Afghanistan evacuation: Conflicts between Pentagon and State Department reportedly disrupted withdrawal efforts

Over 100,000 Afghans, Americans, and other nationals that looked to flee from Afghanistan were successfully flown out of the country by the US military as the Taliban took control. With many criticizing the handling of the evacuations, a report has surfaced that conflicts between the Pentagon and the State Department caused the initial chaos that ensued during the efforts.

A report by Adam Ciralsky of Vanity Fair revealed that internal conflicts between the Defense and State Departments played a role in the chaos that surfaced during the evacuation efforts. At the time, US officials were already warning of what may happen in Afghanistan as the evacuations would ultimately take place.

The report began with the resignation of William Walters, who was a physician and a veteran of the military’s special operations unit, who ran the OpMed or Operational Medicine. The unit was from the State Department and is tasked with assisting in dangerous rescues of US officials and or US citizens overseas. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly wanted to elevate the said unit and rename it to the Bureau of Contingency and Crisis Response.

However, renaming the said group would result in a process that would have the group answer to several more officials and thus led to Walters resigning. A State Department official told the outlet that the agency was “pressing the DoD easy button” which meant they were trying to pass the Afghanistan crisis over to the Pentagon.

“America’s chaotic departure from Afghanistan was not unforeseeable,” said the report. “Nor was it an intelligence failure -- that old chestnut often used to absolve leaders of culpability. Instead, the Biden administration’s tumultuous exit from the war-torn country seems to have been the result of incremental and baffling bureaucratic decisions.”

There are still dozens of Americans that were not able to join in the evacuation efforts that were done despite being given multiple warnings by the State Department to leave the country as soon as April. Nevertheless, US President Joe Biden said that his administration is committed to helping the 100-200 American citizens who remain in Afghanistan to leave the country.

In his address at the White House, Biden said that most of the people that were left behind at this time were dual citizens and longtime residents, those who have chosen to stay in Afghanistan because of their family roots. Biden said that there is no deadline for those Americans that wish to get out.