The United States and its allies urgently flew thousands of people out of the capital of Afghanistan, as the American-backed Afghan military and government fell to the Taliban considerably more swiftly than expected.
According to a devastating new analysis, the US-led pullout from Afghanistan was conducted without any planning, was mired in “chaos and confusion,” and resulted in “tragic yet preventable outcomes.”
On the first anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Kabul, which resulted in the unexpected evacuation of tens of thousands of displaced Afghans, Republicans on the US House foreign affairs committee have produced a dossier detailing, in their opinion, how the operation was conducted.
The 121-page report’s harsh language does not pull any punches.
“The decisions made in Washington, D.C.’s corridors of power led to tragic yet avoidable outcomes: 13 dead service members, American lives still at great risk, increased threats to our homeland security, a tarnished reputation abroad for years to come, and emboldened enemies across the globe,” the report states.
It is said that President Joe Biden’s administration delayed evacuation decisions until “hours before the Taliban captured Kabul.”
It was stated that “little preparation was made for a Taliban takeover of the country” or the evacuation.
In addition, the report asserted that the administration failed to prioritize the evacuation of US-trained Afghan commandos and other elite groups with sensitive knowledge of US military operations while admitting for months that their failure to be evacuated posed a substantial security risk.
Many of these employees, the report continued, “have been compelled to seek asylum in Iran, where their information might be abused.”
According to the report, even President Biden’s officials have labeled the end of the United States mission in Afghanistan as a “strategic failure” and “ugly last phase.”
More than 15,000 Afghans and Britons were evacuated from the city by forces from the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force in what Defence Secretary Ben Wallace called “the greatest British evacuation since World War II.
After consulting with senior U.S. military advisors and partners, the committee concludes in its report that President Biden supported an unconditional departure from Afghanistan.
Nonetheless, the report states, “There is abundant evidence, including direct testimony from American military officers and key NATO allies, that they supported a continued conditions-based commitment in Afghanistan.”
This required keeping an advisory and counterterrorism operation consisting of 2,500 US military personnel and 6,000 primarily NATO forces in place.
The report also asserts:
• Only 36 American consular personnel were stationed in Kabul at the height of the evacuation, despite the need to process more than 100,000 evacuees.
• Approximately 1,450 Afghan children evacuated without their parents
• The challenges during the evacuation were worsened by the State Department’s confusing instructions to American and Afghan allies on the ground, as well as a lack of suitable equipment and staff at the airport.
President Biden referred to the operation as an “amazing success” that airlifted more than 124,000 Americans and Afghans to safety and ended an “endless” conflict in which 3,500 American and partner troops and hundreds of thousands of Afghans perished.
At the time, he addressed the American people, “Last night in Kabul, the United States ended its 20-year war in Afghanistan, the longest in American history.”
Mission accomplished with “exceptional success”
“We performed one of the largest airlifts in history… more than twice what the majority of specialists believed was doable.
“In all of history, no nation has ever done something comparable. Only the United States had the capacity, will, and ability to accomplish this, and we accomplished so today.
The exceptional success of our mission was due to the extraordinary expertise, bravery, and selfless heroism of our soldiers, diplomatic, and intelligence personnel.
The foreign affairs committee of the US House of Representatives (lower house) consists of 27 Democrats and 24 Republicans, however, only the minority party, the Republicans, authored the report.
