{"id":56222,"date":"2021-06-29T18:51:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T18:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/06\/29\/top-us-general-says-security-in-afghanistan-deteriorating\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:08:25","slug":"top-us-general-says-security-in-afghanistan-deteriorating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/06\/29\/top-us-general-says-security-in-afghanistan-deteriorating\/","title":{"rendered":"Top US general says security in Afghanistan deteriorating"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KABUL, Afghanistan \u2014 The U.S.\u2019s top general in Afghanistan on Tuesday gave a sobering assessment of the country\u2019s deteriorating security situation as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2021\/06\/28\/reagan-carrier-strike-group-now-operating-in-5th-fleet-amid-afghanistan-withdrawal\/\" target=\"_blank\">America winds down its so-called \u201cforever war.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gen. Austin S. Miller said the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2021\/04\/30\/pentagon-preparing-for-taliban-attacks-during-us-withdrawal\/\" target=\"_blank\"> rapid loss of districts around the country to the Taliban<\/a> \u2014 several with significant strategic value \u2014 is worrisome. He also cautioned that the militias deployed to help the beleaguered national security forces could lead the country into civil war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller told a small group of reporters in the Afghan capital that for now he has the weapons and the capability to aid Afghanistan\u2019s National Defense and Security Forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat I don\u2019t want to do is speculate what that (support) looks like in the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/04\/30\/pentagon-preparing-for-taliban-attacks-during-us-withdrawal\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6565451.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pentagon preparing for Taliban attacks during US withdrawal from Afghanistan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Taliban said it will consider the United States to be in violation of the agreement for missing the May 1 deadline for full withdrawal.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in meetings at the White House last week with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/06\/27\/biden-vows-sustained-help-as-afghanistan-troop-drawdown-nears\/\" target=\"_blank\">President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah<\/a> \u2014 the Afghan official tasked with making peace with the Taliban \u2014 President Joe Biden said the U.S. was committed to humanitarian and security assistance to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the president also said that keeping U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan defied a peace deal the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban and that wasn\u2019t a risk he was prepared to take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGiven the timeline set by the prior administration, that if we did not withdraw our troops, U.S. men and women would be facing fire from on the ground and that was not something as the commander in chief, that he felt was acceptable,\u201d Psaki said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Washington signed a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/02\/29\/all-us-troops-to-leave-afghanistan-in-14-months-if-taliban-meets-commitments-of-peace-deal-signed-today\/\" target=\"_blank\"> peace deal with the Taliban in February 2020<\/a>. It laid out the promise of a U.S. withdrawal and commitments by the Taliban to ensure Afghanistan does not harbor militants that can attack the United States. The details of those commitments have never been made public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Taliban have accused Washington of breaking the agreement, which called for all troops to be out by May 1, the date the final withdrawal began. U.S. officials have said the Taliban have made some progress, but it\u2019s not clear whether the insurgent group has kept its end of the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The insurgent group issued orders to commanders against allowing foreign fighters among their ranks, but evidence continues to surface that non-Afghans are on the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, Miller was insistent that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/11\/01\/this-is-not-going-to-be-won-militarily-top-us-commander-in-afghanistan-reveals-pessimism\/\" target=\"_blank\">only a political solution will bring peace<\/a> to the war-tortured nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is a political settlement that brings peace to Afghanistan. And it\u2019s not just the last 20 years. It\u2019s really the last 42 years,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller was referring to not only the U.S. war but that of Russia\u2019s 10-year occupation that ended in 1989. That conflict was followed by a brutal civil war fought by some of the same Afghan leaders deploying militias against the Taliban. The civil war gave rise to the Taliban, who took power in 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">American officials have said the entire pullout of U.S. troops will most likely be completed by July 4. But Miller refused to give any date or time frame, referring only to the Sept. 11 timeline given by Biden in April when he announced the withdrawal of the remaining 2,500-3,500 American troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/06\/29\/its-imminent-after-nearly-20-years-us-to-leave-bagram\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21179473106794.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">It\u2019s imminent: After nearly 20 years US to leave Bagram<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. Central Command said last week that it\u2019s well past 50 percent done packing up Bagram Airfield, and the rest is going fast.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Taliban fighters have been over-running districts in rapid succession, many of them in the north of the country, which is dominated by Afghanistan\u2019s minorities. The north is also the traditional stronghold of many former mujahedeen leaders who have been a dominant force in Afghanistan since driving the Taliban from power in 2001 together with the U.S.-led coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several of the districts are on key roads and one is on the border with northern Tajikistan. The Taliban have issued statements saying hundreds of Afghan security forces have surrendered, most of them going to their homes after being recorded on video receiving transportation money from the Taliban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller said there are multiple reasons for the collapse of these districts, including troop fatigue and surrender, psychological defeat and military defeat. But he said the escalating violence puts the country at risk of falling into a deadly civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/05\/02\/top-us-general-afghan-forces-could-face-bad-possible-outcomes\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21121128137856.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Top US general: Afghan forces could face \u2018bad possible outcomes\u2019<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Gen. Mark Milley declined to say whether Afghanistan&#039;s security forces are fully ready to stand up to the Taliban without direct international backing during a potential Taliban offensive.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Going forward, the Afghan defense forces must focus on consolidating their strengths and establishing strategic areas and protecting them, Miller said. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/18\/fear-of-taliban-conquering-kabul-are-overblown-says-us-envoy-to-afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\">Losing districts to the Taliban<\/a> that allows them to sever transportation and communication links threatens provincial capitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs we start talking about how does this all end, the way it must end for the Afghan people is something that revolves around a political solution,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve also said that if you don\u2019t reduce the violence, that political solution becomes more and more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller refused to say where the U.S. and its NATO allies were in the withdrawal process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said his time as the head of the U.S.\u2019s military mission in Afghanistan was coming to an end, without giving a date, though the press briefing had the feeling of a farewell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller wouldn\u2019t speculate on the legacy of America\u2019s longest war, saying it will be for history to decide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe future will tell the rest of the story,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we will have to do is make an honest assessment of what went well and what didn\u2019t go so well over the years as we work forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gen. Austin S. Miller said the rapid loss of districts around the country to the Taliban \u2014 several with significant strategic value \u2014 is worrisome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":91837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,23,93,12,25,68],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2154],"class_list":["post-56222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"TK6GNVFGDFE27E2OPNSVWUHADE","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2021\/06\/29\/top-us-general-says-security-in-afghanistan-deteriorating\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Top US general says security in Afghanistan deteriorating - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gen. Austin S. Miller said the rapid loss of districts around the country to the Taliban \u2014 several with significant strategic value \u2014 is worrisome.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top US general says security in Afghanistan deteriorating\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gen. Austin S. Miller said the rapid loss of districts around the country to the Taliban \u2014 several with significant strategic value \u2014 is worrisome.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/06\/29\/top-us-general-says-security-in-afghanistan-deteriorating\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-29T18:51:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T09:08:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kathy Gannon, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kathy Gannon, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/29\\\/top-us-general-says-security-in-afghanistan-deteriorating\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/29\\\/top-us-general-says-security-in-afghanistan-deteriorating\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Top US general says security in Afghanistan deteriorating\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-06-29T18:51:52+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T09:08:25+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/29\\\/top-us-general-says-security-in-afghanistan-deteriorating\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 886,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2021\\\/06\\\/29\\\/top-us-general-says-security-in-afghanistan-deteriorating\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP21180507653091.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Flashpoints\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Pentagon &amp; 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