House GOP Criticizes Biden Admin in Long-Awaited Afghanistan Report

Sunday evening, the Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee released a long-awaited report that analyzed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

The Details: The 354-page report criticizes President Joe Biden and his administration for its handling of the withdrawal, claiming Biden didn’t properly take into account the Doha Agreement or advice from top security officials and allies, leading to the deaths of U.S. servicemembers.

For Context: The chaotic withdrawal, which unexpectedly resulted in an immediate Taliban takeover of the country, has been a political talking point for Republicans against the Biden administration since 2021. Last week, the Committee subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken to testify on the withdrawal before September 19 or face contempt charges.

Key Quotes: Of U.S. intelligence’s miscalculation on how quickly the Taliban would seize control and delay in formally declaring an evacuation, the report concluded, “This inexcusable delay was exacerbated by the department’s failure to formulate an emergency evacuation plan.” A White House spokeswoman said, “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.”

How The Media Covered It: Outlets across the spectrum pointed out that the review was partisan and comes just ahead of the upcoming presidential election. The Hill (Center bias) called the GOP criticism of the administration’s delay “one of the sharpest lines of criticism in the report.” Newsmax (Right bias) claimed the review “breaks little new ground as the withdrawal has been exhaustively litigated through several independent reviews.”