State Department report criticizes Trump, Biden administrations for Afghanistan withdrawal
WASHINGTON – The U.S. State Department blames the administrations of Donald Trump and Joe Biden for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
A report released Friday said the decision by both presidents to end the U.S. military mission had serious consequences for the Afghan government and security.
The report titled Afghanistan After Action Review (AAR), said insufficient thought had been given at the highest levels to worst-case scenarios.
The AAR team conducted more than 150 interviews with current and former State Department officials.
“The decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the US military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security,” said the unclassified report.
“Those decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the AAR team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow,” it added.
The report says the signing of the February 2020 agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban signaled Trump’s desire to end the military presence.
Biden’s April 2021 announcement had also set a Sept. 11 withdrawal date.
Because of the daunting challenge of ensuring the security of the large diplomatic mission in a conflict zone, the plan was to retain some U.S. forces to provide critical security.
However, the details had not been clearly defined.
According to the report, the State Department should have been tasked with overseeing and coordinating all elements of the crisis response.
“Some officials questioned how and whether the Department could sufficiently mitigate the loss of military support, and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) warned of the level of risk that the Department would be accepting,” the report added.
The U.S. presence in Afghanistan, which began in October 2001, ended after 20 years with the withdrawal of American troops in 2021.
The withdrawal led to the collapse of the Afghan government and chaos at the Kabul airport.
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