WASHINGTON — Republicans on a U.S. House of Representatives committee issued a report Sunday criticizing the Biden administration for the chaotic August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The report faulted Biden for failing to “mitigate the likely consequences of the decision” to withdraw, while also ignoring warnings as Taliban fighters seized key cities in Afghanistan faster than U.S. officials expected.

Former President Donald Trump initiated the withdrawal process in February 2020 by signing an agreement with the Taliban.

The report from Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee followed a three-year investigation and includes accusations that the Biden administration did not have adequate plans or security in place to safely carry out the withdrawal.

Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said the administration “had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies.”

Previous investigations have faulted multiple U.S. administrations, including a 2023 report by the U.S. government watchdog for the U.S. in Afghanistan which cited both Trump’s and Biden’s determination to go forward with the withdrawal despite the Taliban breaking key commitments the militants made in the 2020 agreement.

Congressman Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the committee, said in a letter to colleagues that Republicans “cherry-picked witness testimony to exclude anything unhelpful to a predetermined, partisan narrative about the Afghanistan withdrawal.”

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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