Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers Thursday that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is running slightly ahead of schedule.

"I can report to you today that the retrograde is proceeding on pace, indeed slightly ahead of it," Austin told the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense before a hearing on the $715 billion Pentagon budget being released Friday.

He did not offer further detail on the drawdown, but his announcement echoed a report a report from the Pentagon Tuesday that the drawdown is "somewhere between 16% and 25% complete."

Pentagon press secretary told reporters that the United States will continue to have a presence in the Central Command area of responsibility, and will continue to have a diplomatic relationship with Afghanistan.

"Our relationship with Afghan National Defense and Security Forces will continue, but it will continue in a different way."

In mid-April President Joe Biden announced plans to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that sparked the war, and the drawdown began later that month.

Pentagon 'rapidly' making plans to evacuate Afghan interpreters
Washington (AFP) May 27, 2021 - The US government is "rapidly" formulating plans to evacuate potentially thousands of interpreters who worked for coalition forces in Afghanistan over the past two decades to protect their safety, a top general said.

"We recognize that there are a significant amount of Afghans that supported the United States and supported the coalition, and that they could be at risk," Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley said late Wednesday.

"We recognize that a very important task is to ensure that we remain faithful to them, and that we do what is necessary to ensure their protection and, if necessary, get them out of the country if that is what they want to do," he said.

In the remarks released Thursday, Milley said the State Department is taking the lead on arranging for interpreters and others who worked for US forces to move to the United States, amid fears they would be targeted for retribution by the Taliban insurgents.

"There are plans being developed very, very rapidly here," he said.

Some 18,000 Afghan interpreters, commandos and others who backed US forces are waiting for decisions on visas to immigrate to the United States, a backlog that lawmakers say could take more than two years.

Many worked in battlefield conditions helping US troops fight Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Islamic State extremists opposed to the government in Kabul.

Military veterans of the Afghan war and members of Congress have expressed deep concerns that the US government is not working hard enough to get them out of the country, as some 2,500 US troops and 16,000 US contractors are withdrawn by President Joe Biden's September deadline.

With the State Department mired in a huge backlog of visa-granting work, some of the interpreters could initially be relocated to third countries, or the US territory of Guam, according to US media reports.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a hearing in Congress Thursday that the withdrawal is "slightly" ahead of schedule.

"We accomplished the mission for which our troops were sent to Afghanistan," he said.

"We will now transition to a new bilateral relationship with our Afghan partners... that continues to help them meet their responsibilities to their citizens, but one that will not require a US footprint larger than what is necessary to protect our diplomats."

Related Links
News From Across The Stans

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is nearly one-quarter complete
Washington DC (UPI) May 26, 2021
The U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan is nearly one-quarter complete and on schedule to be concluded by Sept. 11, 2021, the Pentagon announced. Citing U.S. Central Command, a Defense Department statement on Tuesday called the withdrawal "somewhere between 16% and 25% complete," adding that C-17 cargo planes have removed "160 loads of materiel and equipment" from Afghanistan so far. A Central Command statement last week referred to the withdrawal as 13% to 20% complete. Alt ... read more