Top military officials of the United States, while testifying before a high-level Senate committee on Tuesday, revealed that they had recommended US president Joe Biden to keep some 2,500 American troops standing by on the ground in Afghanistan and also expressed concerns over the fact that the Taliban had not completely severed its ties with the al Qaeda terror outfit. The development comes after White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden had received “split” advice from top-level leaders on what to do with the situation in Afghanistan, which the United States invaded 20 years ago after the al Qaeda conducted the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.

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General Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command; and defense secretary Lloyd Austin were grilled for nearly six hours by members of the Senate Armed Services Committee about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the chaotic evacuation from Kabul airport.

General Milley and General McKenzie testified before the Senate committee that they had personally recommended some 2,500 troops remain on the ground in Afghanistan.

Milley also claimed that the United States’ withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan amid the Taliban offensive had ‘damaged’ American credibility.

“I think our credibility with allies and partners around the world and with adversaries is being intensely reviewed by them to see which way this is going to go and I think ‘damage’ is one word that could be used, yes,” he said, adding that the Taliban “was and remains a terrorist organisation and they still have not broken ties with the al Qaeda,” which plotted the September 11, 2001 attacks from Afghanistan.

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“It remains to be seen whether or not the Taliban can consolidate power or if the country will fracture into further civil war,” he said. “But we must continue to protect the American people from terrorist attacks emanating from Afghanistan.”

US president Joe Biden had in April ordered a complete pullout of US forces from the war-torn land of Afghanistan by August 31, making the decision to end a 20-year-war. Although he was following through with an agreement reached with the Taliban by former president Donald Trump, Biden was heavily criticised for the decision back home. A national poll conducted soon after the Taliban takeover of Kabul showed that Biden approval ratings as president, which fell to 43 per cent, were at an all-time low. The majority of Americans disapproved of the way Biden handled foreign policy, while a large section of the populace also termed the United States’ role in Afghanistan a “failure”.