Afghans employed by the Americans were abandoned in their tens of thousands in Afghanistan as the American administration blundered in the evacuations. This was stated in the report published by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Republicans.
Between August 15 and 31, the US undertook its largest-ever air evacuation. But the operation was flawed due to the absence of planning, communication, and coordination, the report said.
The report alleged that the Biden administration failed in coming up with a flawless system to get in touch with evacuees and help them to the airport. Even US citizens, legal residents, and the allies Afghans who were part of the workforce were left at the mercy of the advancing Taliban.
The administration was unsuccessful in evacuating the US partners till the forces had been removed from its base to the north of the capital.
James Risch, the senior Republican in the Committee, said that the blunder led to the abandonment of hundreds of US citizens and thousands of Afghans aiding the American efforts.
US Administration Took Too Long To Assent To The Afghans’ Evacuation Efforts
It was only after August 14 when the fall of Kabul was imminent that the US government assented to the evacuations, said the report. Just hours before the city surrendered, the administration finally decided after a meeting of the Deputies Committee of the NSC.
The report stated that the meeting’s conclusions included the assertion that several actions were necessary months in advance. It included communicating and coordinating with other allied countries for aiding in the transit, communicating with the staff who were to be evacuated, and setting up a communicating team for the final evacuation efforts from the city.
The report alleged that the delay of the deputy’s committee was inexcusable. The deputies’ committee of the NSC was the foremost group that was tasked with assessing warning signals from the ground and translating that into evacuation efforts.
Commenting on the report, Emily Horne, Spokesperson for the NSC, said that selectively taking notes from one meeting does not reveal the months of planning and work that went into the final evacuation efforts.
President Biden has in the past said that criticism of the efforts was unwarranted as ground intelligence did not indicate the speed at which the Afghan government packed up in the face of the Taliban onslaught.
