Secretary of State Pete Hegseth claimed the Pentagon is doing a "full review" of the Biden administration's "botched withdrawal of Afghanistan" ahead of a meeting at the White House.
"We're doing a complete review of every single aspect of what happened with the botched withdrawal of Afghanistan and plan to have full accountability," Hegseth said before the Trump administration's first full Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, according to the Washington Examiner. "We're taking a very different view, obviously, than the previous administration, and there will be full accountability."
During the meeting, President Donald Trump outlined the many ways he believed the Biden administration mishandled the withdrawal, including leaving behind "billions, tens of billions of dollars worth of equipment." He then stated he would not tell Hegseth what to do, but, if it were up to him, he would fire all the military leaders involved in the August 2021 withdrawal.
Trump then declared the U.S. should have kept control of Bagram Air Base, which was once America's largest military bases in Afghanistan, The Hill reported. He went on to claim it has since been taken over by the Taliban followed by China's People's Liberation Army, which Chinese officials have repeatedly denied.
Hegseth and Trump's comments at Wednesday's meeting signal deeper cuts at the Department of Defense. The president and secretary have already fired top military leaders, including Gen. Charles Q. Brown, who was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife and the top lawyers at three of the service branches. The department also plans to lay off more than 5,000 probationary employees in the near future.
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