House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman releases comprehensive report on Biden-Harris Administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal

https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/

Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul has released the Majority’s report on the committee’s investigation into the Biden-Harris administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the chaos and instability that followed. 

The full report entitled, “Willful Blindness: An Assessment of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Chaos that Followed,” can be found here: https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WILLFULL-BL…

“Our investigation reveals the Biden-Harris administration had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies," McCaul said. "At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security. 

“As a result of the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to plan for all contingencies, the U.S. government conducted an emergency evacuation without the necessary personnel, supplies, and equipment. The administration’s dereliction of duty placed U.S. service members and U.S. State Department personnel in mortal danger, where the Taliban – our sworn enemy – became the first line of defense. As a direct result of the failure to plan for all contingencies, 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans were murdered in a terrorist attack at Abbey Gate on August 26, 2021, and 45 U.S. service members and countless Afghans were injured. This was preventable.

“It has damaged U.S. credibility," the chairman continued. "It has emboldened our adversaries, and it has made the United States more at risk of an attack emanating from Afghanistan. And the moral injury to our veterans and service members is generational. The administration’s unconditional surrender and the abandonment of our Afghan allies, who fought alongside the U.S. military against the Taliban – their brothers in arms – is a stain on this administration.

“Anyone who reads this report will be able to see that we conducted this investigation with integrity, not drawing conclusion ahead of time but rather looking at the facts and evidence we collected. The report is simply a recitation of those facts and evidence. This is not about politics to me – it never has been. It’s about getting to the bottom of what happened so we can make sure it never happens again. And it’s about finding who was responsible for this catastrophe so they can finally, after three long years, be held accountable.

“I would have preferred this report be released earlier than today. In fact, I would have preferred it be released in late 2021 or 2022 – directly after the withdrawal and emergency evacuation. Instead, congressional Democrats provided political cover for the Biden-Harris administration. Shamefully, they held only a single hearing, did not conduct one transcribed interview, or publicly request a single document. 

"Since becoming chairman in January 2023, I have aggressively pushed to get the necessary documents and testimony from the Biden-Harris administration – and they have obstructed my every attempt. Every single document and every single word of testimony we received from administration officials were obtained only after a subpoena being served, or a threat of contempt of Congress. To this day, Secretary Blinken and NSA Sullivan continue to refuse to testify before this committee. I want to be clear – I will use every tool in my belt to compel both men to answer for the catastrophic failure of epic proportions their decisions caused.

“While this was a thorough and comprehensive investigation, there are still unanswered questions, and more information must be gathered if we are to ensure such a catastrophe never happens again. Stay tuned.”

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