U.S. report on Afghanistan evacuation blames intelligence failures, Trump administration

Amna Nawaz:

Good evening, and welcome to the "NewsHour."

Two stories have dominated this day. Escalating Israeli-Palestinian confrontations appeared to move the Middle East closer to a broader conflict. And the Biden White House put out its long-awaited report on the widely criticized fall of Afghanistan in 2021.

Geoff Bennett:

First, Afghanistan.

U.S. forces hastily withdrew in August 2021, as the Taliban recaptured the country after nearly 20 years of war. Amid the chaos, a suicide bombing killed 13 U.S. troops and more than 100 Afghans.

Today, the National Security Council's John Kirby laid out a 12-page summary, blaming the Trump administration, bad intelligence, and the Afghans themselves.

Our Laura Barrón-López had a seat at today's White House briefing and joins us to break down the report's conclusions.

Thanks for being here.

Laura Barrón-López:

Thank you.

Geoff Bennett:

What does this 12-page after-action report say?

Laura Barrón-López:

So, this is a report compiled by the National Security Council based off of the after-action reviews conducted by the State Department and the Defense Department.

So there are a number of key findings here from this after-action report. That includes that the administration will now prioritize earlier and faster evacuations, something that was not done in the withdrawal during of Afghanistan. They also say that President Biden was significantly constrained by the Trump administration's decisions in the four years prior.

They also did not expect the ease and speed of the Taliban takeover and that, from here on out, they're going to use more aggressive communication about risks, acknowledging that there was an intelligence failure there.

But, despite all of these findings, the administration still said that the president stands by the withdrawal and thinks that it was the right decision. And, in terms of any additional reports being released, they said, no, not so far, that, ultimately, they are giving these reports to Congress, the classified versions of them.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, throughout this report, Laura, the Biden administration repeatedly faults the Trump administration for a lack of planning and poor communication from one administration to the next.

Tell me more about that.

Laura Barrón-López:

That was a big part of this report.

And so I was in the White House press briefing where John Kirby, the spokesperson for the National Security Council, answered a lot of our questions. He said that it was — quote — "undeniable" that the actions and planning by the Trump administration limited the president's options.

They specifically cited the fact that — the negotiations between the Trump administration and the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison, reduce troop levels to some 2,500 service members on the ground. They also said that, during the transition, that the Trump administration gave them no plans that they potentially had about a final withdrawal.

And so Kirby was pressed on this over and over. And he ultimately said about the accountability that the administration, the current administration, should take itself. And he said that this document, this review isn't about accountability, that it's about understanding what happened and to then move forward with lessons learned.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, in terms of understanding what happened, I mean, what about the evacuation itself? What were those lessons learned?

Laura Barrón-López:

John Kirby admitted that, clearly, the administration did not do everything right, specifically, that this experience in Afghanistan that it directly impacted how they handled evacuations in Ukraine and Ethiopia when those capitals were threatened.

So they said that they learned their lesson there by trying to speed up and start evacuations earlier. But nowhere in this report does it say that officials, intel officials made major mistakes in their handling.

And so Kirby was pressed on this, challenged about the evacuation, challenged about the lives that were lost during this evacuation. And he rebuffed that criticism.

John Kirby, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications:

So, for all this talk of chaos, I just didn't see it, not from my perch.

At one point during the evacuation, there was an aircraft taking off full of people, Americans and Afghans alike, every 48 minutes, and not one single mission was missed. So I'm sorry. I just don't buy the whole argument of chaos. It was tough in the first few hours. You would expect it to be. There was nobody at the airport.

Laura Barrón-López:

And that response isn't sitting well with a number of people that helped allies, helped Americans evacuate from Afghanistan.

Geoff Bennett:

And, right, because I know you have been speaking with Americans who are still trying to get their friends and family and former colleagues out of the country. What do they have to say?

Laura Barrón-López:

I spoke to Allison Jaslow. She's an Iraq War veteran, and she's the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. And she said that she expected more accountability from the White House.

Allison Jaslow, CEO, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: There wasn't enough preparation going on for the withdrawal, especially to make sure some allies that we made promises to could make it out before the inevitable takeover by the Taliban.

There's blame to go all around here. The prior administration definitely didn't set the current administration up for success. But it's their job when they get into the seat of power to assess the lay of the land and then make course corrections as necessary.

Laura Barrón-López:

And so Jaslow also added that there are still allies of America that are still there in Afghanistan, like interpreters that helped Americans, and some of whom have gone silent. They have lost communication with them, and that many veterans, her organization, namely, one of them, is looking for a plan from the administration and asking, what is their plan to help these people evacuate now, years later?

Geoff Bennett:

Laura Barrón-López with the latest from the White House.

Laura, thanks so much.

Laura Barrón-López:

Thank you.