Pentagon says officials will be held accountable for Afghanistan withdrawal failures
When Donald Trump was in office for the first time, he struck a deal with the Taliban that would withdraw all US troops from the country.
The drawdown was far from complete when Biden took office, and even though the Taliban had not lived up to its end of the deal, Biden went forward in what is now a stain on this country’s history.
Biden orders withdrawal
After Biden took office, it was up to his administration to ensure the Taliban lived up to the terms of the deal and continue the withdrawal.
Biden soon announced that starting on May 1, the drawdown would begin, concluding on September 11, 2021, which would be the 20th anniversary of the war.
Biden stated, "After consulting closely with our allies and partners, with our military leaders and intelligence personnel, with our diplomats and our development experts, with the Congress and the vice president, as well as with [Afghan President Ashraf Ghani] and many others around the world, I concluded that it's time to end America's longest war. It's time for American troops to come home.”
As we all know, the withdrawal was a complete disaster, with Biden leaving significant equipment behind and more than 1,000 American citizens.
GOP Report Released
As expected, when the GOP took over the House, an investigation was launched. The final report from the House Foreign Affairs Committee found that Biden was more concerned with optics than safety, and 13 American service members paid the price for his hubris.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) stated, "It could have been prevented if the State Department did its job by law and executed the plan of evacuation. They left these 13 service men and women hanging out to dry."
Dems still stood by Joe Biden, saying the report was nothing but a hack report from the GOP, for instance. Rep. Meeks (D-NY) stated, "President Trump initiated an irreversible withdrawal without sending significantly more American troops to Afghanistan to face renewed combat with the Taliban. All witnesses who testified on this issue agreed that the United States would have faced renewed combat with the Taliban had we not continued the withdrawal. Rather than send more Americans to fight a war in Afghanistan, President Biden decided to end it."
At least part of that statement is an outright lie, as the withdrawal could have been canceled at any time if the Taliban were in violation of the agreement, which they were.
Obliged to Hold Them Accountable
Shockingly, as bad as the withdrawal went, nobody was fired by Biden, which is simply unacceptable. But that is about to change.
Department of Defense (DOD) spokesman Sean Parnell broke the news this week that the Pentagon is about to initiate an investigation as it feels “obliged” to hold those responsible for their actions.
Parnell stated, “I watched my men do extraordinary things in support of a grateful nation and in support of a mission there, and to watch Afghanistan be surrendered in the way that it was, [it] was extremely difficult.”
I have not spoken about this much in recent months, but that does not mean that this debacle is not top of mind for me. My regular readers know how outraged I was over this, even more so after the media brushed under the rug the fact that Biden abandoned Americans behind enemy lines. Even though it is now years later, those who planned this operation must be held accountable. It’s just a shame that Biden is not one of them.
