Afghan troops could face ‘bad possible outcomes,’ US commander says

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said that Afghan troops could face “bad possible outcomes” when U.S. troops leave Afghanistan in September, Associated Press reported.

Speaking to reporters from CNN and AP during a flight from Hawaii to Washington hours after he formally kicked off the withdrawal, Milley was ask if he believed Afghan forces can hold up under increased strain. 

“Your question: The Afghan army, do they stay together and remain a cohesive fighting force or do they fall apart? I think there’s a range of scenarios here, a range of outcomes, a range of possibilities,” Milley said in the AP story. “On the one hand you get some really dramatic, bad possible outcomes. On the other hand, you get a military that stays together and a government that stays together.”

Milley added that he doesn’t know if these scenarios will become a reality and said that we will have to wait and see how things develop over the summer. 

President Biden announced in April that all U.S. military personnel will withdraw from Afghanistan in September on the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

Milley described the Afghan military and police as “reasonably well-equipped, well-trained, and well-led.” He noted that the Afghan military has operated in recent years with less reliance on U.S. and coalition advisers, according to the AP.