The House Oversight & Accountability Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Thursday, July 27, on President Joe Biden decision to extend the war in Afghanistan in 2021 – then abruptly withdraw U.S. forces, allowing the Taliban to return to power.
The hearing, titled “A Failure to Plan: Examining the Biden Administration’s Preparation for the Afghanistan Withdrawal,” will “examine the Biden administration’s planning for the unconditional U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the administration’s decision to close Bagram Airfield and to run the evacuation solely through Kabul airport, its planning for worst case scenarios, and its responses to indications of a rapid Taliban takeover.”
Biden announced in April 2021 that he would disregard an agreement the previous administration of Donald Trump had brokered with the Taliban to pull out American forces by May, extending the two-decade-long war through September. The rapid collapse of the Afghan military following that announcement resulted in the Taliban storming the country and ultimately seizing Kabul, the capital, on August 15.
Thirteen U.S. servicemembers, along with at least 170 civilians, were killed in a terrorist bombing of the Kabul Airport during Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of Americans from Afghanistan as the Taliban swept into power and took control of the country.
A 2022 report claimed that the Biden administration left over 800 American citizens behind enemy lines in the withdrawal, despite the White House claiming only 100-200 Americans were abandoned.