Pentagon Officials Lied During Testimony On Afghanistan Withdrawal, New Report Shows

A new report on the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan shows that Biden Administration officials lied about their narrative used to deflect blame away from themselves and on to former President Donald Trump.

When asked about the rapid collapse of the nation that ultimately claimed the lives of 13 Americans and left thousands of others behind, the Biden Administration has routinely argued that the president had no choice but to order the speedy retreat because of the Doha Agreement, former President Trump’s deal with the Taliban.

A new report has revealed that the Taliban repeatedly violated the agreement, meaning that President Biden was not obligated to abide by it. The report also directly contradicts testimony given by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and U.S. Secretary of State Lloyd Austin, who issued sworn testimony before the U.S. Senate on September 28, 2021.

Both defense leaders testified that the Taliban had never attacked U.S. troops between the time the Doha agreement was signed and the evacuation of Kabul.

Milley told lawmakers that the Taliban did indeed violate many aspects of the agreement, but added that, “the  one [requirement] that was met was the most important one, which was ‘do not attack us or the coalition forces.’ And they did not.” Austin offered nearly identical testimony to Milley’s, saying “the only thing that they lived up to was that they did not attack us.”

A new book authored by Jerry Dunleavy and James Hasson has refuted this claim, however. “Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End” cites a number of sources, including  Pentagon watchdog reports and public statements from Biden administration officials, which clearly state that Taliban fighters violated the agreement by attacking U.S. troops prior to the withdrawal.

In one example, a report from the Lead Inspector General found that the Taliban “conducted limited attacks on coalition bases.” The report cited one particular instance where Taliban fighters fired rockets at an airport in Khost used to house U.S. troops.

“On April 7, the Taliban launched another rocket attack, this time against Kandahar air base, where several hundred U.S. troops were still based,” the report further adds.

Public statements from Biden Administration officials also casts doubt on the testimony issued by Austin and Milley. “What we’ve seen are some small, harassing attacks over the course of the weekend,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on May 3.