Afghanistan could face 'bad possible outcomes' as US withdraws, says top US general, but negotiated peace still possible
CNN Digital Rebranding 2015 Oren Liebermann Photo: Jeremy Freeman
By Oren Liebermann, CNN
Updated 6:21 PM ET, Sun May 2, 2021
(CNN)As the US began turning over military bases to the Afghan security forces Saturday, the top US general warned of the potential for "bad possible outcomes" in Afghanistan, while adding that "the intent of many of the parties is still to have a negotiated settlement."
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley pointed to an Afghan military that numbers more than 300,000 and "has been leading the fight for quite a few years now" as a crucial element in determining the future of the country as the final US withdrawal officially commences.
"On the one hand you get some really dramatic, bad possible outcomes, and on the other hand you get a military that stays together and a government that stays together," Milley said. "Which one of these options becomes reality at the end of the day, we frankly don't know yet and we have to wait and see how things develop over the summer. There's a lot of variables to this, and it's not 100% predictable."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/02/politics/mark-milley-afghanistan-us-withdraw-outcomes/index.html
