(Washington) U.S. officials have been hampered during the mass evacuations from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021 by a lack of clarity in decision-making, an absence of centralized crisis management, and a confusing public message, concluded an internal report.
Completed more than a year ago but released only Friday, ahead of the U.S. National Day long weekend, the State Department report calls for reforms, including the appointment of a single official in future crises and the separation of contingency planning from political considerations.
It was Secretary of State Antony Blinken who ordered the audit after the scenes of chaos at Kabul International Airport in August 2021, when the US military staged a massive evacuation operation after the return to power of the Taliban.
The report salutes the success of this vast airlift, with 125,000 people evacuated, including 6,000 American nationals.
But he also notes that this operation had to meet “major challenges” linked to the fact that the senior officials of President Joe Biden’s administration “had not made clear decisions” upstream on the evacuation of Afghans in hazard.
“The constant changes to the guidelines and the public message sent from Washington […] added to the confusion,” he adds.
Joe Biden, however, inherited a delay in the visa application files accumulated by the administration of his predecessor Donald Trump, which had also reached an agreement with the Taliban on the American withdrawal, notes the report.
This document, based on more than 150 interviews with former and current officials, evokes a strong contrast in style between the two administrations, with a “relative lack” of preparations by government agencies under the Republican and “intense” procedures under the Democrat. , who was nevertheless taken by surprise by the speed of events.
The American services thus estimated that the pro-Western Afghan government would retain control of Kabul “for weeks, even months”.
“The fear of sending the wrong signal, especially one that might suggest that the United States no longer has confidence in the Afghan government and thus hasten its downfall, has to some extent hampered preparedness and crisis planning,” explains the report.
Evacuation schedules could be established on a routine basis, he suggests, which would reduce the impact of any leaks.
There have been recent press reports of such U.S. preparations for a potential crisis in Taiwan.
In a memo to State Department employees on Friday’s release, Antony Blinken praised the “extraordinary courage, ingenuity and dedication” of US personnel in Afghanistan and promised to follow the report’s recommendations.
“The lessons learned (after the withdrawal, editor’s note) have already helped us in our responses in Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere,” he added.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said portions of the report remain classified for security reasons.
The State Department has already, according to this official, followed up on the recommendations, including designating people who would respond to future crises.