Republicans in Congress fault Biden over chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress slammed the Biden administration in a Monday report on the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, faulting president for the chaotic withdrawal of American troops and the collapse of the country's government nearly three years ago.

A special representative for former President Donald Trump's administration negotiated the withdrawal agreement with the Taliban , excluding the Afghan government, the report states, which undermined a longstanding U.S. position that it does not negotiate with terrorist organizations.

But the 353-page report by the House Foreign Affairs Committee argues that President Joe Biden would have pulled U.S. troops anyway, as shown by his adherence to the Trump deal, and it says his administration did so in way that created unsafe conditions for American personnel.

"His decision allowed the Taliban to conquer Afghanistan , left the U.S. in a perilous counterterrorism position for years to come, and set the stage for the chaotic evacuation from Kabul in August of 2021 that resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers," the report charges. "To this day, the president has yet to acknowledge his role in this in tragedy."

Democrats on the committee accused Republicans of attempting to "politicize" the withdrawal in a minority report on the years-long investigation. They said they were not involved in writing the main committee report and did not receive a draft copy before its release.

In their rebuttal, they hit Trump, who is set to meet Vice President Kamala Harris in a presidential debate on Tuesday, for his role in the withdrawal and for using the anniversary of the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport to attack the Biden-Harris administration.

The Biden administration had previously released a review of its own, in which it admitted that aspects of the withdrawal were poorly executed. White House national security spokesman John Kirby reiterated on Monday that "clearly there were moments of great violence and there were moments of mission execution that didn't go exactly the way we wanted it to go."

"We mourn the loss of those 13 lives ... every single day, their sacrifice doesn't, doesn't, is not forgotten," Kirby told reporters. "But again, we hold ourselves all accountable."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republicans in Congress fault Biden over chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal