(USNewsMag.com) – A review of President Joe Biden’s 2021 chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, during which 13 American soldiers were killed, was released April 6. The report is an overview of the withdrawal from the perspective of the Biden administration.
The report defends Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, after two decades of being in the country. The 12-page report does not outline mistakes made by the Biden administration but does criticize former President Donald Trump for constraining the conditions of the withdrawal. The report also says since 2020 Trump had decreased the military presence in the country, while also engaging in peace talks with the Taliban without the consultation of U.S. allies which emboldened the Taliban.
During the release of the report April 6, White House national security spokesman John Kirby placed blame on the Trump administration for failing to provide plans for removing U.S. troops, as well as plans for transitioning security to the Afghan government. However, Kirby says the Biden administration still feels the move to withdraw troops was the right move.
The report acknowledges that Americans and their allies should have been evacuated sooner. However, the report places blame for the delays in evacuations on the U.S. military and the assessments from the intelligence community as well as on the Afghan government and military.
The Pentagon and State Department will share their own after-action reports with Congress about the 2021 withdrawal. The House Foreign Affairs Committee has been investigating the chaotic withdrawal, with subpoenas being issued to the Biden administration as part of the investigation.
The Taliban took over control of Kabul in August 2021 after the Afghan National Security Forces collapsed following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Evacuation of American citizens, translators, allies, and Afghan refugees was overseen by the Biden administration. Some American citizens, close to 1,000, were evacuated after being left in Afghanistan during the withdrawal, with many Afghan allies still remaining in Afghanistan.
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