Trump’s transition team will compile a list of current and former U.S. military officials directly involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and could face court-martial for their involvement, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with the plan. We are considering whether
Officials working on the transition are considering forming a commission to investigate the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, including who was directly involved in military decision-making and how it was handled. This includes gathering information on whether the move was carried out and whether military leaders are eligible to withdraw. The charges are as serious as treason, U.S. officials and people familiar with the plan said.
“They are taking this plan very seriously,” said a person familiar with the plan.
President Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment.
Matt Flynn, the former assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats, is helping lead the effort, sources said. The book is framed as a look back at how the United States first entered the Afghanistan war and how it ultimately exited.
President-elect Donald Trump called the withdrawal a “humiliation” and “the most embarrassing day in our nation’s history.”
But it’s unclear what legally justifies “treason,” as the military officers were following President Joe Biden’s order to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
A 2022 independent investigation by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal.
For the first time in 2020, President Trump reached an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw about 13,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan and release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison. The Biden administration then completed its withdrawal, grossly overestimating the ability of Afghan government forces to fight the Taliban on their own.
Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s pick for defense secretary, criticized the withdrawal, saying the U.S. lost the war and wasted billions of dollars.
In his book War with the Warrior, Hegseth writes, “The next president of the United States must overhaul the senior leadership of the Department of Defense to ensure it is ready to protect our country and defeat our enemies.” Yes, many people need to be laid off. Of course, the tragedy in Afghanistan is the most obvious example.
Hegseth called the withdrawal a “humiliating withdrawal” and held Pentagon leaders accountable for the deadly Abbey Gate attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and about 170 Afghan civilians. He said he had not. Nor was he held responsible for a subsequent Kabul airstrike that authorities believed would kill the Islamic State group leader behind the suicide bombings, instead killing 10 innocent Afghans, including seven children. He wrote that he had been murdered.
“Those generals lied. They mismanaged. They broke their oath. They failed. They disgraced our military and our nation. They needlessly I killed him,” he wrote. “And for now, they continue to do their job. Worse, they continue to actively erode our military and its values by capitulating to civilians with extremist intentions. It’s embarrassing that they still have stars on their shoulders.”
U.S. officials say the transition team is considering the possibility of returning several commanders to active duty because of the charges.
It is unclear whether the Trump administration will pursue treason charges, and instead may focus on lesser charges that highlight the involvement of officers. “They want to set an example,” said a person familiar with the plan.
Howard Lutnick, one of the two advisers leading the transition, told NBC News days before the election that Trump had learned that he had hired Democratic generals after his first administration and that he would never do the same again. He said he would not make any mistakes.
Former officials who worked in Trump’s first administration said they did not advise him on policies that they believed would undermine U.S. national security, such as withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria. and actions that appear to violate the Constitution or have the potential to inflame domestic tensions, such as sending active-duty U.S. troops to quell protests after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd. recommended not to do so.
