Did Biden ignore military advice, NATO concerns in disastrous US exit from Afghanistan? Here's what we know

The US military's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 left the world superpower humiliated, with Taliban taking over Pakistan's landlocked neighbour. The withdrawal resulted in the Taliban being replaced by a stronger Taliban as the US rushed out of Afghanistan in a heartbeat.

This rushed and disastrous withdrawal left the Islamist outfit with a weapon arsenal worth $7 billion. A scathing report by the Republicans pinned the blame of the Afghan debacle on US President Joe Biden, which is no less than an indictment of the Biden administration. 

The report states that in his obstinacy to get US troops out of Afghanistan, Biden ignored any advice -- military or otherwise -- to the contrary. Not only this, he also ignored the pleas of the then Ashraf Ghani-led government in Afghanistan and also any objections from NATO allies. 

The report, spanning around 350 pages, read: "During his decades-long tenure as a Delaware US senator, eight years as vice president of the United States and nearly four years as president, Mr Biden has demonstrated distrust of America's military experts and advisors and has prioritised politics and his personal legacy over America's national security interests."

The report further mentioned that due to America's hasty withdrawal, the Taliban overthrew the Ashraf Ghani-led government and left many Americans and Afghans vulnerable. It stated that the Biden administration decided to evacuate noncombatants from Afghanistan far too late as the formal order was issued only on August 16, 2021.

The report also said that there was a communication failure between departments in Washington and US officials in Kabul, leading to problems with paperwork needed for departure of Afghan civilians eligible to leave the country.

The blistering report also blamed the Biden government for the death of 13 US military personnel in the Kabul airport bomb blast. The report also accused the Biden administration of misleading the American public into believing that the US should quickly end its 20-year war in Afghanistan. 

Besides this, the report condemned Biden for ignoring the terms and conditions of the Doha Agreement. During his presidency, Donald Trump negotiated a deal with the Taliban wherein the latter was required to meet specific conditions before the US troops could withdraw. 

As per the report, Biden put aside the agreement's critical details and would pin the blame of the disaster on the same document.

Some obligations that the Taliban had to meet included cutting ties with al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations, ceasing attacks on US and coalition troops, reducing violence against Afghan forces and starting negotiations with the Afghan government. 

During the 20-year war in Afghanistan, 2,238 US service members died and around 21,000 were wounded. Number of Afghan security forces and civilians killed during the war stands at around 100,000, as per independent estimates.