The US Congress on Wednesday voted to set up a commission to assess the failures of the 20-year war in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s victory.
The commission was part of a $768 billion annual defence package passed by the Senate 89-10 after similarly overwhelming approval last week by the House of Representatives.
President Joe Biden, who controversially pulled out US troops in August to end America’s longest war, is expected to sign the National Defence Authorisation Act.
The Commission on Afghanistan will include 16 members appointed by the two major parties and was given a deadline to issue an initial report within a year of its first meeting, and a final report within three years.
“The Commission shall conduct a comprehensive assessment of the war in Afghanistan and make recommendations to inform future operations with tactical and strategic lessons learned, including the impact of troop increases and decreases and date-certain deadlines,” the legislation said.
President Barack Obama poured tens of thousands of troops into Afghanistan after taking office in 2009 but later withdrew most of them. The administration of his successor Donald Trump negotiated a deal with the Taliban that set a May 2021 timeline for US troops to leave.—AFP
