Biden Administration Released Afghanistan Report Day Before Holiday in Attempt to Bury It, Republicans Say
Republicans claim that the Biden administration tried to hide the release of a State Department report on its botched withdrawal from Afghanistan the Friday before Fourth of July holiday weekend.
In the final version, about 60 pages were omitted by the administration.
Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (R-TX), criticized the late release. He said he had asked the administration in April for an unclassified copy of the review – which was completed by March 2022.
I requested that the State Department declassify their After-Action Review on Afghanistan in 60 days. The State Department did not comply with my request. Instead, they released only a small part of that document (24 of 87 unclassified pages) and omitted all of the narrative that forms the bulk the report. The department has no reason to not release a declassified copy of the entire report. Much of it was marked as ‘Sensitive But Unclassified’ and ‘Unclassified. This is yet another attempt by the Biden administration to conceal its culpability for the chaotic evacuation of Afghanistan.
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A Republican, House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee Chair Mike Waltz tweeted: “Shameful that the Biden Administration released a damning Afghanistan report Friday afternoon during a holiday weekend.” “Typical DC swamp tactics.”
As with other Afghanistan-related reports, much of the report is unnecessarily secret to avoid embarrassment in future, transparency and accountability, said Waltz, an Army National Guard Green Beret colonel, who served as a soldier in Afghanistan.
Karine Jean Pierre, White House Press Secretary, was questioned by reporters on Friday regarding the report.
She directed questions regarding the report to State Department, but defended her administration’s transparency by claiming it had provided Congress with answers.
A reporter did ask her: “What does it say to release such a long-anticipated document on a Friday, on a day with heavy news coverage, just before a long holiday weekend?”
She said, “That’s a State Department Decision. I will have to refer you there.”
When asked if she agreed that the report faulted officials in the Biden administration for a lack of planning and direction Jean-Pierre replied, “I’ll just let it speak on its own.” I won’t comment any further.
It said: It said:
Both President Trump and Biden’s decisions to end the U.S. mission in Afghanistan have had serious consequences on the Afghan government. These decisions are outside the scope of the AAR, but the team found that in both administrations senior officials did not give enough consideration to worst-case scenarios or how quickly they might occur.
According to the report, most experts predicted that Kabul wouldn’t fall until weeks or even months after it actually did. It did admit that as “security conditions in Afghanistan deteriorated” some people argued to plan for a possible fall sooner.
The report stated that while the State Department was involved in the planning of the evacuation, it was “hampered by the fact that there was no clear leader within the Department.”
The report stated that once the evacuation began, determining the scope and scale of the operation was a “major” challenge.
Senior administration officials did not make clear decisions about the universe of Afghans at risk who would be included when the operation began nor did they determine where these Afghans would go. This added to the difficulties that the Department of Defense and Department faced during the evacuation.
The report also stated that planning and preparation for an evacuation was “inhibited in a certain degree” by fears about sending the wrong signals, particularly anything that could suggest that the United States has lost confidence in its government in Afghanistan and contribute to its fall.
The State Department was also accused of not having a “sufficient urgency” when planning an evacuation.
The Department and the Embassy Kabul prepared for different scenarios, such as the possibility of an evacuation of Afghanistan. However, the urgency was not sufficient, it stated.
Waltz dismissed the blame placed on the Trump administration in the report.
He tweeted: “The blame for State Department’s inability to prepare for evacuation rests solely with Biden Administration, and their bullshit September 11, 2021 deadline rather than adapting to the conditions on the ground.”
He said, “We will continue to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”
