WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday released a report about the decisions made regarding the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members. The 12-page report by the National Security Council summarizes the administration’s assessment of the withdrawal and largely blamed former President Donald Trump’s administration for the chaos that unfolded as U.S. troops were leaving and as Americans and Afghans evacuated from the country. The Taliban took over the country’s government and have remained in power.
The White House said that the lack of communication from the Trump administration underscores why effective coordination for the transition process is critical “especially when it comes to complex military operations,” the summary stated. Fueled by Trump’s false claims that he had been denied re-election by rampant fraud, his administration largely refused to conduct traditional transition communications ahead of Biden taking office.
Biden and his team were “well aware of the challenges posed by withdrawing from a warzone” after 20 years, the White House said, and while the Trump administration left a target date for leaving Afghanistan, it provided “no plan for executing it.”
Timeline of U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
