Hawkish lawmakers and experts skeptical about full Afghanistan withdrawal decision

Lawmakers and security experts are broadcasting their shock and concern over President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, slamming what they see as an “arbitrary” decision to bring troops home by Sept. 11.

The United States had been facing a May 1 deadline set by former President Donald Trump to pull out its remaining 2,500 soldiers plus roughly 1,000 special operations forces. Biden had called that date too logistically difficult to meet but still opted for a full withdrawal later in the year despite the Taliban retaining links to al Qaeda. It was that violent extremist group’s planning and orchestration of the 9/11 attacks that prompted the U.S. military invasion there two decades ago.