Hegseth criticizes Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal, says it damaged US reputation

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has criticized the Biden administration’s 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying it damaged the United States’ international reputation while praising President Donald Trump’s approach to withdrawing American forces from Syria and Iraq.

“What Joe Biden did in Afghanistan smeared our reputation,” Hegseth said, contrasting the Afghanistan withdrawal with what he described as the Trump administration’s efforts to bring U.S. personnel and military equipment home from the Middle East.

“What President Trump has done in Syria and Iraq is bring every human, every vehicle, every aircraft, every part of those bases back with us while ensuring that detainees are passed over to others who will hold them,” Hegseth said. He described the approach as “a demonstration of competency.”

The remarks renew political debate over the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, which ended Washington’s nearly 20-year military presence in the country and coincided with the collapse of the former Afghan government and the return of the Islamic Emirate to power.