Saudi Gazette Report

CALIFORNIA - US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was embarrassed on Sunday in a television interview when he was asked about his regret over the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Austin’s video has gone viral on social media when he answered the host’s question after a silence that lasted for seconds, and it was described as “it seemed like an eternity,” as he showed signs of sadness on his face. Austin said that he is very regretful about the loss of 13 of their best forces in Afghanistan.

During an interview at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Austin also said that he deeply regretted the tragic mistake in Kabul that killed 10 civilians which caused a sensation at the time.

During the interview, Austin attempted to remedy the matter, as he praised the efforts of the American forces, which evacuated 124,000 people from Afghanistan within 17 days.

Senior experts at the Reagan Forum warned that America's standing as a preferred partner among global allies has diminished since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which they described as a "chaotic" step.

The forum included observations by foreign policy experts and US lawmakers on US President Joe Biden's strategy on withdrawing from Afghanistan.

It is noteworthy the Afghan government collapsed in mid-August After the Taliban took control of 80 percent of Afghanistan.

The Biden administration was vehemently criticized by US Republicans for its chaotic withdrawal and that resulted in Taliban’s taking control of Kabul and Afghanistan’ President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country.

The U.S. stated that Ghani’s escape had prompted the Taliban to come to the capital that day, exacerbating the chaos that occurred during the evacuations at Kabul airport.