U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks), chair of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, accused U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Tuesday of including false information and omitting details in a report about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
In a letter obtained by Fox News, Rogers said Austin's report included "multiple discrepancies" and failed to "accept responsibility" for "failing to secure a safe and orderly withdrawal of troops."
He also claimed the report omitted several sections listed in the table of contents, including endnotes and appendices, and that no explanation was offered for the redactions.
"The Committee relies upon transparency in conducting oversight for the American people, so I hope [the] exclusion of associated documents with the AAR was unintentional and that the Committee can receive an appropriately-redacted version," Rogers explained in the letter.
The United States first invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of the "War on Terror" following the attacks on September 11.
However, this was not the beginning of U.S. involvement in the country. After the Soviet Union gained control of Afghanistan in the late 1970s, the CIA supplied weapons and cash to Afghan rebels. The United States contributed over $20 billion to Pakistan's military efforts in Afghanistan against the Soviets.
Following the 2001 invasion, the United States overthrew the Islamic Emirate, the Taliban-controlled government that had occupied most of the country since 1996. In its place, the United States established a new regime: the Islamic Republic.
For the next 20 years, the United States battled the Taliban, who sought to oust the NATO-backed Islamic Republic and regain control.
The Trump administration reached a deal to provide for the withdrawal of all NATO forces in exchange for counter-terrorism commitments from the Taliban. In 2021, President Joe Biden withdrew all troops without leaving a residual force. The Taliban took over Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, in August of that year.
The war with Afghanistan is currently the longest war in U.S. history. It took the lives of at least 2,000 U.S. troops and 85,000 Afghan and Pakistani civilians and cost the United States over $2 trillion.
Rogers asked the Pentagon to supply the documents associated with the report and its table of contents to lawmakers by July 7.
Fox News asked the Pentagon for a comment on the letter. Officials said they would respond to the letter appropriately but had nothing else to add.
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