Trump team begins compiling list of officers for possible court martial over withdrawal from Afghanistan

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The transition team of US President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly compiling a list of former and current senior US military officers directly involved in the “disrespectful” withdrawal from Afghanistan to determine whether they could face court martial.

Trump’s team is exploring the possibility of forming a commission to investigate the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, NBC News reported on Sunday.

This effort would focus on identifying those directly involved in the decision-making process, examining how the withdrawal was executed, and determining whether military leaders could potentially face charges, including treason, the broadcaster said, citing a US official and a source familiar with the plans.

“They’re taking it very seriously,” the person with knowledge of the plan told NBC News, adding that Matt Flynn, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence for counternarcotic and global threats, is helping to lead the effort.

The US presence in Afghanistan, which began in October 2001, ended after 20 years with the withdrawal of American troops in 2021.

The panicked evacuation, coming weeks after Biden predicted the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan was not inevitable, dented America’s image on the global stage just as Biden sought to emphasise to world leaders that “America is back” after former president Donald Trump’s tumultuous first term in the White House.

Republican lawmakers have blamed the Biden administration for the “failed” withdrawal and chaos at Kabul’s airport.

In August 2021, Afghanistan’s embattled president Ashraf Ghani left the country, joining foreigners and locals in a stampede fle­e­ing the advancing Taliban.

At least five people were killed as thousands packed into the Afghan capital’s airport when the government fell, rushing the tarmac and pushing onto planes in desperate attempts to flee the country.