Former military leaders who oversaw Afghan withdrawal to testify to Congress
By
Mike Brest
March 19, 2024 4:00 am
Two former senior U.S. military leaders who oversaw the United States’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 are set to testify in front of a House committee on Tuesday afternoon.
Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who retired this past fall, and Frank McKenzie, the former commander of U.S. Central Command who left his position in 2022, will appear in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. While both leaders have testified in front of Congress in the past, it will be their first time as retired officials, which could allow them to speak more freely.
Tuesday’s hearing is the latest development for the Foreign Affairs Committee’s investigation into the Afghanistan withdrawal. Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) started the investigation once the GOP gained the House majority in the 2022 midterm elections.
“On April 14, 2021, President Biden announced the United States would unilaterally withdraw
its military forces from Afghanistan. For months before that announcement, the intelligence community and his senior military advisers, including both gentlemen testifying here today, issued dire warnings about the withdrawal’s consequences,” McCaul will say during his opening remarks, according to a copy obtained by the Washington Examiner.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense/2926835/former-military-leaders-who-oversaw-afghan-withdrawal-to-testify-to-congress/
