Yeah, we made a few mistakes in Afghanistan, Antony Blinken’s State Department sheepishly admits. They put out a 21 page self-analysis report spelling out some of their failures. To temper the blow, they push off ultimate responsibility for the chaos on everything from Donald Trump to COVID. Mostly COVID.
Saigon-like fall in Afghanistan
The report put out by the State Department on the fall of Afghanistan doesn’t mention the word “Saigon” because Blinky has forbidden it’s use anywhere he might hear it. He’s rumored to get testy and and throw things at the offender. The report does admit however, that Blinky’s botched bug out was a whole lot like Saigon.
“The scope and scale of this evacuation was highly unusual, with no comparable situation since the U.S. departure from Vietnam in 1975 following many years of intense military and political involvement.”
They start by blaming Trump but not much because the argument is weak. Trump got them into the Afghanistan mess by announcing a pull out of American forces and agreeing to have it done by May of 2021. His State Department was still in the initial planning stages when the Biden regime usurped power.
🚨BREAKING: Late on a Friday, just before the July 4th weekend, the State Department is trying to bury the scathing after-action report criticizing the Biden administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Three months ago, the press called out the administration for… https://t.co/BE0RxbSsYJ— Rep. Barry Loudermilk (@RepLoudermilk) June 30, 2023
It was a major headache and they totally botched it. The decision by both “President Trump and [alleged] President Biden to end the U.S. military mission posed significant challenges.”
Some (but not nearly all) of the “contributing factors to the chaotic and violent withdrawal,” the report concedes, “were that the State Department wasn’t best prepared for the collapse of the Afghan government.”
There were “prolonged gaps in filling” senior positions overseas and difficulties staffing and running the department’s in-person crisis response due to the coronavirus pandemic. Acting officials don’t have the same contacts and resources as officially confirmed ones. Afghanistan was packed full of acting officials.
Blame it on COVID
The report goes into detail on how the “COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on Department operations in myriad ways.” For instance, “in the spring of 2020, Department measures to prevent the spread of COVID included a suspension of Embassy Kabul’s in-person interviews for Afghan Special Immigrant Visa processing.” That means the diplomatic staff in Afghanistan had to do the work themselves.
“With Afghan staff directed to stay off the embassy compound to prevent local spread, U.S. personnel took on additional work responsibilities that kept them from focusing fully on their primary jobs.”
Before long, “COVID mitigation efforts meant that some new embassy employees had not met others in their offices until the embassy evacuated to the Kabul airport.” Also, “with many Washington personnel engaged in telework, there were initial difficulties in staffing and running the Department’s in-person crisis response.”
State Department's Afghanistan withdrawal review blames Trump, Biden administrations: 'Painful lessons' https://t.co/MxF2RHxCcM
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 1, 2023
The biggest factor in the Afghanistan chaos was bad timing on a personnel rotation. “The rapid fall of Kabul occurred while the embassy was experiencing a major staff transition.”
“Many officers who had served in 2020-2021 departed in late-July and early-August. Without expectation of an imminent government collapse, Embassy Kabul adhered to its normal rotation processes, which included the use of charter ‘rotator‘ flights that meant people left and arrived in large groups.” The ones leaving were sighing in relief while the newbies had no idea what they were walking into.
“The timing of the handover meant that a significant number of officers, including some in key crisis leadership positions like the Senior Regional Security Officer and the head of the Consular Section, had arrived only weeks and in some cases days before the Taliban entered Kabul.” Another thing the Afghanistan debriefing report doesn’t mention is that “dissent cable” that Blinky almost got hit with contempt of Congress over.
