EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is firing back at the White House for releasing a memo defending the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan nearly a year ago, calling the claims “provably false” and an attempt to sweep the chaotic sweep under the carpet. A spokesman for President Biden’s National Security Council drafted a memo this week defending the administration withdrawal from Afghanistanwriting that the president “refused to send another generation of Americans to fight a war that should have ended a long time ago,” according to a copy of the document obtained by Fox News Digital. The White House memo comes after the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a report critical of the withdrawal, which killed 13 US soldiers, accusing the administration of failing to evacuate US-trained Afghan military personnel, leaving at least 800 Americans behind enemy lines and creating a major national security risk. “Most of the allegations in this memo are demonstrably false, and all of them are the same talking points the president has been repeating for a year in his efforts to sweep the disastrous Afghan evacuation under the rug,” McCaul, who serves as the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Fox News Digital Monday. WHITE HOUSE DRAFT MEMORANDUM DEFENDS AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL A spokesman for President Biden’s National Security Council drafted a memo this week defending the administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, writing that the president “refused to send another generation of Americans to fight a war that should have ended a long time ago.” “, according to a copy of the document obtained by Fox News Digital. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP, File) The White House The memo called the Republican review a “partisan report” that is “riddled with inaccurate characterizations, misrepresentations and false allegations” and placed much of the blame on former President Donald Trump. “Former President Trump’s 2020 deal with the Taliban empowered the Taliban, weakened our partners in the Afghan government, and committed to withdrawing our troops just months after President Biden’s inauguration — with no clear plan for what comes next,” he said. the National Security Council. the spokesman wrote in the report. “Most of the allegations made in this memo are demonstrably false, and all of them are the same talking points the president has been repeating for a year in his efforts to sweep the disastrous evacuation of Afghanistan under the rug,” the spokesman said. Michael McCall on Fox. News Digital Monday. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) McCaul disputed the White House’s argument that the Doha deal was to blame because Biden said he would have ordered an unconditional withdrawal even without a deal. During an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos last August, Biden responded that he would have “tried to figure out how to withdraw those troops, yes,” when asked if he would have withdrawn troops even without the deal. BIDEN’S CONSTRUCTION IN AFGHANISTAN STARTED WITH THE FALL OF KAPUL A YEAR AGO AND AMERICANS DESERVE ANSWERS The Republican congressman also blamed the White House for not providing his investigation with required documents, despite quickly preparing a rebuttal to his committee’s report. “For the few responses we actually received, they did not provide us with any of the required documents, and several of the letters are clearly responses with the same language from one to the other,” McCall continued in a statement to Fox News Digital. Thousands of Afghans rushed to Kabul airport as US troops prepared to leave in August 2021. A suicide bomber detonated 20 pounds of explosives near the airport during the confusion, killing 13 US soldiers and 170 others. Evacuees wait to board a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 23, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Isaiah Campbell) McCaul’s report notes that the Biden administration was unprepared for the evacuation. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The report says there were only 15 consular officials at Kabul airport when the country first fell to the Taliban on August 15, and only 36 in total throughout the evacuation. Fox News’ Paul Best contributed to this report. Kelly Laco is political editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @kelly_laco.
