MELTDOWN

U.S. Embassy Staffers Were ‘Intoxicated and Cowering in Rooms’ Ahead of Kabul Pullout, Report Says

A report reveals the frustration of military officials who say diplomatic personnel ignored repeated warnings about the Taliban before the rushed August 2021 evacuation.

U.S. military officials have accused State Department staffers and White House officials of derailing Afghanistan evacuation efforts before the Taliban seized power in Kabul last year. In an investigative report obtained by The Washington Post, military officials blamed the chaotic pullout on administration officials refusing to heed warnings about the Taliban’s rapid advances. The military would have been “much better prepared to conduct a more orderly” evacuation if “policymakers had paid attention to the indicators of what was happening on the ground,” Navy Rear Adm. Peter Vasely told Army investigators who compiled the report. Ross Wilson, the acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, was also accused in the report of shrugging off warnings about the Taliban. “The embassy needed to position for withdrawal, and the ambassador didn’t get it,” one military official was quoted saying. By mid-August, about two weeks out from the deadline for the U.S. to withdraw, an Army officer described finding the U.S. embassy in Kabul in complete meltdown mode. Some diplomatic staffers were “operating like it was day-to-day operations with absolutely no sense of urgency or recognition of the situation,” while others were found “intoxicated and cowering in rooms,” the report said.