The White House said it now prioritizes early evacuations during security crises overseas, a tacit admission of fault as it transmitted to Congress classified assessments detailing how the U.S. government responded during the collapse of Afghanistan.
The documents sent to Capitol Hill, which have not been made public, include long-awaited internal reviews from several government agencies. Their disclosure to lawmakers comes as the House Republicans have begun a series of hearings scrutinizing the Biden administration’s decision-making in the summer of 2021.
GOP leaders have portrayed the withdrawal and subsequent evacuation as a deadly disaster for which the President Biden and his senior most advisers have ducked accountability. The White House, in turn, has said that Biden had few options after his predecessor, President Donald Trump, signed a deal with the Taliban in 2020 that required U.S. forces to leave the country.
“We now prioritize earlier evacuations when faced with a degrading security situation,” the White House summary said, noting it withdrew some personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia in November 2021 “despite the vigorous objections of the Ethiopian government,” and evacuated personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv nearly two weeks before Russia invaded in February 2022.
“This decision resulted in an orderly departure and enabled our teams to safely carry out critical functions remotely for nearly three months,” the White House said.But the White House summary glossed over other key details about the evacuation from Afghanistan that cast the Biden administration in a negative light, including that Biden had ordered the withdrawal of all U.S. troops despite recommendations from U.S.
The document also did not make mention that senior U.S. military officials who participated in the evacuation expressed exasperation with the administration when interviewed as part of an earlier Defense Department investigation., the senior commander during the evacuation, Rear Adm.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
How 30,000 eggs go from an North Carolina farm to the White House Easter Egg RollOn Monday, thousands of children in their springiest finery will descend on the lush green grass of the White House's South Lawn for the annual Easter Egg Roll. A costumed Easter Bunny is one of the usual VIPs, along with the president and first lady (and typically a few celebrities, too). But the star of the show? Why, that will be the eggs themselves, of course. They will be hunted, decorated in a special tent, and rolled, of course, with large spoons.Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for
Read more »
Besieged with Trump questions, the Biden White House won't take the bait'They're basically saying, 'look at all the Trump drama—we don't play that game,'' says political science professor Dennis Goldford of Drake University.
Read more »
WATCH LIVE: John Kirby to join Karine Jean-Pierre in White House press briefingWhite House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is holding a daily press briefing, and John Kirby, the NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications, will join her.
Read more »
LSU Says It'd 'Certainly' Accept White House Invite Despite Biden, Reese TiffLSU says Thursday it'd 'certainly' accept an invitation to the White House for a championship celebration despite the squabble between its star player and Jill Biden this week.
Read more »
White House pulls its punches over GOP judicial nomination blockadeSenate Republicans have once more told Joe Biden to pound sand on one of his judicial nominees. The White House's response: restraint
Read more »