Hegseth taps DOD's top spokesman to run Afghanistan review

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said today that after a three-month review of the actions related to the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan and the deadly Kabul airport suicide bombing that killed 13 servicemembers, he has determined an even more "comprehensive review" is needed and should be overseen by Sean Parnell, his chief spokesman and adviser.

In a new memo released on X, Hegseth, referencing the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide attack at the Kabul International Airport’s Abbey Gate, wrote DOD has spent the past three months reviewing “this catastrophic event in our military's history.”

However, he has “concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people.”

Hegseth has appointed Parnell, the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, to convene a “Special Review Panel” that will “thoroughly examine previous investigations, to include but not limited to, findings of fact, sources, witnesses and analyze the decision making that led to one of America's darkest and deadliest international moments.”

The first Trump administration arranged the terms of a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan before leaving office, though it was the administration of former President Biden that executed the exit, facing harsh criticism for the chaos and violence surrounding Kabul’s rapid fall to the Taliban amid the departure of U.S. forces.

Several reviews of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan have already taken place, including by the State Department, the GOP majority of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Defense Department’s inspector general.

Hegseth, without providing further details in his memo, said Parnell’s new Special Review Panel “will ensure ACCOUNTABILTY to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation.”