Former CENTCOM commander wanted troops to stay in Afghanistan ‘indefinitely’

Mike Brest

August 12, 07:00 AM August 12, 07:01 AM

Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command at this time last year when the military withdrew from Afghanistan, believed troops should've been kept there "indefinitely."

McKenzie initially recommended that the United States maintain a force presence of 4,500, and then when the military dropped its level to 2,500 in the final days of the Trump administration, it was his recommendation that they keep it there, he told Politico in an interview about the first anniversary of the withdrawal.

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"It was my opinion that if we went from 2,500 to zero, the government of Afghanistan would not be able to sustain itself and would collapse," he explained.

McKenzie preemptively responded to the critics of his belief that they should've kept a troop presence "indefinitely," saying, "I know the criticism: The Taliban are going to come after you, and you’re going to have to beef up your forces. The commander on the ground and I didn’t believe that was necessarily the case. For one thing, at 2,500, we were down to a pretty lean combat capability, not a lot of attack surface there for the Taliban to get at. Two, we would have coupled the 2,500 presence with a strong diplomatic campaign to put pressure on the Taliban."

He continued: "What would have happened if we stayed at 2,500? It’s just difficult to know that. Here’s what we do know as a matter of history — if you go to zero, they collapse."

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The Trump administration first agreed to withdraw U.S. forces when it signed the Doha Agreement with the Taliban on Fed. 29. 2020, to ensure the military left by May 1, 2021. President Joe Biden decided to extend their presence until Sept. 11, though he then moved it up to the end of August.

The Taliban launched a military offensive in early August ahead of the impending U.S. withdrawal and were able to swiftly overthrow the U.S.-backed Ghani government. The military then launched a noncombatant evacuation operation in which they were able to transport more than 120,000 Afghans who were afraid of living under a Taliban regime, though thousands of Afghan allies were left behind.