Mike Rogers disappointed in ‘accountability and transparency’ regarding Afghanistan withdrawal

Last week Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL03), the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressing his disappointment in the lack of accountability and transparency from the Department of Defense in the classified After Action Review (AAR) concerning the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In the letter, Chairman Rogers wrote, “I have written to you separately in a classified letter (transmitted June 8, 2023) pointing out multiple discrepancies in the classified version of the After Action Review (“AAR”) concerning the botched and deadly withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Afghanistan. My classified letter also addresses your associated personal reflections (attached as a classified memorandum to the AAR). Sadly, your memorandum does not accept responsibility, and propounds outright untruths, related to the Biden Administration’s actions and inactions in failing to secure a safe and orderly withdrawal of troops and related Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (“NEO”).”

“While the fog of war is likely to result in mistakes and even tragedy, an honest appraisal of the Biden Administration’s involvement in implementing the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has still not occurred,” Rogers wrote. “Towards this objective, it is incumbent on the Committee and its oversight responsibilities to determine what went wrong and how such a catastrophe can be avoided in the future.”

“To this end, I will await your response to my questions in the classified letter,” Rep. Rogers continued. “Moreover, the Department’s AAR produced to the House omitted significant portions included in its Table of Contents, including all endnotes and other appendices to the report. Additionally, significant redaction of material in the classified report is not explained. The Committee relies upon transparency in conducting oversight for the American people, so I hope exclusion of associated documents with the AAR was unintentional and that the Committee can receive an appropriately un-redacted version. Please produce all documents, no later than July 7, 2023, associated with the AAR as listed in the report’s Table of Contents.”

According to a report released by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in February 2022, as many as 9,000 Americans were left behind in Afghanistan after the U.S. military’s rushed evacuation on August 31, 20211. The exact number of Americans remaining in Afghanistan is not known for sure. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken estimated that less than 200 Americans are remaining in Afghanistan, and it’s “likely closer to 100”. Another report from August 2021 stated that as many as 15,000 Americans remained in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover of the country. The State Department believes as many as 14,000 U.S. legal permanent residents remain in Afghanistan. Additionally, an estimated 78,000 SIV-holding American allies are stranded in Afghanistan. Many Afghan interpreters that worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan were left behind.

The U.S. did manage to get out 6,000 American citizens and thousands more of our Afghan allies, but the evacuation ended after a bomber killed 13 American servicemembers.

Rogers is in his 11^th term representing Alabama’s Third Congressional District. Rogers previously served in the Alabama House of Representatives and on the Calhoun County Commission.

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