Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has shared that he has “no regrets” over the way in which the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, during which 13 service members and hundreds of civilians were killed in a suicide bombing attack near the Kabul airport.
Austin made the admission before lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee on March 29 during a hearing to discuss President Joe Biden’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2024.
During his testimony, Austin was asked by Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who has served in Afghanistan, whether he had any regrets about the withdrawal from the country after the leader of the U.S.-backed Afghan government fled and the capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban….