Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth directed a special review panel to be convened, examining the disastrous American withdrawal from Afghanistan and identifying the shot-callers that effectively handed control of the country back to the Taliban.
A Tuesday memo from Hegseth outlined the reasons for this much-needed review.
“President Trump and I have formally pledged full transparency for what transpired during our military withdrawal from Afghanistan,” the memo read.
“The Department of Defense has an obligation,” it continued, “both to the American people and to the warfighters who sacrificed their youth in Afghanistan, to get to the facts.”
The withdrawal has its foundations in a deal struck between the Taliban and the first administration of President Donald Trump. Although NATO forces were originally supposed to be out of Afghanistan by May 2021, this was later extended to August of the same year.
Former President Joe Biden set the final date that all American forces would be out of Afghanistan for August 31, 2021.
The hasty and poorly-planned maneuvers to move Americans and Afghan allies out of the country soon fell apart as the Taliban executed an aggressive general offensive.
The Afghan National Security Forces, which included the country’s military and police forces, proved to be laughably unprepared without American support and quickly folded in the face of jihadi assaults. Many of the defenders of the Afghan nation simply threw down their arms and ran.
Taliban fighters rolled up Afghan forces that Americans spent 20 years building and training in a matter of days.
Will this panel identify those responsible for the botched withdrawal?
The blitz landed the Taliban countless caches of American military hardware, including M4 rifles, explosives, helicopters, and Humvees.
If you pay taxes, this is your money, converted to military hardware, virtually gifted to violent extremists.
The withdrawal was not bloodless for America.
During the airlift out of the Kabul International Airport, the main artery out of Afghanistan for remaining U.S. forces, a suicide bombing at a gate to the facility took the lives of 13 American service members and around 170 Afghans. It was one of the deadliest days since the war began.
This has not been forgotten by the Pentagon’s new leadership. What Hegseth has to say about it should terrify anyone involved in the planning of this withdrawal.
“Over the last three months,” Hegseth’s memo continued, “the Department has been engaged in a review of this catastrophic event in our military’s history. I have concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people.
“To meet this imperative, I am directing the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (ATSD-PA) and Senior Advisor, Sean Parnell to convene a Special Review Panel (SRP) for the Department who will thoroughly examine previous investigations, to include but not limited to, findings of fact, sources, witnesses, and analyze the decision making that led to one of America’s darkest and deadliest international moments.”
Hegseth vowed the team would ensure accountability to Americans and those that served in Afghanistan.
Read his full memo below.
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
The people who forced this disgrace on America must be held accountable, and our future leaders must learn from their deadly oversights.
We cannot afford to let this go unanswered.
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