House Foreign Affairs Committee releases sweeping Afghanistan report
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Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas). Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The House Foreign Affairs Committee announced Sunday the release of its sweeping 354-page report on the chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Sunday evening, culminating the panel's three year investigation.
Why it matters: The report from the Republican-led panel takes aim at the Biden administration's actions, arguing that its hesitation to evacuate noncombatants despite warnings put Americans in peril.
- "Our investigation reveals the Biden-Harris administration had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies," Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said in a statement Sunday.
- "At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security."
What's inside: The report lays out testimony from 18 administration officials including Gen. Austin Miller, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki and former acting ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson in addition to content obtained from thousands of pages of subpoenaed documents.
- The accusations include that the way things were handled led to classified documents and military equipment left behind and conditions that led to the death of 13 service members.
- According to the report, agencies failed to coordinate and accused the administration of failing to adhere from recommendations to leave a small military presence in place.
- The report also includes recommendations to prevent future similar instances, including passing resolutions condemning key officials, codifying Noncombatant Evacuation Order (NEO) authorities and responsibilities and reestablishing a crisis response bureau in the State Department.
What they're saying: McCaul slammed administration officals and asserted action needs to be taken to prevent future chaotic withdrawals.
- "You can imagine the chaos that ensued because there was no plan of evacuation in place, no no operation of evacuation in place at the time," McCaul told Axios in an interview ahead of its release.
- "That's when you see the babies being lifted over the barbed wire. Boy the accounts I heard from our Marines who were thrown into this thing, unfairly, unjustifiably, who lost their lives as a suicide bomber because of the chaos."
The other side: The White House has cast blame on the Trump administration for the chaos that ensues and argued the report is partisan.
- "Chairman McCaul's latest partisan report is based on cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and pre-existing biases that have plagued this investigation from the start," per a White House statement.
- "As we have said many times, ending our longest war was the right thing to do and our nation is stronger today as a result."
The big picture: McCaul said he expects the panel to continue to investigate the situation, asserting he will use "every tool" to obtain testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Go deeper: Poor planning under Trump, Biden led to chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal, report says
