A 4 1/2 hour Dec. 11 hearing rehashed two years of finger-pointing but ended with reference to a bill ensuring such a calamity never happens again.
After two years of exhaustive investigation, at least three conflicting reports, and more than a dozen combative congressional hearings, legislation incorporating lessons learned from the United States’ deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan has surfaced, although it is unlikely to be adopted in the waning days of the lame-duck Congress.
Republicans lay sole responsibility for the calamity on the Biden administration’s actions in the months preceding that day—specifically those of President Joe Biden, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, and Blinken.
Democrats and Biden administration officials, including Blinken during the Dec. 11 hearing, maintain that the genesis of the disaster was then-President Donald Trump signing the Doha Agreement with the Taliban, but without consulting the Afghanistan government, in February 2020.
Both reports concluded that the Trump and Biden administrations share responsibility for the bungled withdrawal—one administration’s bad treaty leaving the next in an untenable position that devolved into a deadly disaster by its dogged adherence to timelines that ignored what was happening on the ground.
“You ignored the Taliban violations of the Doha Agreement. You ignored objections by our NATO and Afghan allies. You ignored the security risk in keeping the U.S. Embassy in Kabul open despite warnings from our top military advisers,” McCaul told Blinken.
The secretary “ignored the warnings of collapse by your own personnel,” he said, citing a July 2021 “dissent channel cable” from State Department officials in Kabul that said the deteriorating situation warranted a greater military presence.
That was “a cry for help that was unanswered,” McCaul said, noting after 18 transcribed interviews and eight hearings on the Afghanistan withdrawal that he’s come to recognize that the Biden administration in April 2021 essentially issued a unilateral “unconstitutional surrender to the Taliban.”
He dismissed claims the Doha Agreement was the genesis of the disaster.
“You had plenty of opportunity to plan for the inevitable collapse of Afghanistan,” he said. “Instead, even with the warning bells sounding loudly—ringing loudly—you deny the imminent and dangerous threats to American interest, American citizens, and our decade-long Afghan partners.”
McCaul said Blinken “delegated this responsibility” to a still undetermined chain of command that contributed to the confusion.
“And as [Kabul was surrendered to the Taliban] on Aug. 14, 2021, you, sir, were vacationing in East Hampton, New York,” he told Blinken.
Democrats: Doha Set the Stage
Ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said House Republicans were never interested in analyzing issues that led to the disaster, saying their own report “distorts the facts” provided by 16 State Department witnesses and “thousands of pages of documents,” calling their investigation “nothing but a cudgel aimed at partisan politics.”
Meeks said the calamity “was set into irreversible motion by President Donald Trump when he concluded the Doha deal with the Taliban and ordered the withdrawal of troops … all the way down to 2,500 by Jan. 15, 2020.”
He said the Trump administration “failed to plan for the withdrawal they started,” prompting the new administration to conduct a policy review that concluded “we would again be at war with the Taliban” if it nixed Doha.
“Any attempt to understand and learn from the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan must be put in the proper context of what preceded it, both in the two decades following 9/11 and in the decisions and events of 2020 to 2021,” he said.
The Doha Agreement Biden “inherited” was to remove all remaining U.S. forces from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021, which he extended to Sept. 11, Blinken said.
He noted that the same pact signed by Trump forced the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, “including several top war commanders.”
By the time Biden took office in January 2021, “the Taliban was in the strongest military position it had been in since 9/11,“ he said. ”And we had the smallest number of troops in Afghanistan since 2001.
“President Biden inherited a deadline, but no plan to meet it.”
More than four hours later, after 34 House reps—17 Republicans, 17 Democrats—had their 5 minutes of queries and commentary, McCaul ended the hearing because Blinken had a jet waiting to fly him to Jordan.
“There’s been a lot of talk about legacy. I know we’ve been working on legislation together called the Overseas Crisis Response Implementation System and Immediate Strategy Act [Overseas CRISIS Act],’’ he said.
“I hope that could be part of your legacy and mine as we close the chapter on Afghanistan.”
The next chapter is on Dec. 17, when Sullivan will appear before the committee to discuss the bungled withdrawal.
It would establish a Crisis Management and Strategy Unit to coordinate responses to international crises and a “Reserve Corps to leverage expert personnel when circumstances demand them.”
“As an Afghanistan veteran, I know the importance of readiness and decisive action when we respond to emergency situations abroad,” Crow said in a statement accompanying the bill’s Sept. 23 filing.
“I’m proud to lead this effort to strengthen the State Department’s preparation for, and response to, international crises.
“Proactively assessing best practices, challenging existing assumptions, and investing in our workforce will help protect American citizens and our allies while advancing our national security interests around the world.”
As of Dec. 12, the bill does not appear to have been numerated by the House Legislative Service Office or assigned to committees for review, meaning it is unlikely to advance before Congress adjourns on Dec. 19 and will need to be refiled after the next Congress is seated on Jan. 3, 2025.
