By Peter Baker
The White House on Monday rejected a new investigative report from House Republicans that condemned President Joe Biden’s administration for the tumultuous 2021 exit from Afghanistan, claiming it provides “little or nothing new” and fails to consider important facts.
John F. Kirby, a spokesperson for national security, addressed the media from the White House, delivering a detailed rebuttal to the report unveiled earlier that day. This follow-up came more than three years post-event and just shy of two months before the November election.
Kirby criticized what he characterized as the “one-sided partisan nature of this report” and mentioned that it wasn’t the first issued by Republicans. “This follows, of course, two years after their initial report, and this one contributes little or nothing fresh,” he stated.
He emphasized that in withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan, Biden adhered to a withdrawal agreement made with the Taliban by President Donald Trump before he left office.
“Ending conflicts is more challenging than initiating them,” Kirby remarked. “President Biden understood that. He recognized it. However, this doesn’t imply that the choice to end this conflict was erroneous or that the withdrawal wasn’t carried out as competently and courageously as humanly feasible within the context. It doesn’t negate the grief we feel for the families of those whose lives were tragically lost during the withdrawal, particularly at Abbey Gate on August 26 of that year.”
The report, assembled by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, accused the Biden administration of disregarding security alerts, inadequately planning the evacuation, and misleading the public regarding the dangers and errors that resulted in the bombing that claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members at Abbey Gate outside Kabul’s airport, as well as the deaths of around 170 civilians. This attack highlighted a swift and tumultuous evacuation coinciding with the Taliban’s advance, but reviews from the Pentagon concluded that U.S. troops could not have stopped the violence.
The House report largely absolved Trump of blame despite his negotiation of the original agreement with the Taliban that initiated the withdrawal and his desire for an even swifter exit.
The unveiling of the report coincided with Trump placing blame on Vice President Kamala Harris, his rival in the upcoming election, for “the embarrassment in Afghanistan.” His campaign circulated videos featuring relatives of those who perished at Abbey Gate criticizing her. In response, Harris accused Trump of politicizing the tragedy, referencing his photo opportunity at Arlington National Cemetery in violation of rules against political events.
Kirby dismissed the report’s allegations, asserting that preparation for the withdrawal commenced in the spring of 2021 and that no one anticipated the rapidity of the Taliban’s takeover. He pointed out that Trump’s agreement led to the release of 5,000 Taliban fighters incarcerated in Afghan prisons, and that U.S. equipment remaining in the country was given to the Afghan government, not the Taliban, and only fell into enemy hands once the government collapsed.
Kirby stated that the administration continues to “look with admiration at the many thousands of men and women who fought this war over two decades — troops, diplomats, intelligence specialists, contractors and civilian employees from this and numerous other nations.”
He also denied any claims that the administration lacked candor with the public. “There was no deception, dishonesty, or lack of transparency from this administration, either during or following the withdrawal,” he declared. “We endeavored every day to keep the American public informed of developments. We conducted our own after-action assessments and shared those findings with the public, too.”
