Home Intel Republicans demand Afghanistan withdrawal declassifications

House Republicans are calling on the Biden administration to launch data associated to the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops virtually a yr in the past that preceded the collapse of the Afghan authorities and the Taliban retaking energy.

GOP members of the Home Intelligence Committee penned a letter to the secretaries of protection and state, urging them to adjust to earlier requests to launch preliminary findings concerning the “fast fall” of Afghanistan after 20 years of conflict. Lawmakers initially requested the knowledge in December as they put collectively their very own investigation to find out the “root causes” of the collapse.

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“There should be a full accounting of U.S. authorities's investments within the [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] and Afghan authorities and an understanding of why these efforts failed in such fast and dramatic trend,” the group of lawmakers, led by Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), wrote. “It's unclear why the [Department of Defense] wants this data to stay labeled and withheld from the general public.”

The US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan practically one yr in the past, and the nation’s capital fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15. A whole bunch of U.S. residents and tens of hundreds of Afghan allies and interpreters have been nonetheless within the nation when the U.S. left earlier than the tip of August.

The Taliban quickly retook Afghanistan in mid-August amid the withdrawal, and a suicide bombing that month killed 13 U.S. service members and no less than 170 Afghan civilians exterior the Kabul airport throughout the evacuations.

Shortly after, the Biden administration was tasked with offering the Workplace of the Particular Inspector Basic for Afghanistan Reconstruction data so officers may examine the reason for the collapse of the Afghan authorities.

“Many of the data contained in these supplemental annexes was labeled by the DoD in 2017 on the request of the previous Afghan president and in settlement with the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Commanding Basic,” the letter states. “These organizations now not exist, and there seems to be no compelling motive for this data to be withheld from public launch.”

Of their most up-to-date letter, lawmakers pressed the secretaries of protection and state to both launch the requested data or present a “detailed report outlining the justification” for why the knowledge can't be declassified.

Republicans have lengthy deliberate investigations into the Afghanistan debacle, with lawmakers calling for open congressional hearings on how the Biden administration dealt with the withdrawal of troops in addition to the evacuation of U.S. residents and Afghan allies. That would come to fruition subsequent yr if the GOP wins one or each chambers of Congress within the midterm elections.