Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are soon to report on how the United States, led by President Joe Biden, withdrew from Afghanistan last summer after the Taliban seized power. Some American media write this on Sunday, including The Washington Post and CNN, after they have seen the report.
According to CNN, the report shows that only 36 US State Department officials were present at the time of the evacuation of Afghans from Kabul airport, despite claims that the Department had significantly scaled up resources to manage the evacuation. Only one US consular officer was available for every 3,444 Afghans who wanted to evacuate.
The Washington Post reports that there are few major disclosures in the report. That comes according to an anonymous Republican aide the newspaper spoke to because the State Department refused to hand over documents or participate in interviews about the state of affairs. A ministry spokesman denies the move to the Post, saying ministry officials have met more than 150 times with Congress after the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The withdrawal of US military personnel from Afghanistan occurred in the last two weeks of August 2021. More than 120,000 people were taken from the country during the evacuation, but the process did not go smoothly. About 200 Afghans and 13 US soldiers died in a suicide bombing at the airport. The US then carried out a drone strike that killed ten civilians.
It is not known exactly when the Republican report will be published. The White House told the Post it is “a biased report” that is “riddled with inaccurate characterizations, ripping off the grit” and “making false claims.”