As we reported, the House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans completed their three-year investigation into the disastrous Biden-Harris 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, which led to the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers and 170 Afghans. Some details were released Sunday—and they were damning for the administration:
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Fast forward to Monday, and the entire report has been released. Fired-up—and angry—Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-TX), along with another member of the committee, held a press conference with Gold Star families outside the Capitol to discuss their findings. He insisted that the report was not political:
Our report came out today, it’s over 300 pages. It’s a historic document. It’s not a political document. It was a document designed to get to the truth.
What we found was significant. This was a catastrophic failure of epic proportions. Some say Saigon was the worst. I say this was, for many reasons…
The State Department wholly failed in [their] responsibility. …
When you don’t have a plan—you plan to fail. This was a failure. For everyone, but especially these families standing behind me.
.@RepMcCaul: “When you don’t have a plan, you plan to fail. This was a failure for everyone, and especially these families standing behind me” pic.twitter.com/IBE7FIfBVH
— Raj Aryal (@rajaryal07) September 9, 2024
He grew passionate talking about the heroes who lost their lives that day—and how none of it should have happened.
One hundred seventy Afghans killed…. 45 Americans and Afghan civilians wounded. The sad thing is, it could have been prevented—If we just had a plan.
McCaul Presser on Afghanistan Exit Probe: “It was a failure of epic proportions.” pic.twitter.com/qm0kGNVhXJ
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) September 9, 2024
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After McCaul wrapped up his remarks, several Gold Star families paid moving tributes to their fallen sons and daughters. They are still speaking as of this writing.
You can watch the whole conference here:
Click here to view the full report, which is called “Willful Blindness: An Assessment of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Chaos that Followed.” The committee summarized their key findings:
- The Biden-Harris administration was determined to withdraw from Afghanistan, with or without the Doha Agreement
- The Biden-Harris administration prioritized the optics of the withdrawal over the security of U.S. personnel on the ground.
- The Biden-Harris administration’s failure to prepare for a NEO and order a timely NEO created an unsafe environment at HKIA, exposing U.S. Defense Department and State Department personnel to lethal threats and emotional harm.
- 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 ISIS-K.
- The Biden-Harris administration misled and, in some instances, directly lied to the American people at every stage of the withdrawal, from before the go-to-zero order until today.
- The catastrophic withdrawal at the hands of the Biden-Harris administration has created a crisis within the U.S. military and among American veterans.
- Once again, Afghanistan has become a safe haven for terrorists, giving governing space to terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, ISIS-K, and the Taliban’s own Haqqani Network.
- The Biden-Harris administration’s willful blindness has left the United States once again vulnerable to attacks emanating from Afghanistan.
- Our adversaries, like Russia, China, and Iran, saw weakness during the chaotic and deadly evacuation, emboldening them.
- When Kabul fell, many drew comparisons to Saigon as, once again, U.S. helicopters were ferrying Americans off a U.S. embassy, abandoning longtime allies.
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The botched withdrawal by the Biden-Harris team is a dark day in America’s history and should have never happened. McCaul has shined a bright light on the president and vice president’s leadership, and the results are not kind. Donald Trump should remind Harris—the “last person in the room” when Biden made the fatal decision—as often as possible at Tuesday’s debate and at every other opportunity.
