Many operational, strategic efforts to be learned from Afghanistan: Pentagon
Sep 01, 2021
Washington [US], September 2 : As the US completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pentagon on Wednesday (local time) said that there are "many operational and strategic efforts to be learned" from the war-ravaged country.
"We will learn from this experience as a military. How we got to this moment in Afghanistan will be studied for years to come. We will approach this with humility, transparency and candor. There are many tactical, operational, and strategic lessons to be learned," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley said during a speech at the Pentagon on the end of the military mission in Afghanistan.
The United States forces left Afghanistan on Tuesday morning, marking the end of a chaotic and messy exit from America's longest war.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that "the key military tasks were; secure and defend Hamid Karzai International Airport, evacuate all embassy personnel, evacuate American citizens and other Afghans as designated by the Department of State, and retrograde all US military."
"We flew 387 US military C-17 and C-130 sorties and enabled 391 non-US military sorties. A total of 778 sorties evacuated a total of 124,334 people, including American citizens, third-country nationals, and Afghans designated by the Department of State," he added.
He further stated that "those 13 US soldiers, sailors, and Marines gave their lives so that others may live free. They literally gave their tomorrows for the tomorrows of people they never knew."
The situation in Afghanistan has been deteriorating after the Taliban seized control of the war-ravaged country earlier this month.
On August 15, the Afghan government fell soon after President Ashraf Ghani left the country.
