Trump ordered rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan after election loss – By Leo Shane III (Military Times) / Oct 13, 2022
President Donald Trump ordered a rapid withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Somalia in the wake of his 2020 election loss, but senior officials never followed through on the plan, according to testimony released by the congressional January 6 committee on Thursday.
“The order was for an immediate withdrawal, and it would have been catastrophic,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of two Republican members of the special panel. “And yet President Trump signed the order.”
Witnesses who spoke to the committee about the surprise withdrawal plan included Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, former national security advisor to the vice president Keith Kellogg, and several other senior officials in the Trump administration.
Committee officials played video clips of their testimony during Thursday’s 10th hearing on the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. The event is expected to be the final public meeting of the panel.
