WASHINGTON — The White House acknowledged that the tumultuous Afghanistan withdrawal underscored the need to better plan and more quickly implement evacuations from conflict zones in an after-action report, even as aides sought to put much of the blame on former President Donald Trump.
The United States must “plan early and extensively for low-probability, high-risk scenarios” — and has already shifted strategies in other conflicts including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House said Thursday. As part of the review, the administration released a 12-page document and is sharing classified assessments from the Defense and State departments with Congress.
But the document drew swift denunciation from Republicans, who said it largely amounted to an effort to shift blame. White House spokesman John Kirby said the effort was not intended as an “accountability” exercise — though the document did argue that President Joe Biden’s efforts to withdraw were hampered by Trump’s decision to draw down troop levels, release Taliban prisoners and reduce State Department staffing.
