Biden Administration Ignored Military’s Advice During Afghanistan Withdrawal: GOP Report

Joseph LordAugust 15, 2022

Republicans promise further investigation if they retake the House.

In a new report, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee detailed alleged missteps and misleading claims from the State Department and the White House about the Afghanistan withdrawal and vowed investigations into the issue if the GOP regains the House in November.

After 20 years of fighting the Taliban terrorist group in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden decided early into his presidency to carry out a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region.

Despite calls from both parties to extend the time window for the withdrawal, Biden—who critics say was desperate to be out of the country by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks—moved ahead anyway. As the United States pulled back, Taliban forces swept over the nation, prompting harried and in some cases deadly efforts by Afghans to flee the nation.

In the chaos, many Americans were also left behind.

The scenes from Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) in Kabul, where most of the evacuation efforts took place, heavily dented Biden’s popularity with voters.

According to Rasmussen’s daily presidential tracking poll, Biden’s popularity began to decline more noticeably just as the fall of Afghanistan was underway, and it has not returned to its pre-withdrawal levels in the year since since the withdrawal.

Now, Republicans led by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, have unveiled a report alleging that a series of missteps and miscalculations on the part of the Biden administration and State Department are responsible for the fallout of that withdrawal.

“The choices made in the corridors of power in D.C. led to tragic yet avoidable outcomes: 13 dead service members, American lives still at great risk, increased threats to our homeland security, tarnished standing abroad for years to