Hegseth Launches Task Force To Probe Afghanistan Withdrawal

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the creation of a special review panel on Tuesday to investigate the Biden administration’s “chaotic” 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.

“President Trump and I have formally pledged full transparency for what transpired during our military withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Department of Defense has an obligation, both to the American people and to the warfighters who sacrificed their youth in Afghanistan, to get to the facts,” Hegseth wrote in an agency memo released on Tuesday.

In his directive, Hegseth disclosed that the Defense Department has been conducting “a review” throughout the past three months of what the secretary described as a “catastrophic event in our military’s history.” Based on the probe’s findings, Hegseth “concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people.”

The memo tasks Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and Senior Advisor Sean Parnell to “convene a Special Review Panel (SRP) for the Department who will thoroughly examine previous investigations.” As noted in a Defense Department press release, Parnell spent 485 days stationed in Afghanistan and was “wounded in action” along with many of his fellow soldiers.

According to the directive, the agency’s Parnell-led investigation will “include but [is] not limited to, findings of fact, sources, witnesses, and analyz[ing] the decision making that led to one of America’s darkest and deadliest international moments.”

“This team will ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation,” Hegseth wrote.

As highlighted in the memo, the consequences stemming from the Biden-led withdrawal from Afghanistan were severe.

The disastrous pullout led to the deaths of 13 American service members and resulted in billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. military equipment ending up in the hands of the Taliban. As The Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson previously reported, members of the terrorist group flaunted their possession of such weaponry while marching in their “‘Victory Day’ parade” in Kabul.

President Trump is among the numerous public officials to criticize the Biden administration’s withdrawal from the region. During his October 2024 interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Trump blasted Biden for the “horribly” managed pullout, pointing to the decision to withdraw American military personnel before all U.S. civilians were evacuated from the country.

“Number one, you take the soldiers out last, not first. … That was their big mistake,” Trump said. Biden “left the equipment behind, 13 soldiers dead [because of it], but he took everybody out. He took his soldiers out before — a child would know [better].”