How Will Afghanistan Feature In The Race For The White House? – OpEd

By Maria Maalouf

Three years after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, both Democrats and Republicans are revisiting the incident. Neither side is providing a credible or comprehensive explanation as to why Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban on Aug. 15, 2021. Instead, the lack of an Afghan strategy on the part of both the Biden and Trump administrations is being filled with mutual accusations of “you lost Afghanistan.” The issue now is how the Afghan problem will fit into the 2024 presidential election campaign.

Republicans believe that Democrats are vulnerable on the issue of Afghanistan. It was the Biden administration that failed to stop the Taliban’s onslaught on Kabul and protect the government of then-President Ashraf Ghani. More problematic was the Daesh suicide bombing attack on Kabul airport that killed 170 Afghans and 13 American military personnel during the evacuation.

Republicans in Congress last week released a report, which was the culmination of a three-year investigation into the factors and circumstances that led to the US failure in Afghanistan. Among its findings were: “(The Biden administration) had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate US personnel, American citizens, green card holders and our brave Afghan allies.”

Days earlier, as the report on Afghanistan was being finalized, House Republicans subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, requesting his testimony on the Afghan withdrawal. So far, he has not responded to their demands. Instead, a State Department spokesperson said: “The secretary has testified before Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times — more than any other Cabinet-level official. It is disappointing that, instead of continuing to engage with the department in good faith, the committee has issued yet another unnecessary subpoena.” Additionally, a White House spokesperson described the Republican report as “cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations and preexisting biases.”

The timing of the report on Afghanistan holds significant weight in the 2024 election race, but it remains unclear if it will influence voters. The report aims to blame President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for failing to maintain the pro-Washington government in Afghanistan. According to Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, who chaired the investigation as a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, “at each step of the way, the administration picked optics over security.”

The report itself is a thorough attempt to uncover what happened in Afghanistan. It spans more than 350 pages and includes testimony from numerous senior military officers at the Pentagon. Seven lengthy public hearings were held and about 20,000 pages of State Department documents and correspondence were examined. Among the key sources was retired Col. Seth Krummrich, who was the chief of staff for the Special Operations Command Central. He noted: “I called their advance ‘the red blob.’ We tracked the Taliban advance daily, looking like a red blob gobbling up terrain.”

Additionally, the report made several good recommendations, such as emphasizing the need for future noncombatant evacuation operations to succeed and calling on Congress to establish standard operating procedures for such drawdowns. It also urged the State Department and Department of Defense to brief Congress on plans for noncombatant evacuation operations when an embassy has been designated a high-threat post.

However, such a policy option will likely not establish foreign policy consensus or national security reconciliation between Republicans and Democrats. The Biden administration and the Harris campaign have placed the blame on the Trump administration for the deal it signed with the Taliban in February 2020. On the other hand, the Trump campaign argues that Biden botched the Afghan deal and that his administration could have followed its schedule to ensure a safe American pullout from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan was discussed in last week’s presidential debate between Trump and Harris, but without reference to the report. Trump attempted to use the strategic retreat from Afghanistan as an indication of joint Biden-Harris responsibility, emphasizing that the withdrawal left billions of dollars of equipment behind and that Harris played a direct role in the debacle, which embarrassed America on the world stage. Therefore, according to Trump, Harris is unfit to lead as commander-in-chief.

In conclusion, the Trump campaign succeeded in forcing a discussion about Afghanistan during a debate that was watched by 57 million people in the US. Most likely, there will be more debates about Afghanistan in the remaining weeks of the campaign. However, the ultimate arbitration on Afghanistan will come from Afghan Americans living in the US. They can make the best judgment on what transpired in their home country. When they voice their opinions on such a critical policy, it may encourage more Arab and Muslim Americans to speak up courageously about their concerns, frustrations, ambitions and hopes regarding America’s relationship with the Arab and Islamic worlds. This could represent a political victory for Arab and Muslim Americans.

• Maria Maalouf is a Lebanese journalist, broadcaster, publisher, and writer. X: @bilarakib