US Preparing for Taliban Attacks as Afghanistan Drawdown Gets Under Way

PENTAGON - The United States is positioning more firepower in the Middle East and South Asia to provide cover for U.S. troops as they prepare to leave Afghanistan.

The Pentagon on Friday announced that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier to remain in the region for "a period of time." Long-range bombers are also headed to the region, and two U.S. Air Force B-52s are already in place. "We want to make this a safe, orderly and deliberate drawdown," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters. "That means giving the commander on the ground … options to make sure that our forces and our troops and those of our allies are protected as they move out." U.S. President Joe Biden announced last week that he was pulling the approximately 2,500 to 3,500 U.S. troops out of Afghanistan beginning May 1, and that the withdrawal would be completed by early September.