Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee have released their findings from a three-year investigation into the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. Former President Donald Trump’s role was largely left out of it.
The over 200-page report blames the Biden administration for deciding to conduct the withdrawal “no matter the cost” and for “creating an unsafe environment” that exposed “U.S. Defense Department and State Department personnel to lethal threats.” Much of the language doesn’t ascribe responsibility to Trump, whose administration initiated negotiations, or to senior military officers, who ultimately planned and executed much of the withdrawal.
The Republican-led investigation says President Joe Biden’s administration refused to consider alternatives to a full withdrawal even as stability in the region collapsed. It quotes Col. Seth Krummrich, chief of staff for Special Operations Command Central, who testified that he told Biden that a withdrawal would give the Taliban full control. “There’s nothing that’s going to stop them,” Krummrich said, per the report. “The president decided we’re gonna leave, and he’s not listening to anybody.”