The top general in the fight against the Taliban declares that Afghanistan has been transformed into a "hotbed of terrorism" once more.

The third anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the conclusion of the first U.S. campaign in the Global War on Terror occurred on Friday.

The conclusion of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, which resulted in the death of over 6,200 American soldiers and contractors, 1,100 allied troops, 70,000 Afghan military and police, and more than 46,300 Afghan civilians, ultimately led to the collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban and a safe haven for al Qaeda, making it once again a "crucible of terrorism," according to former Afghan Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat.

Although more than $2.3 trillion has been spent on the war in Afghanistan and President Biden declared that al Qaeda was "gone," the terrorist group is stronger than it was before the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, according to Sadat, author of "The Last Commander: The Once and Future Battle for Afghanistan."

According to Sadat, who has worked in the Afghan military and security forces for almost 20 years, there are approximately 50,000 al Qaeda members and associates in Afghanistan, with most of them having received training for overseas operations in the past three years.

Although Planet Chronicle Digital could not verify the exact number of al Qaeda militants in and outside of Afghanistan, the figure cited by Sadat is only half the number of al Qaeda militants he believes are spread across the Arab world, which is at odds with the 4,000 al-Qaeda members at large prior to the 9/11 attacks.

The terrorist group is said to have approximately 60 bases across 19 countries, including at least 12 training camps in Afghanistan that were established after the U.S. withdrawal.

"The Taliban's return to Afghanistan in 2021 provided a new rallying call for the Taliban, making it their most important hub," Sadat wrote in his book, which was released earlier this month. "Al Qaeda not only survived but adapted to the changing policies of American administrations, waiting the West out of Iraq and Afghanistan and watching the U.S. attack their Islamic State rivals in the Middle East."

Despite al Qaeda's large numbers, it is unable to execute long-range attacks, according to U.S. intelligence. However, security experts questioned the assessment, arguing that the intelligence community may not have distinguished between capability and intent. Sadat maintained that al Qaeda is capable of carrying out a major attack.

Many terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, have traditionally used simple techniques to inflict significant harm on civilians.

The major difference between the current Al Qaeda group and the terrorist organization responsible for the 9/11 attacks is the presence of nation-state backing.

The 9/11 Commission reported that Al Qaeda was primarily financed by private financial facilitators in the Gulf region who helped funnel money to the group in the late 1990s.

The commission concluded that there was no convincing evidence to show that the terrorist group received any funding from foreign governments before the attack, which contradicts government claims about al Qaeda's funding over the past few years.

In a speech on January 12, 2021, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that al-Qaeda has found a new base of operations: Iran.

Pompeo stated that officials in the security apparatus were surprised to learn that al Qaeda member Abu Muhammad al-Masri, who planned the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, had been killed in Tehran, a finding that was known for at least a year.

Tehran's involvement in housing al Qaeda terrorists marked a new era in the fight against Islamic extremism, as it also revealed that the Iranian government had been deeply involved in arming and supporting other Shiite terrorist groups, including the Taliban.

After the U.S. left Afghanistan, it was revealed that Iran had been strengthening its relationship with the Taliban since 2009, providing them with weapons in an attempt to counter the U.S. and its allies.

Sadat explained that Iran, one of the first countries to normalize ties with the Taliban, has frequently deported Afghans who supported the U.S. and fled the country after the Taliban takeover, often resulting in their arrest and execution.

In October 2021, following the fall of Afghanistan, a meeting took place in Tehran among Esmail Qaani, the Quds Force leader with the IRGC, Saif al-Adel, al Qaeda's then international operations leader who is currently al Qaeda's leader, and the Taliban representative Mulla Abdul Hakim Mujahid, as revealed by Sadat to Planet Chronicle Digital.

During the meeting, Tehran proposed to fund the "rebuilding and enlistment" of al Qaeda and urged the Taliban to allow them room for training and military development.

Sadat stated that the process of peace began with the brokering of truces between Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen and Sunni al Qaeda militants across the Arabian Peninsula. He pointed out that these groups had agreed to use each other's fighters, intelligence, and facilities to carry out attacks against the U.S.

"That has dramatically shaped the Middle East," he warned.

According to reports, Sadat, the last Aghan commander to continue fighting the Taliban after former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, stated that a series of poor strategic and operational decisions in Afghanistan, driven by political turmoil in the U.S., had catastrophic consequences for both Afghanistan and global security.

In response to the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. launched strikes against al Qaeda and the Taliban in October 2001.

After seven years of conflict, only a third of the time the U.S. spent in Afghanistan, the American public had grown weary of the war.

The Obama administration's push to limit combat operations, the Trump administration's botched deal with the Taliban, and President Biden's refusal to reevaluate the U.S.'s long-term strategy in Afghanistan resulted in Afghan forces being deprived of ammunition and U.S. air support, and their morale being severely depleted as the Taliban continued to launch attacks in "waves."

The war was lost not because the Taliban were strong but because for twenty years it was not treated as a war but as a short-term intervention," Sadat wrote. "The better American officials understood the problem.

He remarked, "It's not the year twenty, but it's the first year of the twentieth century."

The sentiment in the U.S. across various administrations and political sides was a shared desire to put an end to the "infinite" conflicts against Islamic extremism.

Sadat contended that Washington's failure to remove the Taliban, compete with state-funded countries like Iran, and sustain the Afghan forces protecting their new democratic government has led to terrorist groups being motivated and forming alliances with Western adversaries such as Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China.

"The Taliban's protection has once again made Afghanistan a hotbed of international terrorism, but those who left carry with them their education and a burning desire to return. The new generation, my generation, has the motivation to take back Afghanistan and transform it into a peaceful and prosperous nation," Sadat wrote.

He stated, "At present, I am a general devoid of an army."

Sadat said he fully intends to return to Afghanistan one day.