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Senior US military commander in the Middle East has expressed reservations about whether the US could deny Al Qaeda and Islamic State the ability to use Afghanistan as a launching pad for terrorist attacks now that American troops have left the country.
“That remains to be seen,” said Army Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. in response to a question at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “We could come to this, but I don’t have that level of confidence yet.”
President Biden has vowed to prevent Al Qaeda and the Islamic State from rebuilding to the point where they could attack the Americans or the United States.
But General McKenzie’s response underscored how difficult that task will be and was a bit more pessimistic than the assessments of other senior Pentagon officials at the hearing.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said the military could monitor and strike Al Qaeda and ISIS cells from remote bases if necessary. “The operations on the horizon are difficult but very possible,” he said.
Testifying alongside Mr. Austin and General McKenzie, General Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that a “reconstituted Al Qaeda or ISIS with aspirations to attack the United States is a very real possibility “.
General Milley added: “And these conditions, to include activity in ungoverned spaces, could arise in the next 12 to 36 months. “
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