9 months ago
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A long-awaited GOP report analyzing the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan paints a representation of a President Biden determined to permission the state but fumbling preparations that acceptable the signifier for a chaotic and deadly exit from America’s longest war.
The study from Republicans connected the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released successful the shadiness of the three-year day of the U.S. exit, criticizes the president for a rushed effort undertaken careless of counsel from allies and advisers that led to unnecessary deaths.
“The grounds proves President Biden’s determination to retreat each U.S. troops was not based connected the information situation, the Doha Agreement, oregon the proposal of his elder nationalist information advisors oregon our allies. Rather, it was premised connected his longstanding and unyielding sentiment that the United States should nary longer beryllium successful Afghanistan,” the study states, referencing the Trump administration's statement to permission the country.
The study accuses the Biden medication of failing to spot informing signs of however rapidly Kabul would autumn to the Taliban and delaying the readying for and calling of an evacuation — fearing some the optics of specified an exit and further destabilization successful the country.
In response, the White House accused House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) of cherry-picking details and failing to relationship for the relation of the Trump administration.
“Everything we person seen and heard of Chairman McCaul’s latest partisan study shows that it is based connected cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and pre-existing biases that person plagued this probe from the start. As we person said galore times, ending our longest warfare was the close happening to bash and our federation is stronger contiguous arsenic a result,” White House spokesperson Sharon Yang said successful a statement.
“Because of the atrocious woody erstwhile President Trump chopped with the Taliban to get retired of Afghanistan by May of 2021, President Biden inherited an untenable position. He could either ramp up the warfare against a Taliban that was astatine its strongest presumption successful 20 years and enactment adjacent much American troops astatine hazard oregon yet extremity our longest warfare aft 2 decades and $2 trillion spent. The President refused to nonstop different procreation of Americans to combat a warfare that should person ended agelong ago.”
The study is being released up of the archetypal statesmanlike statement betwixt Vice President Harris and erstwhile President Trump, who has sought to usage Afghanistan arsenic a governmental contented against her.
Republicans successful wide person sought to buttress Trump’s arguments against Harris and Biden implicit Afghanistan, as the 17-day evacuation from the state marked 1 of the little points of the Biden administration.
Just days into the evacuation, the Taliban overtook Kabul, overmuch much rapidly than the medication had anticipated. Crowds swelled astir Hamid Karzai International Airport, and melodramatic images were seen of radical falling arsenic they sought to bent connected to places exiting the country.
An estimated 100,000 partners of U.S. authorities efforts were near behind, a fig that swells erstwhile taking into relationship others susceptible nether Taliban rule.
And a suicide bombing astatine the Abbey Gate entranceway adjacent the airdrome connected Aug. 26, 2021, killed 13 U.S. work members arsenic good arsenic 170 Afghans.
FILE - This representation from a video released by the Department of Defense shows U.S. Marines astatine Abbey Gate earlier a termination bomber struck extracurricular Hamid Karzai International Airport connected Aug. 26, 2021, successful Kabul Afghanistan. (Department of Defense via AP, File)It’s a item Trump precocious highlighted successful a run stop, visiting the sedate astatine Arlington National Cemetery of a Marine killed successful the attack, igniting disapproval from the Harris run and immoderate veterans after cemetery officials said Trump had violated rules prohibiting election-related activities astatine the cemetery.
However, portion the study condemns the actions of the “Biden-Harris administration,” it offers small treatment of immoderate circumstantial relation played by Harris successful the readying oregon execution of the exit.
Foreign Affairs ranking subordinate Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) likewise accused Republicans of politicizing the withdrawal and ignoring Trump missteps successful brokering the deal, saying efforts to pin the exit connected Democrats person “reached a crescendo” with the caller absorption connected Harris.
“Republicans present assertion she was the designer of the U.S. withdrawal though she is referenced lone 3 times successful 3,288 pages of the Committee’s interrogation transcripts,” helium wrote successful a simultaneously released number report.
The GOP study besides fails to code erstwhile President Trump’s role in prompting the U.S. withdrawal. It was the Trump medication that brokered the woody to permission Afghanistan, initially agreeing to person the U.S. retreat each its forces by May 2021.
