On Thursday, the White House released a report detailing information about the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021, which led to the bombing at Kabul airport which resulted in the death of 13 U.S. service members.
The 12-page report by the National Security Council summarizes all of the assessments that they had looked through prior to the withdrawal. In large part, the report also places the blame for the chaos that ensued with former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, both Americans and Afghans were forced to evacuate the country swiftly as the Taliban quickly overtook the country and government. Currently, the country is under Taliban control.
According to the report President Biden had limited options for the way that the withdrawal could be executed because of the “conditions created by his predecessor.” Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are also going to be receiving reports on the withdrawal put together by the Defense Department and the State Department with classified material after congressional committees made a request for additional information relating to the withdrawal.
The report notes that when Trump first took office in 2017, there had been more than 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, however by the end of his time in office that number had been reduced to 2,500. The Trump administration also failed to provide a concrete plan about how the final withdrawal from the country was going to occur and how both Americans and their Afghan allies could safely be evacuated.
