Top Pentagon brass blamed the lightning-quick Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and botched U.S. withdrawal on bad intelligence during sometimes intense grilling on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

The questioning, a month after the U.S. military’s departure from Kabul, focused on the catastrophic failure of the U.S.-trained Afghan army, a humiliating withdrawal that left hundreds of Americans behind, a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members, and a drone strike that killed an aid worker and seven children.

Recommended Stories

Taliban’s actions will complicate removing all US troops from Afghanistan, Central Command chief warns

Biden must accept accountability for his Afghanistan debacle

‘Consequences’ of US withdrawal from Afghanistan ‘will reverberate for decades,’ retired military brass warn