Republican report slams Biden for 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, damaging 'America's credibility’
Afghanistan withdrawal
US House of RepresentativesRepublicans on Monday (Sep 9) are set to release a long-awaited critical report blasting President Joe Biden for the 2021 military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The report claims that "America's credibility on the world stage was severely damaged" with the withdrawal and that Biden failed to mitigate the "likely consequences of the decision" to withdraw, made by the previous administration of Donald Trump.
The failings of Afghanistan withdrawal
The report, a result of a three-year investigation led by Representative Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, slams the Biden administration on many counts, including for its delayed decision to evacuate non-combatants — formally ordered only on Aug. 16.
Additionally, it claimsthat the administration did not effectively communicate within departments in Washington or among officials in Afghanistan, and mishandled the paperwork for the departure of eligible Afghan civilians.
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"America’s credibility on the world stage was severely damaged after we abandoned Afghan allies to Taliban reprisal killings — the people of Afghanistan we had promised to protect," states the report, adding that"the moral injury to America’s veterans and those still serving remains a stain on this administration’s legacy."
The report alsohighlights the shared concerns of military leaders who believed the US should have kept troops in the country and continued the war launched in 2001 after the 9/11 (September 11) attacks.
"Biden's decision to withdraw all US troops was not based on the security situation, the Doha agreement, or the advice of his senior national security advisors or our allies," claims the report.
"Rather, it was premised on his longstanding and unyielding opinion that the United States should no longer be in Afghanistan."
Democrats clap back
As the issue of 9/11 gets increasingly politicised ahead of the November elections, Democrats, as per the news agency AFP, slammed the Republican report as an attempt to upset the upcoming presidential elections.
"If they have had three years to assess what happened, why are they delivering a report after Labor Day in a presidential election year?" asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during an interview with CNN.
Biden's party contends that some blame for the messy withdrawal lies with Trump, who started the withdrawal process in 2020.
(With inputs from agencies)
