Chief DOD Spox Sean Parnell: ‘We Have an Obligation’ to Hold Military Leaders Accountable for Afghanistan

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell on Monday said the Department of Defense has an obligation to hold military leadership accountable for the botched Afghanistan withdrawal under the Biden administration that saw the death of 13 U.S. service members and dozens more wounded.

Asked whether the DOD would commit to firing or disciplining military leaders still serving who were directly involved in the withdrawal, Parnell responded:

I think we have an obligation, both to the American people and to the American war fighters who fought in Afghanistan, to hold the leadership accountable in some way. Now, we don’t know what that looks like right now, but to hold the leadership that was in charge of the Afghan withdrawal accountable. Because, look, if you have a private that loses a sensitive item, that loses night vision goggles, that loses a weapon, you can bet that that private is going to be held accountable. The same and equal standards must apply to senior military leaders.

Parnell said the DOD is in the process of figuring out what the investigation into the withdrawal will look like.

He spoke at length about his own experience as an Afghanistan War veteran who lost 30 friends in the war.

He said:

As somebody who served in Afghanistan and watched that unfold, I mean, I was hurt. I was horrified, in a lot of ways. You think about how much time and blood and treasure in American life that was lost in Afghanistan over 20 years, you think about that for a second. I’m 43 years old. This country was at war in Afghanistan for 20 years. So almost half of my life this country was at war in Afghanistan. And I personally watched the men in my platoon, but also my larger Brigade Combat Team, which was a part of the 10th Mountain Division, 3rd brigade, we bled the ground red in Afghanistan. And I watched my men do extraordinary things in support of a grateful nation and in support of the mission there. And to watch Afghanistan be surrendered in the way that it was was was extremely difficult.

And I think something that President Trump and Secretary Hegseth really understands is that when America makes a decision to get involved in in any conflict, we have a moral obligation to have a clear cut end state to what that operation looks like, a clear exit strategy to what that operation looks like, and to make sure that victory is clearly defined. And I think in Iraq and certainly in Afghanistan over the last 20 some years, think maybe we’ve struggled a little bit with those finer points, but I’ll say that the President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, they understand that when America gets involved in a fight, it’s our job to also end that fight as fast as humanly possible, because we have a moral obligation to win and win decisively, otherwise you’re going to have an entire generation of American warriors wondering what the hell it was all for.

And I know, listen, I know that every day I wake up and I draw breath, I think about the men who I served with, who were my friends, who never came home from that fight. I’ve lost 30 friends, and in my support of the Afghan War. Thirty. And you ask yourself, you look yourself in the mirror, you ask yourself, what do we have to show for it? Not a whole lot.

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