Congressman Crow Calls Out Republicans’ Bad Faith Accounting of the US Withdrawal from Afghanistan

WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Jason Crow (CO-06), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, released a statement after Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee issued their cherry-picked, partisan report detailing the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks released a memorandum to push back on the cherry-picked narrative.

Congressman Crow, a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, helped lead the effort to establish the Afghanistan War Commission, an independent and bipartisan body tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of U.S. military, intelligence, foreign assistance, and diplomatic involvement in Afghanistan for the entirety of the war.

In a statement, Congressman Crow said: 

“As an Afghanistan war veteran, this war and the withdrawal are personal to me. As Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, I have said from the beginning that I would work with my colleagues to provide a full, facts-based accounting of our nation’s longest war.

“Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues on the House Foreign Affairs Committee have routinely demonstrated throughout the course of this investigation that they would rather cherry-pick information than provide an honest accounting of our 20 years in Afghanistan.

“The American people, our servicemembers, and our Afghan partners deserve answers to the months leading up to the withdrawal and the years of decision-making preceding it, and the Republicans’ report failed to deliver. I’m proud to join Ranking Member Meeks and my Democratic colleagues on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to push back on this bad faith, partisan attack.

“I remain steadfast in my commitment to providing a full accounting of America’s longest war, which is why I helped create the Afghanistan War Commission to provide real, substantive investigation. 

“The over 2400 American servicemembers killed during the course of this war – and the thousands more injured – deserve nothing less than the full, facts-based accounting of America’s longest war.”

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