After an 18-month investigation, House Republicans have released a scathing 350-page report detailing their investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from the war-torn country.
The document comes from hours of congressional testimony, seven congressional hearings, and 20,000 pages of State Department documents that were reviewed by the GOP-led House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to The Associated Press.
President Trump himself ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2020, ending almost two decades of US.-led war against the Taliban.
As that withdrawal was occurring, and the U.S. presence was shrinking, eyewitnesses have testified the Biden administration failed to heed warnings and listen to advice as the Taliban was capturing territory and entering Kabul, the Afghan capital.
National security analyst Bob Maginnis says the Biden administration refused to listen to its own military personnel during a disorganized and hectic withdrawal.
“The Trump people wanted out,” Maginnis recalls, “but they weren't going to go against what the general says in terms of leaving a contingent behind so that we could bolster the longevity of our allies in Kabul.”
What happened in those remaining months and weeks was stubborn State Department personnel overruled the generals at the Pentagon, Maginnis says. So it was the State Department-led withdrawal, and its rules of engagement for our military, that allowed the deadly suicide bombing at the Kabul airport. That attack killed 13 U.S. military personnel, and wounded 45 others, who were stationed at Abbey Gate.
The explosion also killed 170 Afghan civilians.
“So that's why you should not run military tactical operations out of Foggy Bottom,” Maginnis concludes.
