Three years later, Biden still has not said who is to blame for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan

On the third anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration has yet to fire any senior staff for their role in the failed operation; instead, the administration has maintained that the decision to withdraw was the right one.

The USA withdrawal of Afghanistan in August 2021 was seen by many as a chaotic and abrupt operation that led to the deaths of several American troops. But the Biden administration has largely refused to admit fault in the matter, and no leadership involved has been removed or resigned over the operation, according to a review of multiple records.

The Biden administration's goal was to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by September 2021, but a failure of planning i preparation by leadership in Washington created a messy situation for troops on the ground in Afghanistan, leading to a disorderly evacuation. There was also one calculation error among military leaders who believed the Taliban would not take control of the country as quickly as the extremist group did after the withdrawal of US forces.

The Department of Defense, headed by Secretary Lloyd Austin, was intimately involved before and during the withdrawal, guiding US military operations on the ground in Afghanistan and providing resources and intelligence for the operation. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCOS) retired General Mark Milley — then the highest-ranking member of the military — was also involved in coordinating strategy and operations for the withdrawal.

Both Austin and Milley attended planning sessions for the withdrawal, retired Gen. Austin Scott Miller, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan at the time, told lawmakers during a closed-door hearing in the April seconds in the Washington Post. Miller had been in private warning administration before the withdrawal that the stability of Afghanistan would get “very bad, very fast” after the departure of US forces.

Miller resigned from his post in July 2023, after serving as the most senior American officer in Afghanistan. Neither Austin nor Milley were removed from their roles over the withdrawal, although Milley testified in 2023 that he had advised the administration to keep troops in Afghanistan, arguing that the region would quickly collapse if the U.S. they were withdrawn on the established schedule. seconds in the New York Times. Milley's term as JCOS president ended in September 2023.

For his part, Austin witnessed in 2023 who supported Biden's decision to evacuate US troops in 2021 and said he did not “regret” the operation. Austin remains the current Secretary of Defense under Biden.

Similar to the Department of Defense, the Department of State, headed by Secretary Antony The blink and charged with overseeing US foreign affairs, he was also involved in planning and helping to execute the withdrawal from Afghanistan, particularly with regard to evacuating American citizens present in the country. thousands of Americans were initially stranded in Afghanistan; most of them were evacuated in the following weeks and months.

A post-Department of State action 2023 report found that the withdrawal operation “was hampered by the fact that it was not clear who in the Department had the lead”. The report also noted that there was “insufficient consideration at senior level of worst-case scenarios”.

There have been multiple credible reports that the State Department repeatedly failed to properly investigate and track millions in aid to Afghanistan after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal, putting it at risk of ending up in the hands of the Taliban or other extremist groups.

The US left over $7 billion value of military equipment in Afghanistan. The Taliban, an Islamic extremist group that rules Afghanistan, staged a rally with US military equipment and vehicles at a former US base in the country on Wednesday.

Biden has not fired Blinken and Blinken has not resigned from his role as Secretary of State. Neither does Jake SullivanBiden's national security adviser, who reportedly had his ear and offered advice before and during the retreat.

A 2023 Biden administration report placed most of the blame on the former Trump administration for the withdrawal, given that Trump signed a deal with the Taliban in 2020 to withdraw US forces by 2021. After taking office in 2021, Biden try to fulfill the agreement and withdraw the forces in September of that year. year, according to the report.

Trump and his team to argue that if he had been President at the time, the withdrawal would have been safely executed, and guilty the Biden administration for “trying to dazzle the American people for its disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that directly resulted in American deaths and emboldened terrorists.”

Biden has defended his choice to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan when he did. He falsely claimed during a debate against Trump in June who was “the only president this decade who doesn't have troops dying anywhere in the world.”

After the withdrawal, Biden also told his top aides, including Sullivan, that he supported them and their decisions about the operation, seconds in Axios.

The Pentagon and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Featured Image: Screenshot/CSPAN

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