New GOP report blames White House for Afghanistan exit

The Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday accused the Biden administration of botching the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago. The committee’s report includes material dating back to January 2023 when the Republicans’ majority gave them subpoena authority. The Republican minority in the previous Congress produced an earlier report. The 2021 U.S. pullout from Afghanistan followed 20 years of war. Thirteen U.S. soldiers died in a terrorist attack. Thousands of Afghans who had worked with U.S. troops were left behind to face the Taliban, which ultimately seized control of the government. The reports come weeks before the November presidential election.

What were the report’s findings? The report’s executive summary accuses the Biden administration of committing five key failures that led to chaos and violence during the withdrawal:

1. The Biden administration was determined to pull out of Afghanistan, regardless of the cost, the objections of NATO allies, or whether or not proper agreements were in place, according to the report.

2. The Biden administration was more concerned about the optics of the withdrawal than protecting the lives of U.S. personnel on the ground, the report alleges.

3. Additionally, planners failed to come up with a proper emergency plan to evacuate non-combatants who were U.S. allies, according to the report.

4. The administration allowed Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorist groups like al Qaeda and ISIS-K in the aftermath of the withdrawal, the report alleges.

5. The Biden administration has also engaged in an ongoing campaign of lies to mislead the American people about the withdrawal, according to the report.

What have House Democrats had to say? Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a separate report on Monday outlining Democrats’ views on the investigation and the withdrawal:

• The minority report highlighted the approximately $2 trillion price tag of the decades-long war, as well as the Afghan people’s responsibility to push back against corrupt and violent members of their society and define their own future.

• It also blamed the Trump administration for committing the United States to the Doha Agreement, a pact it said required the United States to withdraw by May 1, 2021, while simultaneously releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners. Democrats say that while the Taliban was a party to that agreement, the Afghan government was not. The deal required the Taliban to stop threatening the United States and its allies, but there were no requirements that the Taliban respect the rights of women and children, the report said.

• Additionally, Democrats accused then-President Donald Trump of ordering staggered drawdowns of thousands of American troops months after the agreement was signed.

Dig deeper: Read Jenny Lind Schmitt’s report for WORLD Magazine on what life is currently like for women in Afghanistan.