US Congressman Peter Meijer and Congressman Andy Kim introduced a bill tocreate a non-partisan independent commission to assess the Afghanistan warand experiences learned during the past 20 years the US has been inAfghanistan. It is called the “Afghanistan War Commission Act of 2021.”
The commission aims to make the results available to the public in anunclassified report, in order to learn from Afghanistan for the sake offuture conflicts.
“The war in Afghanistan was a whole-of-government effort that – nowconcluded – demands an independent, whole-of-government assessment in orderto learn what happened. This commission is essential to the future safetyand security of our country,” said Congressman Kim. “I’m proud to introducethis bipartisan piece of legislation that will create an independentcommission because our country’s national security should not be partisan.I’m grateful for Congressman Meijer’s leadership on this issue and hopethis is passed into law so that our country can do a comprehensive deepdive into the war in Afghanistan.”
The commission would probe the affairs of all US government agencies activein Afghanistan, including the Defense Department, State Department, theCentral Intelligence Agency and NATO.
Senator Tammy Duckworth introduced the companion bill in the US Senate. Thebill in the committee in the US Senate has also earned bipartisan support.
“Congress owes the thousands of American servicemembers who sacrificed inAfghanistan a serious, honest and long-term effort devoted to bringingaccountability and transparency. I’m glad that Representatives Kim andMeijer are taking the lead on my proposal in the House so we can create anindependent, nonpartisan commission aimed at ensuring we learn frommistakes made over 20 years in Afghanistan and implement reforms to ensurethose mistakes are never repeated,” Duckworth said.
The Islamic Emirate said that the US was defeated after a 20-year militarypresence in Afghanistan.
“There is nothing unclear to the people regarding the US withdrawal fromAfghanistan. It is a fact that the US was defeated in Afghanistan but theUS can explain to its people the reason for the defeat,” said InamullahSamangani, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.
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Political analysts assessed the two decades of US military presence inAfghanistan:
“The formation of this commission has no benefit for the people ofAfghanistan. The people of Afghanistan witness unpleasant economic,political and social events,” said Ahmad Khan Andar, an internationalrelations analyst.
“The US Congress thinks there has been a mistake in US withdrawal fromAfghanistan and, therefore, it attempts to question the Americanofficials,” said Sayed Baqir Mohsini, a political analyst.
US President Joe Biden has repeatedly said that Washington reached itsgoals in Afghanistan and that it would pursue a mission of counteringterrorism from “over-the-horizon.”
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