State Department failed to plan well enough for Afghanistan withdrawal, report finds

The Trump and Biden administrations made mistakes with their crisis management before and during American troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, a State Department report released Friday found.

The 21-page report, requested by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, found the decisions of both “President [Donald] Trump and President [Joe] Biden to end the U.S. military mission posed significant challenges” for the State Department.

Among contributing factors to the chaotic and violent withdrawal, the report found, were that the State Department wasn’t best prepared for the collapse of the Afghan government, “prolonged gaps in filling” senior positions overseas and difficulties staffing and running the department’s in-person crisis response due to the coronavirus pandemic.