Former Officials Say Trump Planned to Keep Special Forces in Afghanistan to Prevent a CollapseKristina Wong 20 Aug 2021
Former senior Trump administration defense and intelligence officials watching the disaster unfolding this week in Afghanistan say that the incoming Biden administration rejected their plans for a stable withdrawal, which included keeping a small unit to conduct counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Taliban if necessary.
Three former senior officials told Breitbart News that the small force of about 800 U.S. troops would have been left in place to continue the counterterrorism mission, but to also provide intelligence and logistical support to the Afghan military and prevent the kind of collapse the world is witnessing now in Afghanistan.
“That was the hope…to be able to do the drone mission and the counterterrorism support, and also advising specifically the Afghan Special Forces who were doing a lot of the [counterterrorism] efforts…And Biden just pulled them out as well,” one former senior defense official said.
“We were going to be leaving a small force behind regardless,” a second former senior defense official said, adding about former President Donald Trump, “When things started to go bad, he’s changed. I mean, he had a history of changing his mind when it, when he realized it was going to go badly.”
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/20/former-officials-say-trump-planned-to-keep-special-forces-in-afghanistan-to-prevent-a-collapse/