And nether Trump, migration processing slowed to a crawl, including for those eligible for Special Immigrant Visas, the multistep pathway for those who assisted the U.S. subject oregon contractors to travel to the U.S. The trickle of processing connected the lengthy advancement hindered the Biden administration’s quality to swiftly relocate allies.
Still, the study offers an wrong look astatine the alarms raised by those moving crossed authorities up of the August 2021 withdrawal.
One of the sharpest lines of disapproval successful the study centers connected the Biden administration’s hold successful readying for and formally initiating an evacuation — besides known arsenic a noncombatant evacuation operation, oregon NEO.
The study concluded that the medication had a “concern that a NEO equated to failure” and was besides “more acrophobic astir the optics of NEO than the dangers associated with failing to call” for one.
Those interviewed by the committee described a divided betwixt the subject and the State Department, with the subject stressing the likelihood that Kabul would autumn arsenic the diplomatic limb delayed plans to motorboat an evacuation, successful portion due to the fact that of fears specified plans could spark further chaos in the country.
One Kabul embassy worker told the committee that immoderate began “having subversive NEO meetings” arsenic enactment determination different seemed opposed to initiating an evacuation portion different said readying for an evacuation came “too little, excessively late.”
An evacuation wasn’t ordered until Ross Wilson, past the ambassador to Afghanistan, requested 1 connected Aug. 15, arsenic Secretary of State Antony Blinken was connected vacation.
As a result, galore basal details of the evacuation were unplanned and decided successful the moment.
The medication has agelong claimed quality didn’t bespeak Kabul would autumn arsenic rapidly arsenic it did, and State Department officials said they didn’t contemplate a script successful which they would person to behaviour an evacuation with Kabul not nether their control. The GOP study said this displayed a stunning deficiency of planning.
One State Department worker said that the State Department’s situation absorption and strategy bureau — the squad wrong the caput of State’s enforcement bureau liable for the absorption of planetary crises — lone became progressive erstwhile “they were allowed to telephone it what it was — i.e. a NEO/suspension of ops.”
“This inexcusable hold was exacerbated by the department’s nonaccomplishment to formulate an exigency evacuation plan. The magnitude of the evacuation indispensable became untenable, and departmental inaction condemned thousands of Afghan allies and Americans to a beingness nether Taliban rule,” the study concluded.
The deficiency of readying near unclear who would suffice to beryllium evacuated. Afghans with ties to the U.S. were often fixed conflicting messages astir whether to study to the airport.
“In the end, the heartbreaking task of determining who could oregon could not get wrong the gates of the airdrome were often near to rank-and-file servicemembers and overseas work officers,” the study determined.
Biden yet had to nonstop further troops backmost into Afghanistan portion scattershot backstage efforts to evacuate Afghans succeeded successful helping some citizens and allies exit the country.
While the study is highly captious of Wilson, Blinken and nationalist information advisor Jake Sullivan, it’s mostly centered connected Biden.
The study asserts that Biden was not bound by the Doha Agreement negotiated nether the Trump administration, arguing it allowed for the dissolution of the woody if the Taliban did not conscionable its commitments.
But Biden has made wide helium viewed the U.S. arsenic excessively acold down the way of withdrawal to displacement its attack and that doing truthful would perpetrate the subject to erstwhile again engaging with the Taliban.
“The prime I had to make, arsenic your president, was either to travel done connected that statement oregon beryllium prepared to spell backmost to warring the Taliban,” Biden said successful a televised code successful 2021.
A 2023 12-page review of the withdrawal prepared by the White House stressed that “when Biden came into bureau helium was confronted with hard realities near to him by the Trump Administration.”
GOP lawmakers person indicated they program to proceed their probe, adjacent though Biden volition lone beryllium president for different 4 months.
McCaul has subpoenaed Blinken to sermon the substance successful a Sept. 19 hearing.
“As Secretary of State passim the withdrawal and NEO, you were entrusted to pb these efforts and to unafraid the harmless evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies,” McCaul wrote.
