Today's D Brief: Afghanistan withdrawal takes shape; DoD clarifies Yemen role; China warns US; Indonesian sub declared lost; And a bit more.
By Ben Watson
April 26, 2021 10:25 AM ET
The D Brief
Afghanistan
Two BUFFs and a flattop for America’s Afghanistan exit. The United States military announced Friday that it deployed B-52 bombers and extended an aircraft carrier’s deployment to the Middle East in order to bolster overall security as the U.S. withdraws several thousand of its troops from Afghanistan by the Sept. 11 deadline set by President Joe Biden nearly two weeks ago.
“I now have a set of orders,” America’s top officer in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Scott Miller told reporters Sunday in Kabul. “And what that means to me is I have some very clear objectives. First and foremost, it’s my objective to ensure that the Afghan security forces are in the best possible security posture, also that we will conduct an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan. And that means transitioning bases and equipment to the Afghan security forces, and [I’m] also charged with ensuring it is as safe as possible, meaning we will protect the force as we depart from Afghanistan. With that, we have the military means and capability to fully protect our force during retrograde as well as support the Afghan security forces.”
In case you missed that messaging, Miller’s support staff saved it in video form and posted it to social media Sunday evening. Watch it on Twitter here.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/04/the-d-brief-april-26-2021/173592/
