The first casualty of war is the plan
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MT (Military Times): Have you provided options yet to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on securing the embassy in Afghanistan and providing counterterrorism support from outside the country once the withdrawal is complete? If so, can you share what some of those plans and troop levels might look like?
CENTCOM Commander Frank McKenzie: So, I have been in consultation with the secretary, through [Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] on providing those plans, and the secretary is still chewing over it. We’re in a back-and-forth process, refining them, so unfortunately right now, because of that, there’s not much more I can share with you about the development of those plans.
MT: Have you presented plans to SECDEF for evacuating interpreters from Afghanistan if so tasked? Can you share those plans, and what is your message for those folks who are waiting?
FM: So, we have workable plans to evacuate any scale of people that we would be directed to do. That’s one of the things that we have done. I’ve talked to the secretary about it. You know, the actual decision about who’s going to come out, whether they would come out and how that would work, is not the Department of Defense’s decision, that’s a Department of State decision and ultimately a level above the Department of State. I can tell you this. The Department of Defense is prepared to undertake any tasks that we would be required to do in coordination with a presidential decision.
MT: What’s your message to those who worked with the U.S. and risked their lives and are now waiting?
FM: I certainly value those Afghans I’ve worked with, and over the years I’ve had an opportunity to work with a lot of them. I would say this: Now is a time when it is incumbent upon Afghans to defend their country. And this is going to be a stern test for them. I think they’re going to enter a period of great risk now, but I think they can defend their country. It’s not going to be easy, but they can certainly do that.
