US President Joe Biden was resolved to pull out troops from Afghanistan and overlooked the counsel of the US military, the Afghanistan government, and Nato.
This was uncovered in a House Foreign Affairs Committee’s report, which was a consequence of an over two-year examination concerning America’s Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021.
“Prioritized Politics and His Personal Legacy”
According to the 350-page report, “During his decades-long tenure as a Delaware US senator, eight years as Vice President of the United States and nearly four years as president, Mr Biden has demonstrated distrust of America’s military experts and advisors.”
“[He] has prioritized politics and his personal legacy over America’s national security interests”
Reprimands and Resignations
The association of Kamala Harris or any sort of fault has not been referenced in the report.
According to the New York Post, Jerry Dunleavy, the senior investigator, resigned as a result of the report’s lack of mention of Harris. Republicans are now reprimanding the Biden administration’s treatment of Afghanistan.
Doha Agreement
The report likewise added that the Biden organization continually deceived the American people to inspire them to support the end of the 20-year-old conflict in Afghanistan.
Regarding America’s war in Afghanistan, the administration of former US President Donald Trump negotiated and signed the Doha Agreement with the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Putting an End to Attacks
Yet, Biden didn’t pay attention to the provisions of the agreement that the US would pull out its soldiers from Afghanistan assuming its demands were heard.
After that, the terrorist organization would end its ties to “al-Qaida and the other terrorist organizations,” which would put an end to its attacks on US and coalition troops.
Negotiations with Afghanistan
The ending of ties to these terrorist groups would prompt less violence against Afghan powers and begin dealings with the Afghan government, as per the report.
In February 2021, then-state department representative Ned Price declared the US would reevaluate the Taliban’s abiding by the Doha Agreement to determine whether the US should pull out from Afghanistan.
“Ongoing Presence of Terrorism”
The report added, “In his testimony before the committee, contrary to his public statement, Mr. Price asserted the Taliban’s adherence to the Doha Agreement was in fact ‘immaterial’ to the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.”
“Missing from press releases was information related to the Taliban’s failure to adhere to the Doha Agreement, the ongoing presence of terrorism in Afghanistan, the capabilities of the Afghan government and military with and without U.S. support, and dissent from Nato allies on the US plan to withdraw.”
“In Breach of Key Elements”
The report went on to say that “The Taliban were in breach of key elements of the Doha Agreement, [though] the Biden-Harris administration claimed to be assessing the Taliban’s compliance therewith. In reality, the conditions were entirely irrelevant to them.”
According to the document, despite all military advice to the contrary, Biden made the decision to withdraw.
“Advised Against Withdrawing”
“Despite President Biden’s public assertions to the contrary, our investigation has revealed the secretary of defence, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the commander of US Central Command, the Secretary of State, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the commander of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces-Afghanistan all advised against withdrawing all US troops from the country, both during and after the interagency review” the report said.
Even Nato nations, which were in support of the US, raised the concerns that the international community had.
“We Can Defeat the Taliban”
According to reports, a number of key advisors in Afghanistan had also advised against it.
“General Haibatullah Alizai, former Afghan Army general, informed the committee majority staff that he pleaded for more time from American commanders on the ground, saying, ‘Just tell your leadership to stay with us for two more years. We’re going to take the initiative, it’s in our favor, and we can defeat the Taliban.’”
Optics of Withdrawl
The report uncovers how focused the administration was on the optics of withdrawal. The report additionally expressed how Biden didn’t formally arrange a departure program which was non-aggressive in nature. This was until August 16, 2021, a day after Kabul fell to the Taliban.
The report read, “The failure to prepare for a NEO had ramifications not only for Americans and allies in Afghanistan, but US personnel on the ground forced to evacuate desperate civilians in a hostile environment.”
Harris’ Involvement
The report continued, “Those concerns were sidelined by the Biden-Harris administration in favor of optics. Rather than concede their negligence, US service members and foreign service officers were directed to prioritize evacuating as many people as possible, no matter the threat posed to their lives.”
“Harris was the last person in the room when President Biden made the decision to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan; a fact she boasted shortly after President Biden issued his go-to-zero order”
Additionally, Harris is one of the fifteen administration officials that the report recommended that Congress condemn through a resolution.
