WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told a congressional committee on Wednesday that he had not supported keeping troops in Afghanistan “forever.”
He also told a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan – the second in two days with testimony with top military leaders – that there had been no “risk free” status quo option if the military had stayed and that more troops would have been needed.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Phil Stewart; Editing by Franklin Paul)
