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