State Department denies lack of planning for withdrawal laid out in GOP-led Afghanistan report

The State Department stood by the frenzied 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal in a new statement after House Foreign Affairs Republicans released a scathing 350-page report detailing dysfunction and a lack of planning leading up to the pullout.

Republicans have "issued partisan statements, cherry-picked facts, withheld testimonies from the American people, and obfuscated the truth behind conjecture," according to a statement put out by a State Department spokesperson.

The report, led by Foreign Affairs Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, disputed Biden's assertion that his hands were tied to the Doha agreement former President Donald Trump had made with the Taliban establishing a deadline for U.S. withdrawal for the summer of 2021, and laid much blame on a lack of planning by the State Department for getting Americans and allies out while there were still troops there to protect them.

"There are valid and important criticisms of the two-decade-long war in Afghanistan and how it concluded, which is why the Department has remained focused on evolving and growing from this moment, learning important lessons and making sustainable changes to crisis operations," the State Department statement said.

"The Department stands ready to work alongside any Member who expresses serious interest in finding legislative and administrative solutions. However, we will not stand by silently as the Department and its workforce are used to further partisan agendas."

US FAILURE IN TALIBAN INTEL HAS OPENED UP AFGHANISTAN TO CHINA, RUSSIA

The department said the idea that they lacked a noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO) plan to close operations in Afghanistan is "one of the most persistent misunderstandings."

The State Department did not initiate a NEO