday.
Speaking at a Senate hearing and later on at a Pentagon press conference, the head of U.S. Central Command, Marine Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, used a blunt evaluation of the threats connected with President Joe Biden’s choice to take out U.S. soldiers from Afghanistan by Sept. 11.
“My concern is the ability for the Afghan military to hold the ground that they are on now, without the support that they’ve been used to for many years,” McKenzie informed the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“So I am concerned about the ability of the Afghan military to hold on after we leave, the ability of the Afghan Air Force to fly in particular after we remove the support for those aircraft,” McKenzie stated.
U.S. monetary and other help for Afghan security forces will be essential after NATO soldiers leave, he stated.
“If we don’t provide them some support they certainly will collapse and that is not in our best interest,” the general stated.
The U.S., in addition to NATO allies, has actually kept the Afghan security forces afloat with billions of dollars in yearly financing over the previous twenty years. For 2021, Congress appropriated over $3 billion for the Afghan military. The Taliban have actually gradually picked up speed versus Afghan security forces over the last few years as the U.S. military footprint has actually decreased. More than 2,500 U.S. soldiers stay in the nation, in addition to approximately 7,000 soldiers from other NATO countries.
The Pentagon is now taking a look at how it might offer aid from a range for the Afghan armed force’s upkeep difficulties, McKenzie stated.
“We may be able to work some remote televised way to do that. We’re going to try all sorts of innovative ways,” he informed press reporters later on at a Pentagon instruction. “The one thing I can tell you is, we’re not going to be there on the ground with them.”
Once U.S. forces exit, tracking and targeting al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan will be harder, he stated.
“Those operations will be harder but not impossible,” McKenzie informed press reporters.
The U.S. armed force has no bases near the landlocked nation, and fighter jets or bombers would need to cover fars away from warship or bases in the Persian Gulf to reach targets in Afghanistan.
At a House hearing on Tuesday, McKenzie stated U.S. intelligence event would undoubtedly decrease without American workers on the ground and drones inside the nation able to communicate details about possible risks rapidly.
As for President Biden’s choice to take out soldiers, McKenzie did not state whether he had actually supported such a relocation however stated he had “ample” chance to offer his guidance to the president.
“It was a very thoughtful, very thoughtful, very in-depth process that went on over an extended period of time,” McKenzie stated. “The president went out of the way to ensure all views were on the table.”
The general stated he turned down the concept that America’s longest war had actually failed, arguing that the U.S. had actually accomplished its objective of deteriorating al Qaeda and securing the nation from terrorist attacks.
“I think that we’ve accomplished the mission that we set out to do which was to prevent an attack against the United States, that mission has been accomplished,” McKenzie stated. Both McKenzie and his kid were released to Afghanistan.
Reflecting on Americans who had actually passed away in the war, McKenzie stated, “What few words I can offer in an attempt to help those who have to deal with an empty seat at the table, the voice that will not be heard again, the missing laugh at the center of a gathering is this: We fought to protect our country and to give others the chance to choose their own destiny. There is no better, higher thing to fight for, that’s why I went to war, that’s why my son went to war.”
