Trump’s transition team is compiling a list of high-ranking current and former U.S. military officers who were directly involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and is investigating whether they could be court-martialed for their involvement, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the plan. .
Transition officials are considering creating a commission to investigate the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, including gathering information on who is involved in decision-making for the military, how it is done and whether military leaders are appropriate. A US official and a person with knowledge of the plot said the charges were as serious as treason.
“They are taking it very seriously,” said a person familiar with the plan.
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Matt Flynn, the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats, is helping lead the effort, the sources said. It is framed as a review of how the US first entered the war in Afghanistan and how the US eventually withdrew.
President-elect Donald Trump condemned assessed his withdrawal as “humiliation” and “the most shameful day in the history of our country”.
It is unclear what would legally justify the charges of “treason” as military officers follow President Joe Biden’s order to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan.
2022 independent review The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for the chaotic 2021 US withdrawal.
Trump made a point first A deal with the Taliban in 2020 Withdraw all US forces, some 13,000 troops, from Afghanistan and release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison. The Biden administration then completed the withdrawal and greatly appreciated the ability of Afghan government forces to fight the Taliban on their own.
Trump’s defense secretary choice Fox News personality Pete HegsethHe criticized the withdrawal, saying that the United States had lost the war and wasted billions of dollars.
“The next president of the United States must fundamentally change the Pentagon’s senior leadership to prepare us to defend our nation and defeat our enemies,” Hegseth wrote in his book War on the Warriors. A lot of people need to be fired. The disaster in Afghanistan is, of course, the most obvious example.
Hegseth calls the withdrawal a “humiliating withdrawal” and says Pentagon leaders are not responsible for the deaths. Assault at Abbey GateIt killed 13 US service members and approximately 170 Afghan civilians. It also later denied responsibility for a US airstrike in Kabul, where officials thought the suicide attack would kill the leader of the Islamic State group but instead killed 10 innocent Afghans, including seven children.
“These generals were lying. They mismanaged. They broke their vows. They failed. They disgraced our army and our nation. They killed people unnecessarily,” he wrote. “And they continue their work until now. Worse, they continue to actively destroy our military and its values by surrendering to civilians with radical agendas. The stars are still a shame on their shoulders.”
A U.S. official said the transition team is considering recalling several commanders to active duty because of possible charges.
It’s unclear whether the Trump administration will pursue treason charges, focusing instead on lesser charges that highlight the officer’s involvement. “They want to set an example,” said a person familiar with the plan.
Howard Lutnick, one of two advisers who spoke to NBC News days before the election leading the transitionsaid that after his first administration, Trump learned that he hired Democratic generals and will not make this mistake again.
Former officials who served in Trump’s first administration said they advised Trump against policies they believed would weaken US national security, such as withdrawing US troops from Syria. And they have advised against actions they think could violate the Constitution or inflame domestic tensions, such as deploying active U.S. troops to quell protests after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.