A Critical Assessment of the Biden White House’s Destroying of the Defense and State Departments after the 2020 December 11 Abandonment of Afghanistan
The condition created by his predecessor was blamed by the Biden White House for the decision to end the US’s military presence in Afghanistan. The review of the withdrawal from the Defense and State departments will be sent to Congress.
The assessment is part of the National Security Council document that provides the Biden administration’s views on the controversial withdrawal.
The assessment notes that in his last 11 months in office, Trump ordered a series of drawdowns of U.S. troops. The number was lowered from 8,600 in June 2020 to 4,500 in September 2020.
President Biden’s options were limited but he still led a process responsive to the facts on the ground. Kirby said that he focused on the need for proper planning.
The document does not admit any mistakes. Still, it acknowledges certain lessons that have been applied since, including on the speed of evacuating citizens and allies. And it cites intelligence that provided overly rosy projections of the security situation and notes Biden followed recommendations from his military commanders in executing the withdrawal.
Overall, the summary’s principal description is of a difficult situation made more onerous by Trump’s decisions when he was in office, including entering into an agreement with the Taliban requiring US troops to withdraw by May 2021.
The White House pledged to give Congress the information after the bloody and chaotic withdrawal, which included a suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed 13 US troops.
Responding to the summary findings, a spokesman for Trump said “Biden and his administration are trying to gaslight the American people for their disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan that directly led to American deaths and emboldened the terrorists.”
“There were no signs that more time, more funds, or more Americans at risk in Afghanistan would have yielded a fundamentally different trajectory,” the summary reads.
Much of the chaos surrounding the withdrawal involved attempts to withdraw Americans and Afghans who assisted the war effort, including translators. One of the most searing images from the time was of desperate Afghans clinging to an American plane as it took off, later falling to their deaths.
After chaotic attempts to evacuate US citizens, the administration now works to facilitate departures earlier in other situations.
When faced with a degrading security situation, we now prioritize earlier rescues, as an example of earlier evacuates, according to the summary.
The After-action Report of the Kabul Bombings: a Defense Official at the National Defense University and Implications for the Afghan Government
The after-action report was commissioned through the National Defense University, a defense official told CNN. The defense department funds the NDU, but they characterized the review they carried out as independent.
The bombing outside the Kabul International Airport’s Abbey Gate killed 13 US service members, as well as approximately 170 Afghans.
After taking control of the US House of Representatives, Republicans have also begun looking into the Afghanistan withdrawal, requesting documents and communications are part of their probe.