WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement regarding the release of the Biden Administration’s After Action Review on Afghanistan.
“After 20 years of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, two things were obvious: It was time for us to withdraw from Afghanistan because we were not going to be able to accomplish our larger mission to help build a government in Afghanistan that could govern effectively and defeat the Taliban; and no matter what path we chose for withdrawal, it was not going to be easy. It’s disappointing that our Republican colleagues are being blatantly partisan on this issue, blaming everything on President Biden while giving President Trump a pass in a way that isn’t supported by the facts.
“President Biden was right when he made the decision to withdraw and end our longest war despite the overwhelming advice of U.S. military commanders to the contrary. For over 20 years, military leadership insisted the path to victory in Afghanistan was to stay longer, use more troops, and expend more money and resources. Over and over again, they were proved wrong on this point. To continue with that approach would have put even more American service members at risk and we undoubtedly would have lost more American lives. I thank President Biden for having the courage to exercise his judgment and leadership to make the right decision in the face of that enormous pressure, and for his thorough review and ability to act on military advice once the decision for the withdrawal was made.
“Additionally, the importance of the May 1st deadline that President Trump negotiated with the Taliban cannot be overstated. I believe strongly that we should have pulled out of Afghanistan then and I still believe that. I am not criticizing President Trump for that decision. But the May 1st deadline was looming—for 18 months we had not been under attack due to this agreement—and come May 1st the Taliban had made considerable progress gobbling up vast amounts of territory, placing it in the strongest position it had held since 2001. Had President Biden not made the decision to move American forces out while consulting with our military experts and with the assistance of our coalition partners when he did, we would have lost countless more lives.
“The exclusion of the Afghan government from the negotiations with the Taliban by the previous administration made it even more difficult for us to coordinate a peaceful withdrawal. The Trump Administration’s virtual shuttering of the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program further complicated our efforts to get Afghan allies out when the time came to do so.
“Amid all these challenges, the fact that President Trump was more focused on holding onto power in his final months in office than he was on his goal for a conflict-free withdrawal in Afghanistan made an onerous policy implementation even more burdensome and practically impossible for the incoming administration to achieve.
“It is appropriate that the Biden Administration’s has acknowledged it should have begun the withdrawal earlier. It’s a lesson that has been learned, as demonstrated in both Ukraine and Ethiopia, and it is significant and right that the Biden Administration has acknowledged this error.
“Finally, the entire Afghan war experience must be examined. Cherry picking a couple of facts at the end of two decades of war to score partisan points does a profound disservice to the American and coalition forces who put their lives on the line, especially those injured and those killed, as well as their families, and the civilian casualties. The work of the nonpartisan, independent Afghanistan war commission—established by the FY22 NDAA—will be critical to providing an unbiased accounting of the entirety of the U.S. and NATO involvement in Afghanistan so that we can learn from past mistakes and avoid them in the future.”
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