White House: Trump at fault on Afghanistan

A report issued by the administration of US President Joe Biden on Thursday largely blamed former president Donald Trump for the deadly 2021 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan that took little responsibility for their own actions in the exodus that saw 13 US service members and more than 100 Afghans die.

The 12-page summary by the National Security Council, or NSC, of the government's findings about the withdrawal in August 2021 ending the nation's longest war asserted that Biden's choices on how to execute the withdrawal "were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor".

Trump responded to the report on his Truth Social platform, saying: "These Morons in the White House, who are systematically destroying our Country, headed up by the biggest Moron of them all, Hopeless Joe Biden, have a new disinformation game they are playing — Blame 'TRUMP' for their grossly incompetent SURRENDER in Afghanistan. I watched this disaster unfold just like everyone else. I saw them take out the Military FIRST, GIVE $85 Billion of military equipment, allow killing of our soldiers, and leave Americans behind. Biden is responsible, no one else!"

NSC spokesperson John Kirby spoke to reporters shortly after the Pentagon and State Department provided classified reviews of the decision-making process around the withdrawal. The administration said the reviews were highly classified and would be transmitted privately to Congress on Thursday. They will not be released publicly.

At the same time, the White House released its own 12-page outline that largely pinned the blame for the challenges around the withdrawal on the Trump administration, while acknowledging there were lessons to be applied to future operations.

The summary document did not pinpoint or give specific failures. It said the president has been "fully briefed" on the Pentagon and State Department report, and "had input" on the NSC paper.

Swift criticism

When the withdrawal was occurring, criticism of it was swift and bipartisan. Republicans were scathing about the White House's actions, and Democrats, while acknowledging that Biden was carrying out the policies of his predecessor, criticized the haphazard manner of the withdrawal.

But in taking questions from reporters about the summary, Kirby aggressively pushed back on the notion that the US withdrawal was chaotic or disorganized.

"For all this talk of chaos, I just didn't see it. Not from my perch," Kirby said.

His response drew a strong rebuke from US Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which is leading a probe into the withdrawal.

He called Kirby's comments "disgraceful and insulting". "President Biden made the decision to withdraw and even picked the exact date. He is responsible for the massive failures in planning and execution," McCaul said in a statement.

The summary acknowledges that the evacuation should have started sooner, but blamed the delay on the Afghan government and military, and on US military and intelligence community assessments.

Kirby admitted that certain pieces of intelligence "weren't accurate".

Agencies contributed to this story.