House Republicans have issued a report sharply criticizing Joe Biden’s handling of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, marking nearly three years since the chaotic exit that resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members.

The report, spearheaded by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, accuses Biden of prioritizing a rapid withdrawal over strategic and safe evacuations, despite warnings from military advisors and allies.

The 2021 withdrawal, described in the report as “rushed and heedless,” allegedly ignored crucial intelligence about the Taliban’s capabilities and the stability of the Afghan government.

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According to the committee’s findings, “President Biden’s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops was not based on the security situation, the Doha Agreement, or the advice of his senior national security advisors or our allies.

Rather, it was premised on his longstanding and unyielding opinion that the United States should no longer be in Afghanistan.”

Critics within the committee argue that the Biden administration’s failure to act on intelligence reports led to a hastened collapse of Kabul and a poorly executed noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO).

The report contends that concerns over the “optics” of an evacuation contributed to significant delays in action, which were further complicated by internal disagreements between the military, which anticipated Kabul’s fall, and the State Department, which delayed evacuation plans out of fear they might incite further chaos.

The findings suggest that Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was on vacation at the critical juncture, was absent as urgent decisions needed to be made, leading to delays that placed thousands of Afghan allies and American citizens at risk under Taliban rule.

The evacuation was not ordered until August 15, after an urgent request from Afghanistan Ambassador Ross Wilson, by which time, the report claims, it was “too little, too late.”

In response to these criticisms, House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) has subpoenaed Blinken for a hearing scheduled for September 19.

In his letter to Blinken, McCaul emphasized the Secretary’s responsibility in ensuring a safe evacuation, writing, “As Secretary of State throughout the withdrawal and NEO, you were entrusted to lead these efforts and to secure the safe evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies.”

The White House has dismissed the report as biased, with spokesperson Sharon Yang labeling it as based on “cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and pre-existing biases.” The administration defends the decision to withdraw, citing the “bad deal” brokered by former President Donald Trump with the Taliban, which they claim left Biden with no good options.

According to Yang, Biden had to choose between escalating the war and ending what had become America’s longest and costly conflict.

The White House argues that the decision to withdraw was a measure to prevent further American casualties and to conclude a protracted war that should have ended much earlier, stressing that the nation is stronger for having ended its involvement.

You can read the full press release from the Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman McCaul below:

Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul has released the Majority’s report on the committee’s investigation into the Biden-Harris administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the chaos and instability that followed. The full report entitled, “Willful Blindness: An Assessment of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Chaos that Followed,” can be found here.

“Our investigation reveals the Biden-Harris administration had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies. At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security.

“As a result of the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to plan for all contingencies, the U.S. government conducted an emergency evacuation without the necessary personnel, supplies, and equipment. The administration’s dereliction of duty placed U.S. servicemembers and U.S. State Department personnel in mortal danger, where the Taliban – our sworn enemy – became the first line of defense. As a direct result of the failure to plan for all contingencies, 13 U.S. servicemembers and 170 Afghans were murdered in a terrorist attack at Abbey Gate on August 26, 2021, and 45 U.S. servicemembers and countless Afghans were injured. This was preventable.

“It has damaged U.S. credibility. It has emboldened our adversaries, and it has made the United States more at risk of an attack emanating from Afghanistan. And the moral injury to our veterans and servicemembers is generational. The administration’s unconditional surrender and the abandonment of our Afghan allies, who fought alongside the U.S. military against the Taliban – their brothers in arms – is a stain on this administration.

“Anyone who reads this report will be able to see that we conducted this investigation with integrity, not drawing conclusion ahead of time but rather looking at the facts and evidence we collected. The report is simply a recitation of those facts and evidence. This is not about politics to me – it never has been. It’s about getting to the bottom of what happened so we can make sure it never happens again. And it’s about finding who was responsible for this catastrophe so they can finally, after three long years, be held accountable.

“I would have preferred this report be released earlier than today. In fact, I would have preferred it be released in late 2021 or 2022 – directly after the withdrawal and emergency evacuation. Instead, congressional Democrats provided political cover for the Biden-Harris administration. Shamefully, they held only a single hearing, did not conduct one transcribed interview, or publicly request a single document. Since becoming chairman in January 2023, I have aggressively pushed to get the necessary documents and testimony from the Biden-Harris administration – and they have obstructed my every attempt. Every single document and every single word of testimony we received from administration officials were obtained only after a subpoena being served, or a threat of contempt of Congress. To this day, Secretary Blinken and NSA Sullivan continue to refuse to testify before this committee. I want to be clear – I will use every tool in my belt to compel both men to answer for the catastrophic failure of epic proportions their decisions caused.

“While this was a thorough and comprehensive investigation, there are still unanswered questions, and more information must be gathered if we are to ensure such a catastrophe never happens again. Stay tuned.”

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