House-level Republican and Democratic parties release conflicting reports, assigning fault for errors in America's exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Following an extended investigation led by the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Republican members, reports have been released by GOP Chairman Rep Michael McCaul and Democratic Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks. These documents demonstrate the deeply partisan nature of the debate surrounding the chaotic US exit from Afghanistan. The controversy has gained renewed attention ahead of elections, with the GOP employing the evacuation as a tool to attack Vice President Kamala Harris.
The reports are the most recent installment in a series of reviews focused on the withdrawal, which resulted in the loss of 13 U.S. service members and left countless Afghans who had collaborated with the United States behind.
The blame game has largely been divided along political lines, with Republicans implicating the Biden administration for a hasty exit from Afghanistan and Democrats, including the White House, faulting the Trump administration's deal with the Taliban that initiated the withdrawal.
The findings of both reports, revealed early to CNN before their public release on Monday, largely reinforce this polarization. While new information has emerged, the fundamental conclusions adhere closely to what was previously known.
The Republican document is highly critical of the Biden administration, ascribing full responsibility for the chaotic departure to its choices. It additionally seeks to involve Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee, in its allegations by referring to the current government as “the Biden-Harris administration.”
Claiming that the administration consistently misled and lied to the American people at every stage of the withdrawal, the report proposes a lengthy list of recommendations, such as condemning President Joe Biden, Harris, and other national security team members with resolutions.
In addition to addressing the future success of non-combatant evacuation operations (NEO), the recommendations urge Congress to establish standard procedures and requirements for State Department and DOD briefings on NEO plans when a high-threat embassy has been designated.
The comprehensive list also demands the declassification of details regarding the deadly Abbey Gate terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of 13 service members and dozens of Afghans, as well as the creation of eyewitness portals for after-action reviews.
McCaul defended the report against accusations of politicization, asserting that the investigation was conducted impartially and based solely on facts and evidence.
However, Meeks criticized McCaul for pursuing a predetermined partisan narrative about the Afghanistan withdrawal, arguing that the Republican attempts to generate headlines over acknowledging the investigation's substance were increasingly extreme as the election neared.
The White House also castigated McCaul's report.
“Every aspect of Chairman McCaul’s latest partisan report shows that it is based on selective facts, distorted characterizations, and ingrained biases that have plagued this investigation since its inception,” stated Sharon Yang, a spokesperson for the White House's oversight and investigations division.
Republicans accuse Biden administration of pursuing withdrawal ‘regardless of the cost’
Upon assuming the chairmanship of the committee in January 2023, McCaul launched his investigation with the intention of scrutinizing the State Department's planning, decision-making, and execution of the withdrawal.
The Republican investigation included multiple hearings, interviews with 18 former and current officials, and the examination of numerous government documents.
The resulting report reveals five primary conclusions.
It alleges that the Biden administration was “determined to withdraw from Afghanistan, regardless of the Doha Agreement” – an agreement brokered during the Trump administration for a gradual yet complete withdrawal – “and at any cost.” It accuses the administration of disregarding the conditions outlined in the Doha Agreement, the appeals of the Afghan government, and the objections raised by NATO allies, ultimately choosing to withdraw unilaterally from Afghanistan.
It also asserts that the administration prioritized the appearance of the withdrawal over the safety of U.S. personnel on the ground. The report criticizes the administration's delay in ordering a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO), a fact that has been extensively analyzed and documented. The report claims that following the U.S. withdrawal, Afghanistan once again served as a haven for terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS-K.
Additional findings by the report include the assertion that Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who was appointed under the Trump administration, was working on a succession plan for the Afghan government involving the Taliban. The committee claims that Khalilzad was "committed" to the idea of the Taliban's involvement in the Afghan government's transition.
Although the negotiations led by Khalilzad had been previously covered in media reports – and ultimately failed due to the Taliban's military takeover of Kabul – the specifics of what was being proposed at times remained unclear.
Khalilzad participated in a transcribed interview with the committee and stated that the Taliban had demanded a 70-30 share in favor of the Taliban. He noted that as the balance of power shifted on the ground, negotiations on the government continued, but the financial price escalated.
The report also mentions remarks made by Biden administration authorities to the public around the time of the withdrawal that contradicted the information the U.S. government had about the situation on the ground.
For instance, in October 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated that 5,000 troops would be necessary to secure Bagram Air Force Base, which the U.S. handed over to the Afghans in July 2021. However, General McKenzie testified to the committee that "at 2,500 U.S. forces, the Afghanistan forces could continue battling, allowing for a viable base at Bagram." He added that he believed maintaining Bagram was crucial for stability in the nation. Furthermore, Psaki maintained that no one could have predicted that the Afghan military would collapse as quickly as it did, despite U.S. assessments at the time suggesting a swift collapse was a possibility.
