The general who led the U.S. departure from Afghanistan last year warned that the U.S. is now less secure than when foreign forces were in the nation on the anniversary of the final soldier departing.
Retired When the final American soldiers were being brought home last year, Gen. Frank McKenzie oversaw the chaotic operation.
He said that Al Qaeda and the Islamic State will use the time to concentrate on their “aspirations” to strike the West in an interview on Tuesday to commemorate the day the last soldier left.
He told the BBC, “I feel we have less capabilities today than we had before to monitor and control the growth of such operations. We were in Afghanistan to prevent the formation of violent extremist organizations that were thriving there, notably al Qaeda and ISIS.”
So, “yeah, I think we are less secure today than we were before in that sense.”
August has had a number significant anniversaries.
The Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15, a suicide bomber murdered 13 American military personnel and at least 170 Afghans on August 26, and the final American soldier left the country on August 30.
Former authorities and local experts have continued to warn that errors and lessons learnt have not been adequately held accountable.
Gen. Frank McKenzie has retired since overseeing the Afghanistan withdrawal and has given a string of interviews to mark the anniversary. In an interview broadcast on Tuesday, he said the U.S. was now less safe than it was when U.S. forces were in the country
The last U.S. troops were flown out of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport just before midnight on August 30 of 2021, ending America’s 20-year war
Ayman Al Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda, was killed in a drone attack, McKenzie said. However, he noted that only one strike since the U.S. left showed the challenges of a “over-the-horizon counterterrorism capacity.”
And the statements that the pullout was a success have hurt the relatives of those who died in the suicide bombing even more, they argue.
McKenzie, who retired this year, said that he had spent the previous year thinking back on the conflict and its closing months.
“I believe there are two things happening in Afghanistan.” One is the Taliban’s breakdown of modern civilization, which he described as “returning to a very, very terrible life in Medieval Afghanistan.”
The Taliban’s cooperation or the under-governance of regions outside of Kabul will allow groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS to thrive, according to the second point.
And I think we’re headed down a path where they’re going to develop and be able to go on with their plans to launch assaults against the West.
President Joe Biden pledged a “over-the-horizon” counterterrorism capacity that would be able to track and neutralize threats as they materialized before the final soldiers departed.
But after a botched drone attack that killed civilians in August of last year, almost a year went by with little evidence of American action against terrorists.
Then, in July, a drone attack on a mansion in Kabul resulted in the death of Ayman Al Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda.
The fact that prominent terrorist individuals felt secure in Kabul under Taliban rule was considered as both a success for the long-term counterterrorism campaign and a concerning signal.
More than 120,000 people were flown out of Kabul airport during the airlift last year
In the midst of the mayhem at the airport in Kabul, a suicide bomber detonated explosives containing ball bearings, killing 13 American military personnel. President Joe Biden paid homage to them on Friday.
“I was happy that we were able to get him. We’ve been searching for him for a while,” McKenzie added.
We left Afghanistan a year ago; it was one strike in that time. I’ve said in the open and in testimony that it would be exceedingly difficult, but not impossible, to conduct counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan from a distance.
“I’d think a strike in a year likely satisfies the requirement of being highly difficult but not impossible.
We’ll have to keep applying pressure, which will be extremely tough, because there are many other targets there and many other organizations that want to harm us.
He said earlier this week that his recommendation had been to keep a limited number of American personnel in Afghanistan to support the frail Kabul administration.
By September 11th, 2021—the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that first sent American forces to Afghanistan—Biden promised to bring home all remaining American troops. This pledge was made in April of last year.
His choice was based on an agreement between the Trump administration and the Taliban that American soldiers would withdraw.
However, the Taliban quickly advanced as a result of the removal of foreign contractors and U.S. air assistance, which the Afghan military forces had grown to depend on.
Al Qaeda and ISIS have the potential to expand under the Taliban, according to a number of recent statistics.
Mike Pompeo, a former secretary of state and CIA director, had the same opinion as McKenzie in his most recent remarks.
The former CIA director said on Sunday morning that “we are more likely to be attacked as New York City was 20 or so years ago,” adding that “we’re more likely to be attacked from [Afghanistan] now than we were just one year ago.”
The Taliban marked the anniversary of their takeover of Kabul on August 15 this year
800 AMERICANS LEFT BEHIND, 13 TROOPS DEAD AND THE TALIBAN TAKE OVER: A COMPLETE TIMELINE OF BIDEN’S BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL