During a portion of an interview with the Fox News Channel released on Friday’s edition of the “Fox News Rundown: Evening Edition” podcast, former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie (Ret.) stated that Russia, China, Iran, and every other American adversary was probably “heartened by” and drew conclusions from the handling of the evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021, and Putin “drew certain conclusions from it that may have contributed to his aggressiveness in Ukraine.” McKenzie added that he’d like to think, “in the case of Ukraine, President Putin drew the wrong conclusions.”
Fox News Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin asked, [relevant exchange begins around 15:15] “In your opinion, did the evacuation contribute to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine?”
McKenzie answered, “So, that’s — we’ll never know for sure, but I would think he certainly drew certain conclusions from it that may have contributed to his aggressiveness in Ukraine. I think the Chinese may have drawn certain conclusions from it. The Iranians probably drew certain conclusions from it. In fact, everybody out there who wishes us — who does not wish us well probably [was] heartened by what happened and drew some conclusions from it. Now, I would like to believe, in the case of Ukraine, President Putin drew the wrong conclusions.”
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