# White House Releases After-Action Reviews on Afghanistan Withdrawal ![rw-book-cover](https://www.militarytimes.com/resizer/FpWlrPFWKTjwUvvBUWaevk5cYts=/1024x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/R74UNL24IVCNBI2SCKQ3NOO2M4.jpg) ## Metadata - Author:: [[Meghann Myers]] - Full Title:: White House Releases After-Action Reviews on Afghanistan Withdrawal - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2023/04/06/white-house-releases-after-action-reviews-on-afghanistan-withdrawal/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mil-ebb&SToverlay=de88742f-46f7-4f2c-819d-3b36a47d6a7e ## Highlights > The review places significant blame on the Trump administration for its handling of the Afghanistan war and drawdown agreement with the Taliban ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe18zvnzhe0gvrj4nsjv4ty)) > The first page of the report offers a round up of actions taken in Afghanistan by the previous administration, including drawing down the U.S. personnel presence from 10,000 troops to 2,500, signing an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw by May 1, 2021, and pressuring the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe19p442krh9qvgqfdwzk02)) > As a result, when President Biden took office on January 20, 2021, the Taliban were in the strongest military position that they had been in since 2001, controlling or contesting nearly half of the country,” according to the report. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe19vj018mpa4j2hvefgxsk)) > having negotiated with the Taliban to hold off beyond the originally agreed upon May 1 date ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1aftaassr88mpdfhebg1m)) > Ultimately, the Administration made a decision to engage in unprecedently extensive targeted outreach to Americans and Afghan partners about the risk of collapse,” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1bxf6qxm5przp6v0786zx)) > Despite their attempts to avoid creating a panic, the Taliban’s advance on Kabul on Aug. 14 destroyed any chance of an orderly drawdown. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1c5jyg3d449t81dbhkwht)) > What happened next — during the second half of August 2021 — cascaded into a [frantic evacuation](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/08/24/kabul-evacuations-kick-into-overdrive-with-a-week-left-before-afghanistan-withdrawal/) of more than 120,000 people from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, culminating in an Aug. 25, 2021, [suicide bomber attack](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/08/26/explosion-outside-kabul-airport-casualties-unknown/) at the airport’s main gate ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1d0mfjfkrkavtmyk2tx1s)) > nor did they realize that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces would crumble under Taliban pressure as quickly as they did ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1dg919qpsk00xww59x0yh)) > In a destabilizing security environment, we now err on the side of aggressive communication about risks. We did this in advance of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the report reads. “Months before the invasion, we proactively released intelligence with trusted partners. That engagement broadened — and grew louder and more public — in the weeks leading up to Russia’s invasion.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1fe3gd5f66sscfpm3448j)) # White House Releases After-Action Reviews on Afghanistan Withdrawal ![rw-book-cover](https://www.militarytimes.com/resizer/FpWlrPFWKTjwUvvBUWaevk5cYts=/1024x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/R74UNL24IVCNBI2SCKQ3NOO2M4.jpg) ## Metadata - Author:: [[Meghann Myers]] - Full Title:: White House Releases After-Action Reviews on Afghanistan Withdrawal - Category: #articles - URL: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2023/04/06/white-house-releases-after-action-reviews-on-afghanistan-withdrawal/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mil-ebb&SToverlay=de88742f-46f7-4f2c-819d-3b36a47d6a7e ## Highlights > The review places significant blame on the Trump administration for its handling of the Afghanistan war and drawdown agreement with the Taliban ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe18zvnzhe0gvrj4nsjv4ty)) > The first page of the report offers a round up of actions taken in Afghanistan by the previous administration, including drawing down the U.S. personnel presence from 10,000 troops to 2,500, signing an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw by May 1, 2021, and pressuring the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe19p442krh9qvgqfdwzk02)) > As a result, when President Biden took office on January 20, 2021, the Taliban were in the strongest military position that they had been in since 2001, controlling or contesting nearly half of the country,” according to the report. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe19vj018mpa4j2hvefgxsk)) > having negotiated with the Taliban to hold off beyond the originally agreed upon May 1 date ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1aftaassr88mpdfhebg1m)) > Ultimately, the Administration made a decision to engage in unprecedently extensive targeted outreach to Americans and Afghan partners about the risk of collapse,” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1bxf6qxm5przp6v0786zx)) > Despite their attempts to avoid creating a panic, the Taliban’s advance on Kabul on Aug. 14 destroyed any chance of an orderly drawdown. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1c5jyg3d449t81dbhkwht)) > What happened next — during the second half of August 2021 — cascaded into a [frantic evacuation](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/08/24/kabul-evacuations-kick-into-overdrive-with-a-week-left-before-afghanistan-withdrawal/) of more than 120,000 people from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, culminating in an Aug. 25, 2021, [suicide bomber attack](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2021/08/26/explosion-outside-kabul-airport-casualties-unknown/) at the airport’s main gate ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1d0mfjfkrkavtmyk2tx1s)) > nor did they realize that the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces would crumble under Taliban pressure as quickly as they did ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1dg919qpsk00xww59x0yh)) > In a destabilizing security environment, we now err on the side of aggressive communication about risks. We did this in advance of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the report reads. “Months before the invasion, we proactively released intelligence with trusted partners. That engagement broadened — and grew louder and more public — in the weeks leading up to Russia’s invasion.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gxe1fe3gd5f66sscfpm3448j))