‘Optics over security’: House committee faults Biden-Harris admin for botched Afghanistan withdrawal in new report

The House Foreign Affairs Committee released a report on Sunday detailing the Biden-Harris administration’s failures that led to the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021.

The Biden-Harris administration failed to properly coordinate and adhere to recommendations from NATO and senior military officials regarding the withdrawal, endangering American troops and resulting in the Abbey Gate suicide bombing that left 13 service members dead, according to the 354-page report. The administration also ignored conditions in the Doha Agreement, bypassed pleas from the Afghani government, and “directly lied to the American people” about the process of the withdrawal, according to the report.

The report includes testimonies from 18 administration officials including former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, former Acting Ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson, and Gen. Austin Miller.

“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,” Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, who serves as chair to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement Sunday. “At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security.”

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is getting to the bottom of the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. The decision to remove all troops regardless of conditions being met was reckless and deadly. People deserve to know what happened and will learn more in tomorrow’s report. pic.twitter.com/E0VrAvphje

— Congressman Mike Lawler (@RepMikeLawler) September 8, 2024

Approximately 170 civilians were killed in the bombing, leaving behind roughly $7 billion worth of military equipment that has since fallen into the hands of the Taliban. Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the Biden-Harris State Department, called the withdrawal the “correct policy choice” just two days after the Gold Star families spoke out against the withdrawal in August of 2023.

“The Biden-Harris administration misled and, in some instances, directly lied to the American people at every stage of the withdrawal, from before the go-to-zero order until today,” the report reads. “This coverup included mid-level administration officials all the way up to the Oval Office. And as this investigation reveals, the National Security Council and NSA Jake Sullivan were the source of the majority of that misinformation campaign.”

“In the aftermath of the withdrawal, U.S. national security was degraded as Afghanistan once again became a haven for terrorists, including al Qaeda and ISIS- K,” the report reads. “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. And the moral injury to America’s veterans and those still serving remains a stain on this administration’s legacy.”

Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed that she was the “last person in the room” when President Joe Biden decided to withdraw from Afghanistan and said she was “comfortable” with the decision during an interview with Dana Bash in April 2021.

The White House maintained that the withdrawal was the “right thing to do,” according to a statement given to CNN.

“Everything we have seen and heard of Chairman McCaul’s latest partisan report shows that it is based on cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and pre-existing biases that have plagued this investigation from the start,” Sharon Yang, a White House spokesperson for oversight investigations, said, according to CNN.

“This report paints an incriminating picture of an administration concerned with optics and public perception rather than accountability and the safety of American personnel,” Speaker Mike Johnson said in a Monday post on X. “Because of this failed withdrawal, the Taliban once again controls Afghanistan, terrorists have been emboldened, billions of dollars of weapons and equipment were left behind, and America has lost the trust of our allies. And not a single administration official was fired over this catastrophe.”

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