Afghanistan Re-visited. The White House on Thursday released a twelve-page after-action review of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and reached the conclusion that any problems were the fault of the Trump Administration.
The argument: When President Trump took office, there were 10,000 troops in Afghanistan. Trump “emboldened” the Taliban by meeting with them at Camp David and entering into an agreement to pull troops out and free more than 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison, which put Biden in an impossible position. Biden’s choices were “severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor,” it reads.
Expectations, meet reality. In a subsequent press gathering, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged that the administration’s expectations for what would happen didn’t match up with reality. “We didn’t get things right here,” he said. Those errors included the speed of the Taliban advance, the number of deals they were making with tribesmen outside of Kabul, and the total failure of the Afghan government security forces to fight, “Particularly after we…dedicated 20 years, trained and equipped them,” he said.
“I don’t think we fully appreciated the degree of corruption that was in the officer ranks in the military,” he added.
Fun fact: The website of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction features 67 pages of reports on corruption issues going back to 2008. They get progressively worse.
“All the signs were there,” a former inspector general said in 2021.
Eventually, the Biden White House reached the conclusion that keeping 2,500 troops in country—as recommended by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, who had served as deputy commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan—would be untenable, as their presence would violate the agreement with the Taliban, and they would need reinforcements, according to the Thursday summary.
Republican reaction: House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, called Kirby’s comments “disgraceful and insulting,” The Hill reported. His committee is leading an investigation of the withdrawal. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., was similarly displeased: “Instead of addressing honestly and openly the substantial flaws in its decision-making process, the Biden administration has provided the public a full-throated and deeply partisan explanation of its indefensible Afghanistan policy.”
Still waiting: The veterans group the Association of Wartime Allies estimates that 78,000 Afghans who helped U.S. forces in their country and are eligible for special immigrant visas were left behind in Afghanistan.
But not everyone is trying to leave. The Taliban has reportedly detained 23-year-old British “influencer” Miles Routledge, who made his clout traveling to “dark” places, Business Insider reports.
Check out our coverage of the withdrawl, the events leading up to it, the aftermath and all things Afghanistan.