WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has decided to extend the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower's deployment in the Middle East for "a period of time."
That move comes just after President Joe Biden announced a September 11 date for the U.S. to withdraw from Afghanistan.
On Friday Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, "It would be foolhardy and imprudent not to assume that there could be resistance and opposition to the drawdown by the Taliban, given their staunch rhetoric."
The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which includes three cruisers, four destroyers, and nine Carrier Air Wing 3 squadrons, departed from Naval Station Norfolk for deployment on February 18.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from both parties are expressing misgivings about what the future holds for Afghanistan once the U.S military leaves.
"We must ensure that Afghanistan will not be a source of planning, plotting, or a projection of terrorist attacks around the globe, including against the homeland," said Sen Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island).
Added Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma): "The arbitrary September 11th deadline for troops to draw-down risks a power vacuum that terrorists will dominate and use to threaten our homeland."
The top U.S. military leader for the Middle East, U.S. Central Command General Frank McKenzie told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that he, too, is worried.
"I am concerned about the ability of the Afghan military to hold on after we leave, the ability of the Afghan Air Force to fly in particular after we remove the support for those aircraft," he said.
And, McKenzie said, the Afghan military might not survive.
"I can tell you this. If we don't provide them some support, they will certainly collapse, and I think that's not in our best interest," he said.
The U.S. currently has more than 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.
NATO has said it will follow the same September 11 timetable for withdrawing its more than 7,000 allied forces.
In addition to uniformed military personnel, there are close to 17,000 Defense Department-funded contractors in Afghanistan.
Kirby said the plan is to bring home American contractors. It is not clear yet whether DOD contractors who are not American citizens will remain in the country after September 11.