DOD Announces Investigation of Biden Admin.’s Deadly Afghanistan Withdrawal
Nearly four years ago, then-President Joe Biden withdrew U.S. military forces from Afghanistan in a disastrous, ill-planned maneuver that cost the lives of 13 U.S. servicemembers and 170 civilians. Now, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are launching an investigation to determine how the withdrawal was botched.
In a Monday Department of Defense (DOD) memo shared with The Washington Stand, Hegseth wrote, “President Trump and I have formally pledged full transparency for what transpired during our military withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Department of Defense has an obligation, both to the American people and to the warfighters who sacrificed their youth in Afghanistan, to get to the facts.”
“This remains an important step toward regaining faith and trust with the American people and all those who wear the uniform and is prudent based on the number of casualties and equipment lost during the execution of this withdrawal operation,” Hegseth continued. He noted that the DOD has been conducting a months-long review of “this catastrophic event in our military’s history,” beginning shortly after Trump’s return to the White House. However, in order “to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people,” the DOD will establish a “Special Review Panel” to examine previous reviews, sources, witnesses, transcripts, and factual findings and “analyze the decision making that led to one of America’s darkest and deadliest international moments.” Hegseth pledged, “This team will ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation.”
The DOD informed The Washington Stand that the panel will be led by Afghanistan War military veteran and senior DOD official and advisor Sean Parnell, along with Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s management of the withdrawal, and investigative reporter and author Jerry Dunleavy. Previously, Dunleavy played a key role in helping the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee conduct its own investigation and compile its own report on the withdrawal.
In comments to TWS, former House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who oversaw the compilation and publication of the report, recounted, “The Biden administration’s catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan ceded the country to the Taliban, abandoned our allies, and resulted in the deaths of 13 brave American servicemembers.” He stated, “This was a failure of epic proportions, yet President Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress tried to sweep it all under the rug.” The congressman continued, “I’m glad to see the Trump administration putting rightful focus on the impacts of this debacle — as the Foreign Affairs Committee did under my chairmanship — and working to improve accountability, transparency, and procedures to ensure this never happens again. The American people, our Afghan allies, and our Gold Star families deserve nothing less.”
The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s report, published in September, was the result of months of extensive investigations and hearings. The report concluded that the Biden administration “was determined to withdraw from Afghanistan … no matter the cost.” The administration therefore “ignored” the provisions of the Doha Agreement, a 2020 treaty between the U.S. and the Taliban establishing the terms for a phased U.S. withdrawal, as well as the “pleas of the Afghan government, and the objections by our NATO allies, deciding to unilaterally withdraw from the country.”
The Biden administration also “prioritized the optics of the withdrawal over the security of U.S. personnel on the ground,” subsequently failing “to plan for all contingencies, including a noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO) and refused to order a NEO until after the Taliban had already entered Kabul.” That failure to initiate an NEO in time resulted in jeopardizing the lives of numerous DOD and State Department personnel in Kabul and the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers, as well as at least 45 others who were wounded.
According to the report, Biden administration personnel and officials, especially members of the National Security Council and then-National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan, actively lied to the American public about the withdrawal and the circumstances surrounding it. In some cases, DOD personnel under the Biden administration’s command also destroyed hard drives and laptops, an act the report referred to as “inexcusable errors.” The report added, “As evidenced by this investigation, record collection and preservation are key to ensuring another such catastrophe does not occur again and preventing the loss of American life.”
“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 ISISK,” the report stated. It continued, “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.”
“Beyond the impact the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan and abandon our allies for 20 years,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Bill Roggio tells The Washington Stand, “the Department of Defense should investigate what its prior leadership knew about the security situation at the time, Al Qaeda’s presence in the country, and how terror groups would thrive after the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government.
“Al Qaeda was closely allied with the Taliban at the time of the withdrawal,” he continued, “and fought alongside the Taliban to conquer the country. Today, Al Qaeda has significant infrastructure in the country, including terror training camps in 13 provinces, safe houses, religious schools, and a weapons storage depot. The infrastructure didn’t materialize out of thin air; it was the result of years of a close alliance forged in blood and sacrifice. The Taliban has paid its debt to Al Qaeda, and the world is far less safe today because of it.”
Trump has repeatedly and openly castigated the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal. When Kabul was taken by the Taliban in August 2021, Trump called on Biden to “resign in disgrace for what he has allowed to happen to Afghanistan,” adding that the botched withdrawal “will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history!”
On the three-year anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul that claimed the lives of the 13 U.S. servicemembers, Trump referred to the withdrawal as “the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country…” While Biden and his deputy, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, criticized Trump for appearing at an Arlington National Cemetery event commemorating the fallen soldiers, the families of those soldiers defended Trump’s presence and lambasted Biden and Harris for their mismanagement of the troop withdrawal.
AUTHOR
S.A. McCarthy
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.
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