In the year since the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces from Afghanistan, America’s defense-related focus has shifted to Ukraine and to China’s potentially belligerent intentions.
But Afghanistan isn’t likely to disappear into the history books so easily. How it returns to the spotlight in the future may be a concern, however.
Afghanistan is in chaos, with widespread hunger, broken promises by the Taliban to allow girls into secondary schools and a banking system that is paralyzed. The United Nations estimates that 97% of the nation may be below the poverty line by the end of 2022, The Washington Post reports.
Life was better with the help and presence of the United States, even if the idea of a never-ending U.S. commitment was untenable.
Yet as the one-year anniversary of the withdrawal was noted this week, few in the United States seemed interested. A recent poll by the Deseret News and the Hinckley Institute of Politics found that the biggest issue on Utah voters’ minds is the economy, with the role of the federal government coming in a distant second.
And yet, numerous news outlets are reporting that Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are about to release a report that is highly critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal, and some observers say this could be a blueprint for a larger investigation, should Republicans regain control of Congress after this November’s elections.
It may even be the blueprint for impeachment proceedings.
Some pollsters and other observers think the GOP remains the odds-on favorite to win control of the House, while the Senate is less certain. A House majority would let the party launch an investigation that may reveal some important facts. That would be worthwhile.
But if a change of power in Congress automatically equals a quick jump to impeachment proceedings, either focused on the Afghanistan withdrawal or some other problem, that would be a bad thing for the United States. It would signal that impeachment — once so rare it had been attempted only once in the first 195 or so years of the nation’s history — has become a common political weapon.
If that should happen, the nation’s enemies would see it as a sign of weakness and disarray; of a nation so badly divided that its government is almost perpetually distracted with toppling its chief executive. It would keep the nation from addressing current defense needs. If Republicans failed to gain a substantial majority in the Senate, the effort would be doomed from the start, with a two-thirds Senate conviction highly unlikely.
The Washington Post reports that the draft report contains details on the number of Americans left behind, which it said was “over 800,” although the most recent government figure puts the number remaining in the country today at 84. The report says about 3,000 members of Afghan security forces that were left behind, friends of the United States who worked closely with U.S. troops, have fled to Iran with equipment and vehicles. These people, who likely feel betrayed by the U.S., could be sharing information damaging to national security.
The report notes that its findings are incomplete, and that a more detailed investigation is needed.
Americans certainly need a full accounting for the disastrous way the nation pulled its forces out of Afghanistan, just ahead of Taliban forces taking over the country. There is nothing wrong with conducting a thorough investigation.
President Joe Biden did not handle the evacuation of American forces well, but President Donald Trump deserves blame, as well, for negotiating unfavorable terms for withdrawal before he left office. Any report that doesn’t examine the full history of the withdrawal would lack credibility.
Transparency in government is a strength. It signals accountability and a willingness to learn from mistakes. Facts that emerge should be dealt with appropriately according to their severity. Political retribution, however, is an ugly thing that signals weakness. The nation’s elected officials should tread carefully so as to not make a once rare ultimate punishment as commonplace as a no-confidence vote in a parliamentary form of government.