US State Department report details damning failings around chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal

The US State Department on Friday released its long-awaited Afghanistan After Action Review report, which found that both the Trump and Biden administrations' decisions to pull all US troops from Afghanistan had detrimental consequences, and details damning shortcomings by the current administration that led to the deadly and chaotic US withdrawal from that country after nearly two decades on the ground.

"The decisions of both President (Donald) Trump and President (Joe) Biden to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security," the unclassified report said.

"Those decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the AAR (After Action Review) team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow," it said.

The report was publicly released more than a year after the 90-day review of the evacuation was completed and includes findings around the tumultuous final weeks of the US presence in Afghanistan, as well as a number of recommendations for improvement moving forward.

A senior State Department official did not explain why it had taken so long for the report to be published, nor why it was released before a holiday weekend, saying they would not discuss questions related to "process."

Asked about the report on Friday and whether he admitted there were "mistakes during the withdrawal," Biden noted that he had vowed that al Qaeda "wouldn't be there."

"I said we'd get help from the Taliban," the president said in response to the shouted question after remarks at the White House. "I was right."