U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered a review of the "catastrophic" Afghanistan withdrawal under the Biden administration, during which 13 U.S. service members were killed in a terror bombing.
Critics have accused President Joe Biden of mishandling the withdrawal so egregiously that it allowed the suicide bomber to take more than a dozen U.S. lives, as well as those of 170 Afghans, in August 2021. The bomber struck the Abbey Gate at the the Kabul International Airport.
'The Department of Defense has an obligation, both to the American people and to the warfighters who sacrificed their youth in Afghanistan, to get to the facts.'
On Tuesday, Hegseth said a review of the incident was necessary to assure that those responsible for the deaths of service members were taken to task.
"President Trump and I have formally pledged full transparency for what transpired during our military withdrawal from Afghanistan," read a statement from Hegseth. "The Department of Defense has an obligation, both to the American people and to the warfighters who sacrificed their youth in Afghanistan, to get to the facts. This remains an important step toward regaining faith and trust with the American people and all those who wear the uniform and is prudent based on the number of casualties and equipment lost during the execution of this withdrawal operation.
