White House gives stunning response when asked if there was been any accountability for the catastrophic Afghanistan withdrawal

White House national security advisor John Kirby got asked Monday why no one in the government had been held to account for the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan – responding that administration members have held ourselves accountable.

Kirby made the comment after he came out swinging against a House Republican report on the chaotic pullout from Afghanistan. He attended the White House press briefing specifically to push back at the slashing document, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. It came out about a day before Vice President Kamala Harris high stakes debate against former President Donald Trump.

Among the House Republican reports damning conclusions is that President Joe Biden has yet to accept even a semblance of responsibility for the events that unfolded in Afghanistan. To the contrary, he has consistently boasted to the success of the operation, as recently as during the June 2024 presidential debate mistakenly claiming that no troops died under his watch. Nor has he held any of his subordinates accountable for the policy decisions that placed U.S. servicemembers, diplomats, and Afghan allies in critical danger.

Kirby got asked if anyone had faced accountability for what happened – in a withdrawal that featured a terror attack that killed 13 Americans, thousands of Afghans who had assisted the U.S. being left behind, delays in getting out U.S. civilians, and a Taliban that swept to power and gained control of potent U.S. provided equipment, as the U.S. disengaged from a two decade war.

We have all held ourselves accountable for the progress of the withdrawal across the administration, and it was a true interagency effort to get those 120,000 people out and to make sure we removed our diplomats and our military personnel safely, said Kirby, who was at the Pentagon during the withdrawal.

As I said, not everything went according to plan. Nothing ever does. And we mourn the loss of those 13 lives at Abbey Gate every single day here. Their sacrifice ... is not forgotten. But again, we hold ourselves all accountable.

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby got asked if anyone had been held accountable for the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan

 Kirby began his remarks with an attack on the 353-page report, saying it says little or nothing new, while speaking to the one-sided, partisan nature of this report.   

The very day this administration took office, the Taliban was in the strongest position it had been in years. The Afghan government the weakest. The Trump administration cut a deal called the Doha Agreement that mandated a complete us withdrawal from Afghanistan, and yes, that included Bagram air base by the end of May 2021. That deal also released 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison – 5000 fighters. In return, the Taliban agreed not to attack us troops, which is a good thing, because the former president reduced our presence in Afghanistan from about 14,000 down to 2,500.

Kirby got asked why no one in the administration had faced accountability for the chaotic withdrawal

The sudden collapse of the Afghan government brought a rush to try to evacuate Americans as well as Afghans who had assisted U.S. forces during the 20 year occupation

U.S. forced raced to complete the withdrawal amid rocketfire at Kabuls airport