The Trump transition team is compiling a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers who were directly involved in the Afghanistan withdrawal, with plans to assess whether they could face court-martial for their roles, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the initiative. Officials within the transition are considering establishing a commission to investigate the 2021 withdrawal, focusing on who was involved in the decision-making process, how the military executed the operation, and whether the military leaders could be charged with serious offenses, including treason, the sources told NBC News.
“They’re taking it very seriously,” the person with knowledge of the plan said. Matt Flynn, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats, is helping lead the effort, according to the sources. The initiative is being framed as a comprehensive review of both how the U.S. entered the war in Afghanistan and how the country ultimately executed its withdrawal.
“Matt Flynn has nothing to do with the Trump transition team, much less leading any review concerning military justice matters,” said Mark S. Zaid, Flynn’s attorney. In a statement, Zaid told the outlet that “no one has sought out Mr. Flynn’s views on this hypothetical legal scenario.” An individual allegedly familiar with the plan told the outlet: “The sources apparently pushing this story appear to be your typical selfish Washington, D.C. insiders seeking to gain better positioning for their own administration jobs.”
President-elect Donald Trump has called the withdrawal a “humiliation” and “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country.” However, it remains unclear what legal grounds would justify “treason” charges, given that the military officers involved were following orders from President Joe Biden to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
A 2022 independent review by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction held both the Trump and Biden administrations accountable for the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in 2021. Trump had reached an agreement with the Taliban in 2020 to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan, including approximately 13,000 troops, and to release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison. The Biden administration completed the withdrawal but severely misjudged the capability of Afghan government forces to defend themselves against the Taliban.
Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, has strongly criticized the withdrawal, stating that the U.S. ultimately lost the war and squandered billions of dollars. In his book “The War on Warriors,” Hegseth wrote, “The next president of the United States needs to radically overhaul Pentagon senior leadership to make us ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies. Lots of people need to be fired. The debacle in Afghanistan, of course, is the most glaring example.”
“These generals lied. They mismanaged. They violated their oath. They failed. They disgraced our troops, and our nation. They got people killed, unnecessarily,” he wrote. “And, to this moment, they keep their jobs. Worse, they continue to actively erode our military and its values — by capitulating to civilians with radical agendas. They are an embarrassment, with stars still on their shoulders.”
The transition team is exploring the possibility of recalling several commanders to active duty for potential charges, according to the U.S. official. While it remains unclear if the Trump administration would pursue treason charges, the focus could shift to lesser charges that emphasize the officers’ involvement in the withdrawal. “They want to set an example,” said the person familiar with the plan.
