Defense Sec. Hegseth vows ‘full accountability’ for those responsible
President Donald Trump called for the United States to reclaim the $7 billion worth of military equipment left behind during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan and demanded accountability for the officials involved in the plan to exit the region.
During the first cabinet meeting of his second administration on Wednesday, Trump condemned the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as a “horrible display,” predicting that the military leaders behind the decision will soon be gone.
“We left billions, tens of billions of dollars worth of equipment behind, brand new trucks. You see them display it every year on their little roadway, someplace where they have a road, and they drive, you know, waving the flag and talking about America. … That’s all the top of the line stuff,” Trump said. “I think we should get a lot of that equipment back.”
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President Joe Biden and his administration have faced repeated criticism over the execution of the Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021, which resulted in the Taliban taking control of the country about two decades after U.S.-led forces toppled their regime. The war in Afghanistan was the longest war in U.S. history.
While U.S. troops removed or destroyed major assets during the drawdown in 2021, the Taliban seized U.S.-funded equipment that was in the inventory of the former Afghan government.
According to a 2022 Department of Defense report, the equipment valued at $7 billion included military aircraft, ground vehicles and weapons. Officials questioned the condition of the weapons and other materials and their operability without U.S. maintenance.
Last year, multiple media outletsreported on the Taliban parading U.S. military equipment and vehicles left behind during the withdrawal to celebrate its return to power.
The Republican president responded to a question on Wednesday about whether he plans to fire the military officials who oversaw the removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Trump gestured to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, indicating the decision was up to him.
“I’m not going to tell this man what to do, but I will say that if I had his place, I’d fire every single one of them,” Trump said.
Hegseth confirmed that the Department of Defense is conducting a complete review of what he described as “the botched” Afghanistan withdrawal, and he promised “full accountability” for those responsible.
“That was so badly handled, and I would think that most of those people are going to be gone,” Trump said after Hegseth made his remarks.
Trump has been supportive of the idea behind withdrawing from Afghanistan, and troops were reduced following an agreement with the Taliban in the final year of his first term which dictated a complete pullout by May 2021 if the Taliban upheld their end of the deal.
In a 2023 report, the Biden White House contended Trump’s insistence for a complete withdrawal during his first term placed them in a tough situation, claiming the Trump administration provided “no plans for how to conduct the final withdrawal or to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies.”
The Biden administration report concluded that the situation shows the “critical importance of detailed and effective transition coordination, especially when it comes to complex military operations for which decisions and execution pass from one administration to the next, and consequential deals struck late in the outgoing administration whose implementation will fall largely to the incoming administration.”
In Wednesday’s meeting, Trump called on the Taliban to return U.S. military equipment, stating that the Islamist terrorist group is selling the American gear. The president claimed that Afghanistan has become “one of the biggest sellers of military equipment in the world.”
“I think they should give our equipment back. And I told Pete to study that,” Trump said.
In addition to U.S. equipment, American citizens and allies were also left behind in Afghanistan following the removal of troops. Thirteen U.S. service members also perished in a suicide bombing at Abbey Gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport amid the chaos of Afghans and American citizens attempting to flee the country.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the Islamist group continues to enact a strict interpretation of Sharia Law, which has been detrimental to Afghan women.
In August, the Taliban passed several “vice and virtue” laws, prohibiting women from speaking in public and looking at men who are not related to them. Women are also forbidden from venturing outside of the home unless accompanied by a man, and they must cover their faces and wear thick clothing so men are not tempted.
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, denounced the vice and virtue laws in a U.N. report.
“This is utterly intolerable,” Shamdasani stated. “We call on the de facto authorities to immediately repeal this legislation, which is in clear violation of Afghanistan’s obligations under international human rights law.”
