Biden admn blasts 'cherry-picked' report by Republicans on US withdrawal from Afghanistan

US President Joe Biden's administration slammed the report by Republicans for “cherry-picked” information as the assessment tore apart the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. As Taliban rule completed one year in Afghanistan, the Biden administration issued a memo, in response to the scathing report by Republicans (GOP), and blamed former US President Donald Trump for striking a deal with the outfit which included US troops completely withdrawing from the war-torn nation by May 2021.

Slamming the 121-page report by Republicans in which Democrats did not participate, US National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Arienne Watson said: “This partisan report is riddled with inaccurate characterizations, cherry-picked information, and false claims. It advocates for endless war and for sending even more American troops to Afghanistan. And it ignores the impacts of the flawed deal that former President Trump struck with the Taliban.”

Watson went on to emphasise that the United States did not require a permanent troop presence on the ground in harm’s way to remain vigilant to deter terrorist threats or to even neutralise the world’s most wanted terrorists from the battlefield. She added, “We just demonstrated unequivocally in the recent Zawahiri strike to take out the leader of Al Qaeda.”

Blaming Biden’s predecessor, the NSC official said that the peace agreement with the militant group “empowered the Taliban, weakened our partners in the Afghan government, and committed to withdrawing our troops a few months after President Biden's inauguration - with no clear plan for what should come next."

It should be mentioned here that as Biden announced the US would withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by August end of last year, on August 15, the Taliban successfully marched into Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul and claimed control of the war-torn nation as the Western army hastily withdrew from the Southeast Asian country. Under the peace deal signed between former US President Donald Trump’s administration, his successor Joe Biden led the US army to leave Afghanistan and pave the way for the Taliban to reconquer the country after almost 20 years. It was met with the dramatic fall of former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s government, who fled the nation, along with the Afghan army, which was trained by the US. 

What did Republicans’ report on US troop withdrawal say?

Earlier, a report by Republicans on the House  Foreign Affairs Committee which probed troop withdrawal from Afghanistan blamed the Biden administration for failing to plan the move in terms of what would happen in its aftermath. The report was made available to a number of US media outlets, but the White House defended the withdrawal and issued a memo denouncing the assessment which excluded Democrats. 

As per ABC News, the report by Republicans mainly relied on open source reporting and independent interviews with former officials and military commanders. It also included the US Central Command’s investigation of the Abbey Gate suicide bomb attack at Kabul’s airport during the hasty evacuation of citizens which killed 13 American service members and over 170 Afghan civilians.

"The choices made in the corridors of power in D.C. led to tragic yet avoidable outcomes: 13 dead service members, American lives still at great risk, increased threats to our homeland security, tarnished standing abroad for years to come, and emboldened enemies across the globe," said the Republican report.

The 121-page report also stated that the US President was “likely aware” that he said reasons for withdrawing from Afghanistan were “inaccurate” when he made the announcement of pulling out from the war-torn nation in April 2021. According to Republicans in the Committee, Biden carried out the move despite the warnings from the US army officials that it would be prudent to keep a small US military presence of at least 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

"The decision to withdraw US military forces was made by President Biden, despite advice from his military commanders that such a move could lead to Taliban battlefield gains," said the report.

Image: AP