Retired general at Fort Bragg reflects on Afghanistan war as troop withdrawal accelerates

President Joe Biden plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan by August 31, earlier than originally projected.

Posted 4:10 p.m. Jul 9, 2021 — Updated 10:43 p.m. Jul 9, 2021

Gilbert Baez

, WRAL Fayetteville reporter

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — President Joe Biden plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Aug. 31, nearly 20 years after the U.S. invaded the Middle Eastern nation.

The war in Afghanistan is now the nation's longest, and it's weighed heavily on the nation, the military and families of the thousands of troops who died in the conflict.

The mission was to capture Osama bin Laden and bring those responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to justice, retired Gen. Dan McNeill, who commanded Fort Bragg and the XVIII Airborne Corps in 2001, said Friday.

Navy SEALs killed bin Laden in 2011.

The second mission, relayed through then-Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, was to build an Afghan National Army, McNeill said.

"I don't think there was ever an attempt to have Afghanistan solely defended or secured by an international force," he said.

During the past 20 years, the Coalition Forces led the country through two election cycles and made it possible for women to go to school.

Whether the mission in Afghanistan was accomplished depends on how exactly a person defines the mission, McNeill said.

"If your belief is, 'Was there progress in Afghanistan?' Unmistakably," he said.

McNeill said he supports troop withdrawal, hoping the U.S. never has to go back.

Since the beginning of U.S. withdrawal, the Taliban has started recapturing large portions of the country once protected by the Coalition Forces.

About 500,000 people have been killed in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

WRAL News asked McNeill what he would say to the families of those who lost loved ones in combat.

"I don't know how to answer that without going into the political realm, and that's a realm in which I have my least level of comfort," he said. "I will say this: When I next visit Section 60 in Arlington, I'll have a tough time."

Section 60 is where thousands of those who have died in the war are buried.

The Aug. 31 timeline for troop withdrawal is earlier than previously announced. But the withdrawal has long been expected.

Former President Donald Trump wanted troops out by May of this year, and Biden originally set Sept. 11 as the date U.S. forces would leave.

During a speech Thursday, Biden thanked the troops who had served in the region and made special mention to the families of all those who lost their lives during the 20-year war.

Sheila Harriman-Reid is extremely interested in the withdrawal of troops, though she understands the mission to capture bin Laden is now over. Her husband, Chief Warrant Officer Stanley Harriman, was one the first soldiers from Fort Bragg who died in Afghanistan.

After his death, Harriman-Reid told then-President George W. Bush of her concerns about an early withdrawal.

"I remember telling him that we needed to finish the mission, to not pull out until we completed it," she said, "because, if we didn't complete it, we'd be right back there again eventually."

At this point, there is no indication that the U.S. will return to Afghanistan.

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