In a recent press briefing, CBS White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe questioned retired Admiral John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, why it has taken so long for the administration to release the facts surrounding the Afghanistan withdrawal. Reporters were upset about receiving the information a few minutes before the briefing began and the day before the Easter holiday weekend.
They described the release as a “modern holiday news dump,” meaning few Americans will see the information reported due to the busy holiday. Kirby claimed the information was released as soon as all agencies had signed off on it despite the information being requested by news reporters months earlier. He inferred the release before the Easter weekend was coincidental. O’Keefe pressed Kirby as to why four pages of the report put the blame on former President Donald Trump while there was no indication of any missteps by President Joe Biden. Kirby refused to hold Biden accountable for any mistakes in the withdrawal. Kirby did not answer if Biden would hold himself accountable. Thirteen U.S. soldiers were shot and killed, causing the frantic escalation of withdrawal efforts by the Biden Administration. It was the most American soldiers lost in war since 2011.
The world witnessed the horrific withdrawal of Americans from the city of Kabul in August of 2021. The Biden Administration left behind hundreds of American citizens at the mercy of the terrorist Taliban occupiers. Cable News showed the C-17 transport plane taking off with hundreds of civilians trying to hang on to the aircraft, only to fall to their deaths. Billions of taxpayers funded weapons were abandoned by the U.S. and left for the Afghan soldiers to use in their defense. These weapons immediately fell into the hands of the Taliban fighters.
The Taliban tortured and murdered men, women, and children in their quest for total rule. Since the withdrawal, the Taliban forbids families and women from restaurants, parks, gyms, and open places. Religious scholars complain that the mixing of genders in such locations is harmful. Girls are forbidden to attend school up to the sixth grade, and women are refused entry to universities and many jobs, including diplomatic positions at the United Nations.