Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Saturday the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan could entail a civil war and a possible “reconstitution of al-Qaida.”
“Is the United States safer today since the U.S. has withdrawn from Afghanistan?” Fox News’ national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin asked Milley in an exclusive Saturday interview.
Milley says civil war in Afghanistan ‘likely’ after US withdrawal, could lead to ‘reconstitution of al Qaeda’ https://t.co/OyOGfzONC4 #FoxNews
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) September 4, 2021
“I personally think that — my military estimate is that the conditions are likely to develop of a civil war. I don’t know if the Taliban is going to be able to consolidate power and establish governance,” Milley responded.
In the aftermath of the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops, the Taliban’s failure to fully control Afghanistan may embolden a number of terrorist groups that are currently active in the region, including al-Qaida and ISIS, he said.
Milley added that the first instances of the resurgence of terrorist activity in the country may come about “within 12, 24, 36 months.”
Responding to Griffin’s question about the vetting process of Afghan refugees expected to be brought to the U.S., Milley said he is “very comfortable” with the practices employed by the FBI. (RELATED: Small Percentage Of Afghan Refugees Flagged Through Security Screenings For Possible Ties To Terrorism)
“I think they said a couple of hundred [refugees] … popped red. Once the individual comes out as red, something is up. Then they go into an individual room and start interviewing with FBI, CID, NCIS, those sorts of folks. And then they work through whatever the issues were,” Milley added.