The United States plans to release a final report on the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan by the end of this summer, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Friday, describing the review as a comprehensive examination of the 2021 exit.
Hegseth said the Pentagon had completed a detailed assessment of the withdrawal and would soon make its findings public.
Speaking at a news conference, he characterized the operation as “catastrophic” and said the report would cover all stages of the process, including decisions leading up to the evacuation.
“You mentioned the Marines at Abbey Gate, and, you know, what we’ve undertaken at this department is a historic, Afghanistan review,” Hegseth told reporters. “So we have, over the course of months, reviewed what happened leading up to and including the events at Abbey Gate and the disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan. There’s never actually been a full accounting in this department of the decisions that were made.”
Hegseth also renewed criticism of the previous administration, arguing that the withdrawal had negative consequences for the United States globally and signaled weakness to adversaries.
The US military completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, ending two decades of war.
The evacuation was marked by a deadly suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport on Aug. 26, 2021, which killed 13 American service members and more than 170 Afghan civilians.
The withdrawal has remained a central issue in American political debate. President Trump has repeatedly criticized the operation, calling it one of the most “shameful” episodes in US history.
