GOP report on Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan met with response from House Dems.

The Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats released a memo on President Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan, responding to the committee Republicans' report critical of the president's actions.

The Republican chair of the committee, Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, released a GOP-led report challenging Biden's assertion that his hands were constrained by the agreement Trump made with the Taliban to establish a deadline for U.S. withdrawal in the summer of 2021. Additionally, the report stated that State Department officials lacked a plan for assisting Americans and allies while there were still troops in the region to safeguard them.

McCaul's report pointed out the inadequate response to terror threats prior to the ISIS-K bombing at the Kabul airport, which resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and over 150 Afghan civilians. Additionally, the Taliban likely gained access to $7 billion in abandoned U.S. weapons and up to $57 million in U.S. funds that were initially intended for the Afghan government.

The Democrat ranking member of the committee, New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, released a report that criticized Republicans for attacking the Biden administration's withdrawal decision for political reasons and not providing viable alternatives.

Meeks stated that Republicans did not include Democrats in their report and emphasized that the plans for withdrawing from Afghanistan were initiated under the Trump administration.

In the memo's summary, he stated that Republicans aimed to evade discussing facts related to Trump, such as "his agreement with the Taliban to withdraw the United States completely, without a specific date, and excluding the Afghan government or any mention of the rights of Afghan women and girls."

Trump's unilateral troop withdrawals, which were often a surprise to his own senior officials, undermined U.S. leverage because they were not tied to Taliban compliance with the deal. Additionally, Trump forced the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters before a final offensive, which ultimately led to the fall of Kabul.

"As Meeks wrote, when former President Trump assumed office, there were approximately 14,000 American troops in Afghanistan. Prior to leaving office, he ordered a reduction to 2,500. President Trump's withdrawal from Afghanistan was irreversible, and he initiated a withdrawal that could not be reversed without significantly increasing the number of American troops in the country to face renewed combat with the Taliban."

"President Biden decided to end the war in Afghanistan rather than send more Americans to fight it, as all witnesses who testified on the issue agreed that the United States would have faced renewed combat with the Taliban had we not continued the withdrawal."

The Abbey Gate bombing was not preventable, according to Meeks, who stated that Republicans knew this for months. Despite a witness claiming to have spotted the ISIS-K bomber, he did not.

During the election cycle, Republicans made partisan attempts to gain attention by selectively highlighting their investigation findings, rather than acknowledging the full facts and details, according to Meeks. Additionally, he stated that Republicans tried to link Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats' presidential candidate, to the withdrawal, despite her being mentioned only three times in the committee's 3,288-page interview transcripts.

"The Committee has been funded by American taxpayers, and it is our duty to provide the truth to the American people. We must present the facts without manipulation and with respect for the gravity of the matter and the witnesses who have willingly testified to us."

"The opposition to President Biden's withdrawal effort from Afghanistan is rooted in a fundamental disagreement with his pledge to be the last Commander-in-Chief to oversee the war. Critics are hiding their dissatisfaction with their criticisms but have not presented viable alternatives. We must confront these issues without attempting to rewrite history or assign partisan blame, and instead focus on identifying the lessons that can help us improve our approach to ending wars in the future."