The U.S. State Department’s “After Action Review on Afghanistan”, released two years after President Biden’s tumultuous military withdrawal from Afghanistan, reveals several crucial failures.
Based on over 150 interviews with current and former State Department officials, the report criticizes the lack of crisis management and awareness during the exit operation.
Victoria Coates, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, criticized the timing of the report’s release, calling it a “naked attempt to bury it.” Coates noted that despite attempts to shift blame onto the Trump administration, the report exposed the mismanagement and lack of leadership during the withdrawal. “Nobody wanted to own this thing, obviously. And so the White House was providing no direction. The State Department was shifting blame to the Department of Defense,” she remarked.
Coates believes the lack of coordination, both within the Biden administration and between departments, resulted in 13 unnecessary American casualties. She also raised concerns about the fact that three-quarters of the report remained redacted due to supposedly sensitive information.
Reflecting on the situation in Afghanistan, Coates pointed out that the Taliban have demolished advancements in education and other opportunities, particularly for women, and reverted the country back to its former state. Meanwhile, she critiqued the U.S.’s continued attempts to provide humanitarian aid, which may be exploited by the Taliban.
Shifting focus to global issues, Coates commented on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to China. She viewed this move as a futile attempt to build cooperation with a hostile nation and suggested that efforts should be concentrated on securing a financial free trade deal with the U.K.
Discussing Israel’s recent military operation in Jenin, Coates linked the surge in violence between Israelis and Palestinians to the Biden administration’s influx of financial support to Palestinian-related institutions. She believes this aid has been hijacked by Iranians to sponsor terrorism against Israel.
Coates ended her discussion expressing hope for future improvements in crisis management and international relations.
