{"id":126692,"date":"2023-09-08T15:07:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T15:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/09\/08\/former-centcom-head-denies-abbey-gate-attack-warnings-were-ignored\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:23:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:23:56","slug":"former-centcom-head-denies-abbey-gate-attack-warnings-were-ignored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2023\/09\/08\/former-centcom-head-denies-abbey-gate-attack-warnings-were-ignored\/","title":{"rendered":"Former CENTCOM head denies Abbey Gate attack warnings were ignored"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The former head of U.S. Central Command<\/a> pushed back this week on accusations that military leaders could have prevented the suicide bombing that killed 13 American service members<\/a> in the final days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan<\/a>, insisting that intelligence reports were not as detailed as some critics believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were dealing with the possibility of a suicide vest attack but without specific description of the person we were dealing with,\u201d former Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie said in an interview with Fox News<\/a> on Thursday. \u201cWe were dealing with the possibility of an indirect fire attack, either rockets or mortars. But I do know that there was no intelligence to support the assertion that we knew what the bomber looked like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirteen U.S. troops and hundreds more Afghan civilians were killed on Aug. 26, 2021, in a suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate<\/a> outside Kabul\u2019s Hamid Karzai International Airport. The tragedy came amid a chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from the airfield as Taliban fighters retook control of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI believe history is going to view the decision to come out of Afghanistan in the way that we did and the manner that we were directed to come out as a fatal flaw. I think history is going to be very hard on that.\u201d<\/p>\n\nRetired Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, former head of U.S. Central Command<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Military leaders \u2014 McKenzie in particular \u2014 have come under renewed criticism in recent weeks for failing to prevent the tragedy. During a congressional event last month<\/a>, House Republicans and family members of the troops killed accused administration officials of ignoring intelligence reports in the days before the attack, which could have possibly prevented the massive loss of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last March, former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee<\/a> that troops on the ground spotted a man fitting the description of a suspected suicide bomber hours before the attack, but were denied the authority to detain or kill the suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKenzie said no such specific intelligence of the attacker existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can tell you there was no \u2018be on the lookout for a person meeting that description\u2019 warning on that day or prior to that day in Afghanistan,\u201d he told Fox News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former commander also dismissed reports that U.S. forces had known the location of the attacker days prior, but failed to take steps to stop him. \u201cWe just didn\u2019t have that fidelity of information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t