The Democratic memo outlines its distinct takes on the hearings, documents, and transcribed interviews. It argues that the Trump administration initiated the withdrawal and "failed to organize its execution." The memo also alleges that the Biden administration initiated a comprehensive review of the evacuation process. The memo asserts that the Taliban's takeover of Kabul "rapidly altered the situation in Kabul and prompted an extraordinary and unprecedented U.S. government response to protect Americans, our allies, and our interests."
Moreover, Meeks' memo argues that the findings are not new —"they align with what Administration officials, the State Department's Own After-Action Review on Afghanistan (AAR), and extensive press reporting have repeatedly stated over the years about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan."
The memo argues that "this narrative is not without controversy — such as whether to keep a small force in Afghanistan, whether U.S. analysts should have anticipated the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban's lightning-fast takeover, or the exact timing of shifting from civilian-led evacuation flights to a NEO — but no thorough policy process would be without controversy nor would any Commander-in-Chief's decisions satisfy everyone."
Democrats' Memo on the Report
Meeks stated that he released his own memo because "the American people, who fund this Committee's oversight, deserve the truth."
The New York Democrat also accused his Republican colleagues of politicizing the matter ahead of the election.
"With the rise of Vice President Kamala Harris to the Democratic presidential ticket, the Republicans' performances have reached a crescendo — now, they claim she orchestrated the U.S. withdrawal, although she is mentioned only three times in 3,288 pages of the Committee's interview transcripts," Meeks accused.
Even with the report's release, McCaul has made it clear that he will continue his investigation as Election Day approaches and beyond.
"We have numerous unresolved questions regarding the" Department of Defense, McCaul told CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday, prior to the report's publication. He stated that "no final conclusions have been drawn" regarding the Abbey Gate attack at the Kabul airport. That deadly attack, which was claimed by ISIS-K, has been the subject of multiple investigations.
The Republican Chairman has subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to testify on the report. The recommendations from the report call for the testimony of officials such as national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
"Congress has a responsibility to ensure that those responsible for the Afghanistan withdrawal are finally held accountable," the report states.
On the eve of the report's release, McCaul said that the conduct of the withdrawal was "moral negligence" of the administration.
"This was one of the deadliest days in Afghanistan. It could have been prevented if the State Department had carried out its legal obligation to organize the evacuation plan. They didn't do so until the day that the Taliban invaded and overran Kabul. By that time, it was too late," McCaul said on CBS.
McCaul also claimed that the release of the report at this time was not a political move, pointing to the numerous obstacles that the committee faced as they attempted to gather information and conduct interviews.
However, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement to CNN that "it remains disappointing that House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans used this process to politicize Afghanistan policy rather than working on legislative solutions to strengthen our nation."
"They have done a disservice by relying on false information and presenting inaccurate narratives intended only to harm the Administration, rather than seeking to inform Americans about how our longest war came to an end," Miller said. "The State Department remains immensely proud of its workforce, who put themselves forward in the waning days of our presence in Afghanistan to evacuate both Americans and the brave Afghans who stood by our side for more than two decades."
Yang, the White House spokesperson, also defended the administration's decisions and blamed Trump and the Doha agreement negotiated under his presidency, stating that Biden "inherited an untenable position."
"As we have said many times, ending our longest war was the right decision, and our nation is stronger today as a result," Yang said in a statement to CNN. "Bringing our troops home after 20 years put us in a stronger position by allowing us to redirect our resources to confront threats to international peace and stability, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an ongoing crisis in the Middle East, China's increasingly aggressive actions, and terrorist threats that exist worldwide."
In June 2023, the State Department released its long-awaited Afghanistan After Action Review report, which found that both the Trump and Biden administrations' decisions to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan had negative consequences and detailed significant flaws in the current administration that led to the chaotic and deadly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan after nearly two decades on the ground.
The report proposes suggestions for the future, primarily focusing on the Department's crisis management and readiness. The report issued by the State Department, as well as the one from the Republicans, suggest appointing a singular point of contact within the department during intricate crisis situations.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The controversy surrounding the US exit from Afghanistan has once again become a key talking point in politics, with the GOP using the evacuation as a tool to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of elections.
The partisan nature of the debate surrounding the Afghanistan withdrawal has been evident in the reports released by Republican and Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The reports have largely reinforced the polarization that exists, with Republicans blaming the Biden administration for a hasty exit and Democrats faulting the Trump administration's deal with the Taliban.
