Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Similarly, the administration will work to more assertively communicate the risks of remaining in unsafe situations.ĪRLINGTON, VIRGINIA - NOVEMBER 16: U.S. “We now prioritize earlier evacuations when faced with a degrading security situation,” the summary states, using the war in Ukraine as an example of earlier evacuations. One of the most searing images from the time was of desperate Afghans clinging to an American plane as it took off, later falling to their deaths.Īfter the chaotic attempts to evacuate US citizens and those who assisted the American war effort, the administration said it now works to facilitate departures earlier in other situations. Much of the chaos surrounding the withdrawal involved attempts to withdraw Americans and Afghans who assisted the war effort, including translators. “There were no signs that more time, more funds, or more Americans at risk in Afghanistan would have yielded a fundamentally different trajectory,” the summary reads.

The summary ardently defends Biden’s decision to order a complete withdrawal, which he has justified as necessary to end the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan. Responding to the summary findings, a spokesman for Trump said “Biden and his administration are trying to gaslight the American people for their disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan that directly led to American deaths and emboldened the terrorists.” And the incoming administration wasn’t afforded much of one,” Kirby said. “Transitions matter – that’s the first lesson learned here. Marine injured in Kabul airport bombing recounts 'catastrophic' US withdrawal from Afghanistan at House hearing (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Win McNamee/Getty Images

Vargas-Andrews was injured while defending an attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport while U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the emergency evacuation from Kabul. The Committee held the hearing to examine the U.S. Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the U.S. Kirby also said the Trump administration provided little information or intelligence to the incoming Biden team about the Afghanistan situation. The report cites the agreement Trump reached with the Taliban in 2020, arguing it limited Biden’s options for withdrawing American troops. It says Biden inherited a situation in which “the Taliban were in the strongest military position that they had been in since 2001, controlling or contesting nearly half of the country.” “For all this talk of chaos, I just didn’t see it,” he said.ĭecisions taken by Trump’s administration “severely constrained” Biden’s options for the withdrawal, the summary reads. He rejected the notion the withdrawal was chaotic. He focused keenly on the need for proper planning,” Kirby said. “Despite having his options curtailed, President Biden led a deliberate, rigorous and inclusive decision-making process that was responsive to facts on the ground. In remarks describing the summary of the report, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby defended Biden’s decision to withdraw and stressed the work the administration did once they took office. Overall, the summary’s principal description is of a difficult situation made more onerous by Trump’s decisions when he was in office, including entering into an agreement with the Taliban requiring US troops to withdraw by May 2021.Ĭlassified findings from the long-awaited reviews by the State Department and Pentagon were also transmitted to Congress on Thursday, fulfilling a White House pledge to provide the information following the bloody and chaotic withdrawal, which included a deadly bombing at Kabul International Airport t hat killed 13 US troops. And it cites intelligence that provided overly rosy projections of the security situation and notes Biden followed recommendations from his military commanders in executing the withdrawal. Still, it acknowledges certain lessons that have been applied since, including on the speed of evacuating citizens and allies. The 12-page summary document does not overtly admit any mistakes. President Joe Biden’s administration blamed conditions created by President Donald Trump for the chaotic withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, according to a summary of findings from an administration-wide after-action review released Thursday.

Trump afghanistan drawdown