Austin – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (R) will meet US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on March 21, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Presidential Palace / handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin traveled to Afghanistan Sunday to meet with the nation’s leader as Washington contemplates a possible end to America’s longest war.

The trip that makes Austin the first Biden cabinet-level official to visit the war-torn country comes 40 days before the U.S. troop withdrawal date.

In February 2020, the United States signed a treaty with the Taliban that would usher in a permanent ceasefire and further reduce the US military’s footprint from around 13,000 soldiers to 8,600 by mid-July last year.

According to the agreement, all foreign armed forces would have left Afghanistan by May 2021. There are currently around 2,500 US troops in the country.

The Biden government has not yet announced its next steps in Afghanistan.

The collective wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria have cost US taxpayers more than $ 1.57 trillion since September 11, 2001, according to a Department of Defense report.

Current US military operations, known as Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan, Operation Inherent Resolve in Syria and Iraq, and Operation Noble Eagle for homeland security missions in the US and Canada, accounted for $ 265.7 billion of that total.

Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, which began in October 2001 and officially ended in December 2014, cost taxpayers $ 578.7 billion.

Of the three ongoing operations, Freedom’s Sentinel accounts for the lion’s share of the cost at $ 197.3 billion, followed by Inherent Resolve at $ 40.5 billion and Noble Eagle at $ 27.9 billion.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin goes for a walk during his visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, March 21, 2021.

Presidential Palace / handout via REUTERS

According to the report, the money will be used for training, equipment, maintenance, food, clothing, medical care and payment of troops.

Last month, the most powerful military alliance in the world met to discuss a number of challenges facing the group of 30. The way forward in Afghanistan was at the top of the agenda. NATO joined the international security effort in Afghanistan in 2003 and currently has more than 7,000 soldiers in the country.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would continue to assess the situation on the ground in Afghanistan.

“Our goal is to ensure that we have a lasting political agreement that will allow us to leave in a way that doesn’t undermine our primary objective and that prevents Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven again.” [for terrorists]”Said Stoltenberg.

“The majority of the troops come from European allies and partner countries. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that our troops are safe,” he said when asked if the alliance would be prepared for violence if the deal with the Taliban is reached is broken.

Austin told reporters shortly after the NATO meeting that the withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan would depend on reducing violence in the country.

“The violence needs to decrease now,” Austin said in his first press conference with reporters. “I have told our allies that regardless of the outcome of our review, the United States will not make a hasty or disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan,” he said, referring to the NATO virtual meetings.

“There will be no surprises. We will consult, consult together and decide together and act together,” said Austin of the NATO-led mission.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday defended his decision to appoint retired four-star Army General Lloyd Austin as his Secretary of Defense, a personnel election that could become one of the future president’s most controversial.

Under the National Security Act of 1947, Congress prohibited anyone from serving as secretary of defense for seven years after active service. But Austin only left the army four years ago, and he would require a special waiver from Congress to circumvent the seven-year rule.

Biden wrote in The Atlantic, tacitly admitting that Austin’s nomination was against civilian requirements, but argued that the strength of Austin’s qualifications outweighed the potential damage caused by blurring the civil-military divide.

“I respect and believe in the importance of civilian control of our military and the importance of a strong civil-military working relationship at DoD – as does Austin,” Biden wrote.

“Austin also knows that the Secretary of Defense has different responsibilities from an officer-general and that the civil-military dynamic has been under great pressure over the past four years,” Biden wrote.

If this were confirmed by the Senate, the 1975 graduate of West Point would be the first black Pentagon leader to break through one of the more permanent glass ceilings of the US government.

U.S. Central Command Commander General Lloyd Austin III holds a press conference on Operation Inherent Resolve, the international military effort against the Islamic State Group (IS), on October 17, 2014 at the Pentagon in Washingon, DC.

Paul J. Richards | AFP | Getty Images

Austin also has a personal relationship with Biden after gaining the President-elect’s trust and confidence in leading the global coalition against ISIS, which began in 2014, while Biden was Vice President and Austin led US Central Command.

Biden also emphasized in his Atlantic essay that despite Austin’s recent active service, he understands “that our military is only an instrument of our national security”.

“To keep America strong and secure, we must use all of our tools,” wrote Biden. “He and I share an obligation to empower our diplomats and development experts to guide our foreign policy, using violence only as a last resort.”

Still, news of Austin’s likely nomination this week on Capitol Hill was met with skepticism, and several key Senators said they were not sure they would vote to give Austin the waiver necessary to take the position of Secretary of Defense .

“That’s the exception, not the rule,” Majority Whip John Thune, RS.D., told reporters Tuesday. “I’m not including or excluding it. But I think it’s something we need to consider when the time comes.”

Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester also said he was unwilling to give Austin a waiver, even though the retired commanding officer would be “a great secretary”.

“I think this guy is going to be a great secretary,” Tester told reporters. “I just think we should look at the rules.”

Congress put aside its concerns about a military officer’s leadership of the Pentagon in 2016 when President Donald Trump addressed retired four-star general of the U.S. Marine Corps, Jim Mattis, who at the time had only been out of uniform for three years .