WASHINGTON — When Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III convened his military brain trust last Thursday on a classified videoconference for an update on Afghanistan, commanders had reason to feel positive. The American troop drawdown that President Biden ordered in April was complete — two months ahead of schedule. There was even talk that the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin S. Miller, would leave for good in a few days. The Afghan Army was reeling from a series of defeats in battles against the Taliban. With the White House’s blessing, Mr. Austin, a retired four-star Army general who oversaw the American troop withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, ordered a series of steps to slow the pace of the final withdrawal from America’s longest war.

Source: International New York Times July 04, 2021 15:33 UTC