{"id":69689,"date":"2021-05-19T19:14:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T19:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/05\/19\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:13:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:13:26","slug":"top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/19\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Top US general in the Mideast to recommend post-withdrawal plan for Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT \u2014 The top U.S. commander for the Middle East said Wednesday he will make recommendations to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in early June on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/12\/dod-stays-mum-on-regional-troop-presence-plans-after-afghanistan-withdrawal\/\" target=\"_blank\"> how to monitor and fight terrorist groups in Afghanistan <\/a>from beyond its borders after all American forces withdraw. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said negotiations with Afghanistan\u2019s neighbors for overflight rights and troop basing are \u201cmoving forward\u201d but will take time. As a result, he said, the way the United States keeps an eye on the terrorist threat and aids the Afghan military will evolve as agreements are reached or security conditions on the ground change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He cautioned that this will be a \u201ctaxing time\u201d for the Afghan military and \u201cthe risk is high.\u201d<\/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\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/12\/dod-stays-mum-on-regional-troop-presence-plans-after-afghanistan-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=\"167\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/297215.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\">DoD stays mum on regional troop presence plans after Afghanistan withdrawal<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Military officials say they will be able to respond to terrorism threats in Afghanistan even without troops on the ground there, but details are scarce.<\/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\">Speaking to reporters from The Associated Press and ABC News traveling with him to the Middle East, McKenzie declined to provide details about the recommendations he will make to Austin. He said he will also provide cost estimates for keeping surveillance aircraft over Afghanistan regularly enough to keep track of terrorist groups after the U.S. pullout is completed no later than Sept. 11. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McKenzie has made it clear that without any bases in neighboring countries, it will require far more aircraft to keep watch over Afghanistan because they will have to fly for four hours to six hours from other U.S. military installations in the Middle East. The flight distance severely limits the amount of time the aircraft can spend in the air over Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Military leaders are grappling with how best to carry out President Joe Biden\u2019s order to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by September while still providing support to the Afghan forces and monitoring the threat that prompted the U.S. invasion of the country after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commanders have said they will monitor threats from \u201cover the horizon,\u201d to ensure that terrorists cannot again use Afghanistan as a base to launch attacks against the U.S. But they have acknowledged that the U.S. does not yet have any agreements for basing or overflights from any of the neighboring countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McKenzie said he is confident the U.S. will get the access it needs. But as yet, there are no firm solutions or decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, Pentagon leaders and Congress members have expressed concerns that once the U.S. leaves, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/04\/22\/afghan-military-will-collapse-without-some-us-help-says-top-general-in-the-middle-east\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Afghan government and its military<\/a> will be quickly overrun by the Taliban. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2021\/03\/14\/afghan-official-says-security-forces-can-hold-their-own-against-taliban-if-us-troops-withdraw\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Afghan military<\/a>, particularly its air force, has been heavily dependent on the U.S. for maintenance and training, as well as for combat air support when its troops are under attack. McKenzie said he believes the Afghans have a \u201cfighting chance\u201d to be successful and defend themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s time for the Afghan military to stand up and show that they can fight alone,\u201d said McKenzie. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be a very taxing time for them. I think certainly there is a path for them to preserve what they have now. The risk is high. I don\u2019t want to minimize that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said that while the Taliban have not been attacking the U.S. or coalition troops, the violence against the Afghan people and the country\u2019s military forces has been very high.<\/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\">U.S. lawmakers have said they believe there is no chance the Taliban will abide by the commitments their leaders made in a February 2020 agreement with the Trump administration, which included engaging in sustained peace negotiations and severing all forms of cooperation with and support for al-Qaida. Members of Congress also worry that al-Qaida and the Islamic State group will take advantage of the chaos and regroup, with a goal of attacking the U.S. again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McKenzie said that both al-Qaida and ISIS have been degraded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur concern would be that ungoverned spaces open in Afghanistan and they are able to reassert themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cThis would not be immediate. I don\u2019t think anybody (thinks) this is something that will happen next month or even in the next six months. But eventually they will gather their strength again and they\u2019ll be a threat to our homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Washington\u2019s special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, told a House hearing Tuesday that it is <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\">unduly pessimistic <\/a>to predict that the Kabul government or Afghan military will be quickly overrun by the Taliban once U.S. and coalition forces withdraw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the Taliban have reason not to push for a military victory and instead pursue a negotiated political settlement that could give them international legitimacy and removal from certain American and United Nations sanctions. He recently met with Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar, as part of a round of consultations with interested parties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said negotiations with Afghanistan&#8217;s neighbors for overflight rights and troop basing are \u201cmoving forward\u201d but will take time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":61224,"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":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,89,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1354],"class_list":["post-69689","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":"UQT7SOMJLVBLLBGPVVFOLHKPKE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/19\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\/","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 in the Mideast to recommend post-withdrawal plan for Afghanistan - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said negotiations with Afghanistan&#039;s neighbors for overflight rights and troop basing are \u201cmoving forward\u201d but will take time.\" \/>\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 in the Mideast to recommend post-withdrawal plan for Afghanistan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said negotiations with Afghanistan&#039;s neighbors for overflight rights and troop basing are \u201cmoving forward\u201d but will take time.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/19\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-19T19:14:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T14:13:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lolita C. Baldor, 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=\"Lolita C. Baldor, 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\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Top US general in the Mideast to recommend post-withdrawal plan for Afghanistan\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-05-19T19:14:58+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T14:13:26+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 807,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP21112767330689.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; Congress\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Top US general in the Mideast to recommend post-withdrawal plan for Afghanistan - Navy Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/19\\\/top-us-general-in-the-mideast-to-recommend-post-withdrawal-plan-for-afghanistan\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP21112767330689.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-05-19T19:14:58+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T14:13:26+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Gen. 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