SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 27 April 2024, Saturday |

Biden’s promised review of pullout from Afghanistan not yet started

According to a person familiar with the matter, the Biden Administration has yet to begin a promised assessment of its management of the US departure from Afghanistan, as officials focus on the more pressing problem of evacuations.

President Joe Biden, who has been under fire from both Democrats and Republicans for his handling of the situation, told ABC News on Wednesday that “we’re going to go back in retrospect and look” at whether the US pullout might have been handled better.

“We will undertake a comprehensive hotwash,” meaning a performance review, on how the pullout was managed, White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday.

“We will take a look at every aspect of this from top to bottom,” he said.

When asked if the evaluation had started on Thursday, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the US emphasis right now is on ground operations and getting as many personnel out of Afghanistan as possible.

Several congressional committees have promised hearings, and the House Intelligence Committee will receive a classified briefing from the intelligence community on the matter on Monday.

“The idea that there’s a way to have gotten out without mayhem resulting, I don’t see how that happens,” Biden told ABC on Wednesday.

    Source:
  • Reuters