Afghan crisis a ‘culmination of poor decision-making’ by 3 administrations: Menendez

US Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Wednesday the “tragic events of this past summer (in Afghanistan) were the culmination of poor decision-making by both Republican and Democratic administrations, going back to 2001”.

In a full Committee hearing entitled “Afghanistan 2001-2021: U.S. Policy Lessons Learned,” Menendez said only a full accounting of the situation will help the US avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

“We owe it to the American people. We owe it to our troops. We owe it to those in the public and non-profit sectors who dedicated years of their lives to improve Afghan democracy and governance. And we owe it to the people of Afghanistan – women and girls, religious and ethnic minorities – who are most affected by our departure,” he said.

According to Menendez, the United States struggled to enact a coherent strategy that would secure Afghan democracy and build strong governing institutions.

He said in his view a number of mistakes had been made.

First, the Bush Administration took its eye off the ball when it invaded Iraq, diverting desperately needed troops, equipment, and humanitarian assistance away from Afghanistan, he said.

“Those resources could have made a difference in preventing the resurgence of the Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) and building up Afghan governing institutions in their infancy.”

Second, the Obama Administration adopted a failed counterinsurgency strategy after taking office, he said.

“More than 33,000 troops were surged into Afghanistan but given an extremely short time frame, just 18 months, to prepare the Afghan government to take full control. That withdrawal date was repeatedly delayed as the weaknesses of Afghan institutions and security forces became all too clear” he said.

“Throughout the war, every administration also unfortunately bought into the fiction that Pakistan would be a partner in peace in Afghanistan. Instead, Islamabad played a double game, continuing to provide shelter to the Taliban (IEA) even as militants targeted and killed US troops,”

Third, the Trump Administration signed a surrender deal with the IEA “that set the stage for our precipitous withdrawal”.

“That deal was built on a set of lies, chief among them that the Taliban (IEA) would sever their connection with al-Qaeda,” he said adding that throughout the negotiations, the Trump administration excluded the Afghan government and kept secret the details of its agreement from the US’ closest allies.

“And finally, throughout the entire war, the executive branch failed to keep Congress adequately informed, particularly when the war was going poorly. Officials of both parties either misled or misrepresented the facts to Congress,” Menendez said.

According to him the executive branch told Congress that Afghan security forces could assume full responsibility for Afghanistan’s security; that the Afghan government was taking corruption seriously and gaining legitimacy in the provinces; and that regional actors like Pakistan were playing a helpful role with respect to the IEA.