Biden waived congressional mandate for report on risks of U.S. troop withdrawal in Afghanistan

[mystery-ak]

Biden waived congressional mandate for report on risks of U.S. troop withdrawal in Afghanistan

National security experts, GOP lawmakers say waiver blocked Congress, public from reviewing internal national security assessments.

 Joseph Weber

Updated: August 31, 2021 - 8:41am


President Biden in June waived a congressional mandate that would have required the Pentagon to provide members of Congress with a detailed report about the risks of leaving Afghanistan.

The Biden administration under the federal statute was barred from reducing troops in Afghanistan to less than 2,000 without first briefing Congress about the expected impact on U.S. counterterrorism operations and the risk to American personnel.

However, Biden waived the mandate, arguing that providing this information to Congress could undermine "the national security interests of the United States," according to the Washington Free Beacon.

The administration reportedly assured Congress for months that U.S.-trained Afghan forces could forestall a Taliban takeover when U.S. troops left. However, the Taliban overran the Afghan National Army and took control of Kabul on Aug. 15, as the last  troops were leaving, resulting in the chaotic and deadly evacuation of U.S. personnel and allies.

National security experts and Republican lawmakers told the Washington Free Beacon that the waiver blocked Congress and the public from reviewing the administration's internal national security assessments prior to the withdrawal.

"If we had answers to these questions we might not be in the horrible debacle we're in now," said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "I think the fact that they used the national security waiver to refuse to answer these questions in the light of day tells me their answers could not have stood up to scrutiny."

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https://justthenews.com/government/security/biden-waived-congressional-mandate-report-risks-us-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan

[Kamaji]

Covering his a$$

[Hoodat]

Letter to Certain Congressional Committees Regarding Afghanistan

JUNE 08, 2021 • STATEMENTS AND RELEASES

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Consistent with section 1215(d) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283), I have determined that a waiver of the limitation under subsection 1215(a) is important to the national security interests of the United States.

As I announced on April 14, 2021, after almost 20 years, it is time to end America’s longest war and bring our troops home.  I reached this conclusion after conducting a rigorous policy review process and consulting closely with our allies and partners, with our military leaders and intelligence personnel, with our diplomats and our development experts, with the Congress and the Vice President, and with the President of Afghanistan and many other leaders around the world.

We went to Afghanistan in 2001 for a clear and just purpose:  to apprehend those who attacked our country on September 11, 2001; to root out al-Qa’ida; and to prevent future attacks against the United States from Afghanistan.  As a Senator, I supported sending our military to Afghanistan for those reasons.  Our original mission had overwhelming support in the Congress and our allies and partners rallied to our side and stood with us in Afghanistan.

We have long since accomplished the objectives that sent us to Afghanistan.  It has been 10 years since we delivered justice to Osama bin Laden.  The terrorist threat from al-Qa’ida in Afghanistan is significantly degraded.

Over the last 20 years, however, the terrorist threat to the United States has become more dispersed around the globe.  Keeping thousands of troops concentrated on the ground in Afghanistan no longer makes sense as the most effective counterterrorism strategy when the threat has metastasized across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.  Our focus and posture need to adapt accordingly.

As we draw down United States troops, we will not take our eye off the terrorist threat in Afghanistan.  The United States will reorganize our counterterrorism capabilities and assets in the region to prevent the reemergence of a terrorist threat in Afghanistan.  We will hold the Taliban and the Afghan government accountable to their commitments not to allow terrorists to threaten the United States or its allies from Afghan soil.  And we will refine our national strategy to monitor and disrupt terrorist threats wherever they arise.

Over the past few decades, the United States and our partners have trained hundreds of thousands of Afghan troops.  The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces currently number close to 300,000, and they will continue to fight valiantly to protect the Afghan citizens.  With the support of the Congress, we will continue to support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.  We will also continue to support the rights of Afghan women and girls and to maintain significant humanitarian and development assistance to Afghanistan.

We will continue to pursue diplomacy and fully support peace talks between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban, facilitated by the United Nations.  And we will encourage other nations in the region, especially Pakistan, to do more to support Afghanistan and to support stability in the country.  But we will not allow United States troops to be a bargaining chip between warring parties in other countries.  That is a recipe for staying indefinitely in Afghanistan.

We will withdraw responsibly, deliberately, and safely, in full coordination with our allies and partners.  Our NATO allies and operational partners, who have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us for almost 20 years and who have also made great sacrifices, will now withdraw alongside our forces as we stand by our enduring principle of “in together, out together.”

Finally, I want to acknowledge the tremendous debt of gratitude we owe as a Nation to the women and men who have served honorably in Afghanistan since 2001.  They and their families have made incredible sacrifices for our Nation that we can never fully repay. I look forward to working with the Congress to continue supporting our forces and veterans and on countering the challenges our Nation faces across the globe.

        Sincerely,

                               JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/08/letter-to-certain-congressional-committees-regarding-afghanistan/

[Smokin Joe]

However, Biden waived the mandate, arguing that providing this information to Congress could undermine "the national security interests of the United States," according to the Washington Free Beacon.

Considering the Squad, that is a likely concern.

But a properly crafted timeline would have been a little flexible, and well defended.
The civilian assets, including those Afghans who helped us, would have come out first, with Americans the priority.
Excess weapons would have been brought out or, if that proved impossible, set to be destroyed.
When the last plane lifted off, those should have been blown in place if they could not be removed.

And the last plane should have been full of the last of our troops and people (and dogs).

Not coordinating with allies did a lot of damage to this country, now and in the future.

Maybe in the future we will reject the whole coalition thingy, and go put an end to whatever we feel the need to declare a war over, ourselves.

[DB]

Considering the Squad, that is a likely concern.

But a properly crafted timeline would have been a little flexible, and well defended.
The civilian assets, including those Afghans who helped us, would have come out first, with Americans the priority.
Excess weapons would have been brought out or, if that proved impossible, set to be destroyed.
When the last plane lifted off, those should have been blown in place if they could not be removed.

And the last plane should have been full of the last of our troops and people (and dogs).

Not coordinating with allies did a lot of damage to this country, now and in the future.

Maybe in the future we will reject the whole coalition thingy, and go put an end to whatever we feel the need to declare a war over, ourselves.

All indications are that the Biden admin doesn't consider the Taliban the enemy anymore. They armed and farmed out security to them. It is as if they believed they needed to hand them the reins without destroying the military infrastructure so that they could completely control the country once we left. To not leave a power vacuum for ISIS or something similar to fill. But no one in power has the courage to say that after a 20 year war with them.

That would seem pretty damn foolish.

[Hoodat]

All indications are that the Biden admin doesn't consider the Taliban the enemy anymore.

Did they ever?

[Smokin Joe]

All indications are that the Biden admin doesn't consider the Taliban the enemy anymore. They armed and farmed out security to them. It is as if they believed they needed to hand them the reins without destroying the military infrastructure so that they could completely control the country once we left. To not leave a power vacuum for ISIS or something similar to fill. But no one in power has the courage to say that after a 20 year war with them.

That would seem pretty damn foolish.

Even if that is the case, leaving those who helped fight the Taliban and Americans behind is a special sort of perfidy in a class all its own.

As for giving away billions of dollars worth of our (yes, OUR) materiel, that was done without Americans' approval, and even the epic vote fraud that put that fellow in office would not be enough to sway that if put to a vote.

But beneath it all there is the fact that he did not confer with our allies from outside Afghanistan, those who have fought and bled with us for two decades. Apparently he does not consider them our friends, either.

That leaves this nation in a bad spot, considering many in that coalition fought alongside us since Korea and before.