RASC News Agency: The Pentagon has revealed through a series of leaked documents and internal emails to a news network named “Just News” that the U.S. Department of Defense was fully aware of the chaotic conditions during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. According to this report, these newly obtained emails and internal memos demonstrate that the Department was “keenly aware of the escalating and chaotic situation” in Afghanistan.
Just News, citing these leaked Pentagon emails, reports that “senior officials were fully cognizant that conditions in Afghanistan had deteriorated into chaos, culminating in deadly violence.” These documents suggest that the Biden-Harris administration sought to present a different narrative to the American public regarding what is now recognized as “one of the most significant foreign policy crises in U.S. history.”
One specific example highlighted by the network involves a State Department situation report emailed to John Kirby, the former Pentagon spokesperson, on August 16, 2021 just 10 days before 13 U.S. service members were killed in an explosion at Kabul Airport. The report details breaches and security failures on the airport tarmac, leading to gunfire exchanges that resulted in the deaths of five Afghanistanis and the injury of one American. The email indicates that the crowd had spiraled out of control, with shots fired solely to restore order.
The network further claims that the Biden administration mishandled the withdrawal process, as evidenced by a series of internal Pentagon emails showing that then-White House and Pentagon spokespeople, Jen Psaki and John Kirby, attempted to downplay the severity of the concerns.
Just News reports that John Kirby, now the White House National Security Council spokesperson, has declined to respond to the network’s inquiries. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden continues to face severe criticism both domestically and internationally for what has been widely condemned as the “catastrophic” withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. Some U.S. officials have described the manner of the withdrawal as “the most disgraceful episode” in the history of American foreign policy. However, the reality is that the U.S. deliberately handed Afghanistan over to the Taliban and has knowingly provided financial and political support to the Taliban regime over the past three years.
