National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan Claims Generals Told Biden to Leave Bagram Air Base: ‘Their Advice Was to Close Bagram’

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan insisted on Sunday that senior military officials were behind President Joe Biden’s decision to close Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Force Base over the summer.

“On the tactical decision of which is the right airport to have for an evacuation, of course any responsible president would give significant weight to the advice of the commanders on the ground,” Sullivan said in an interview on FOX News Sunday. “And their advice was to close Bagram and focus on Kabul.”

United States forces abandoned Bagram airfield in the dead of night in July without informing Afghan commanders. The facility is about 40 miles away from the nation’s capital of Kabul. Its abandonment has been the focus of recriminations this month as the U.S. prepares to leave behind thousands of special visa and green card holders when the military finishes departing on Tuesday.

Biden made a comment similar to Sullivan’s at a Thursday press conference. “They concluded — the military — that Bagram was not much value-added, that it was much wiser to focus on Kabul,” Biden said. “And so, I followed that recommendation.”

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley painted a slightly different picture at his own briefing last week, indicating the military’s assessment was a consequence of Biden’s orders. “Our task — given to us at that time — our task was to protect the embassy [in Kabul] in order for the embassy personnel to continue to function,” Milley said. “We had to collapse one or the other.”

Watch above via Fox News.