More than $7 billion worth of US-provided military equipment was in the hands of the Western-backed Afghan government when it collapsed last year — and much of it fell into the hands of the Taliban after the Biden bugout, the Defense Department’s inspector general said in a report released Tuesday.
His death could prompt al-Qaeda supporters or other linked terror groups to target US facilities and personnel, said the state department.
Zawahiri was killed by a US drone in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday.
This week, McKenzie testified in the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“ISIS and AQ (al Qaeda) are seeking to exploit a reduction of U.S. CT (counter-terrorism) efforts in Afghanistan to reinvigorate their adherents and increase their ability to plot and direct external attacks,” McKenzie said in written testimony.
President Biden on Thursday said he rejected the accounts and findings of an Army investigative report in which military officials reportedly criticized Biden administration officials for failing to grasp the situation in Afghanistan as U.S. forces withdrew.
The Department of Defense (DOD) was warned that the Afghan Air Force would collapse without help from the U.S. months before President Joe Biden announced the country would withdraw from Afghanistan, according to a declassified watchdog report.
Success of Kabul’s undercover network, loyal to the Haqqanis, changed balance of power within Taliban after U.S. withdrawal
Republicans on the House Committee on Natural Resources held a forum on Oct. 22 to discuss how President Biden’s exit from Afghanistan left massive, untapped reserves of rare earth metals, lithium, and other vital minerals in the Taliban’s hands, potentially opening them up to exploitation by China.
They supported leaving 2,500 U.S. troops in the country and have doubts about the ‘over-the-horizon’ counterterror strategy.
With close ties to al Qaeda, the network’s influence and network are likely to grow within Afghanistan and beyond.
The new government in Kabul isn’t Version 2 and doesn’t belong in the United Nations.
Another Devil’s advocate © 2021. All rights reserved.