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

White House national security adviser John Kirby was asked Monday why no one in the administration was being held accountable for the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He replied that members of the administration “have held themselves accountable.”

Kirby made the comment after he rebelled against a report from House Republicans on the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He was present at the White House press conference specifically to push back against the slashing document, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. It came about a day before Vice President Kamala Harris’ high-stakes debate with former President Donald Trump.

One of the damning findings of the House Republican report is that President Joe Biden “has failed to accept even a semblance of responsibility for the events that unfolded in Afghanistan. On the contrary, he has consistently boasted of the success of the operation, most recently during the June 2024 presidential debate by falsely claiming that no troops died on his watch. Nor has he held any of his subordinates accountable for policy decisions that put American service members, diplomats, and Afghan allies in grave danger.”

Kirby was asked whether anyone had taken accountability for what had happened — a withdrawal accompanied by a terrorist attack that killed 13 Americans, thousands of Afghans the U.S. had helped left behind, delays in releasing American citizens, and a Taliban that came to power and took control of powerful U.S.-supplied equipment as the U.S. withdrew from a war that had lasted two decades.

“We all held ourselves accountable for the progress of the withdrawal within the administration, and it was a real interagency effort to get those 120,000 people out and to make sure our diplomats and our military personnel were returned safely,” said Kirby, who was at the Pentagon during the withdrawal.

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

Kirby began his speech by attacking the 353-page report, saying it “says little or nothing new” and that it was “one-sided, biased.”

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

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Although Kirby was not asked about it, the committee report included some of House Speaker Michael McCaul’s (R-Texas) own statements leading up to the withdrawal.

On May 3, 2021, Kirby called the Taliban military actions “small, intimidating attacks over the course of the weekend,” but said the DOD “has not seen anything to date that has impacted the withdrawal.”

Those attacks eventually became part of a growing wave. Within two months, the Taliban had seized control of 221 of Afghanistan’s 407 districts.

On July 4, 2021, Kirby said that a “safe, orderly withdrawal will allow us to maintain a continued diplomatic presence, support the Afghan people and government, and prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a safe haven for terrorists who threaten our homeland.”

Ultimately, the US had to suddenly withdraw all of its diplomatic personnel after the sudden fall of the US-backed Afghan government.