KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pledged to examine the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and ensure accountability for those responsible.
Speaking at an event in the Pentagon on Friday, Hegseth, a US veteran who served in Afghanistan, said the pullout had projected an image of weakness for the United States on the global stage.
“We are going to look back at what happened in Afghanistan and hold people accountable—not to be retrospective, not for retribution, but to understand what went wrong and why there was no accountability for it,” he said.
“Unfortunately, in the past couple of years, we’ve seen events that created the perception, reality or perception—but I would argue more perception—of American weakness,” Hegseth said, adding that his goal is to “reestablish that deterrence.”
The US withdrew its forces from Afghanistan in August 2021 following a deal with the Taliban signed in Doha, Qatar a year earlier. The departure led to the swift collapse of the Western-backed government and the Taliban’s return to power.
The withdrawal was marred by chaos, including a deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport on August 26, later claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). The attack killed 13 US service members and at least 170 Afghans as thousands of desperate people rushed to the airport in an attempt to flee the country.
US lawmakers, particularly Republicans, have since criticized the Biden administration for its handling of the withdrawal and its approach to engaging with the Taliban.
President Joe Biden, however, has repeatedly defended his decision, insisting that ending America’s longest war was the right course of action.
“When I came to office, Afghanistan had replaced Vietnam as America’s longest war. I was determined to end it. And I did,” Biden said during the 59th session of the UN General Assembly last year.
“It was a hard decision, but the right decision,” he added.
