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From Fox News: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is instructing the Pentagon to launch a comprehensive review into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
President Joe Biden removed U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021, following up on existing plans from the first Trump administration in 2020 with Taliban leaders to end the war in the region.
Thirteen U.S. service members were killed during the withdrawal process due to a suicide bombing at Abbey Gate, outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport, and the Taliban quickly seized control of Kabul.
A press release posted to the Pentagon website reads:
Three and a half years ago the Biden Administration’s disastrous and embarrassing withdrawal from Afghanistan led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and 170 civilians in a suicide bombing at the Kabul International Airport’s Abbey Gate. President Trump promised accountability for what transpired during that military withdrawal, and I am committed to delivering on that promise. We have an obligation to the American people and to the warfighters who fought in Afghanistan to get the truth – and we will.
Today, I am directing the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and Senior Advisor Sean Parnell to convene a Special Review Panel for the Department into the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Sean Parnell spent 485 days serving in Afghanistan. Sean was wounded in action along with 85% of his platoon and lost countless friends to the War on Terror. It is fitting that he will lead the effort to reexamine previous Abbey Gate investigations conducted by U.S. Central Command during the Biden Administration.
In addition, Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, a combat-decorated Marine officer who spoke out about the Afghanistan withdrawal, and Jerry Dunleavy, an author, journalist, and investigator who helped lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s investigation into the Afghanistan withdraw, will serve on the Special Review Panel. Sean and his team will look at the facts, examine the sources, interview witnesses, analyze the decision making, and post-mortem the chain of events that led to one of America’s darkest moments. Sean and his team will provide updates at appropriate times to keep the American people informed of our findings and any directed actions resulting from our review.
A link to the memorandum can be found here: https://media.defense.gov/2025/May/20/2003719398/-1/-1/1/DEPARTMENTAL-REVIEW-OF-THE-US-MILITARY-WITHDRAWAL-FROM-AFGHANISTAN-IN-2021.PDF
Hegseth announced the investigation on X Tuesday afternoon, posting a copy of a memorandum:
Memo regarding the Review of the U.S. Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/2V7Dt8biOm
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) May 20, 2025
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