Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday who will get “fired” over the Afghanistan withdrawal.
President Joe Biden’s administration released a report Thursday on the decisions made during the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. The documents largely pointed fingers at former President Donald Trump’s administration for the issues that arose as U.S. troops departed the country.
“Who’s gonna get fired over this?” Doocy asked.
“Peter, the purpose of the document that we’re putting out today is to sort of collate the chief reviews and findings of the agencies that did after action reviews,” Kirby said. “The purpose of it is not accountability, the purpose of it is to study lessons learned.”
“You admit that the intel was bad, so how can President Biden ever trust when they come into the Oval Office with the PBD, that anything in there is legit?” Doocy asked. “What if the mosaic — all pieces are incorrect?” (RELATED: ‘Let Me Finish’: John Kirby Clashes With Doocy Over Afghanistan, Al-Qaida)
“What I said was intelligence is hard business and they get it right a lot too. There were some pieces here that weren’t accurate and we’re being nothing but honest with you and the American people about what those inaccuracies were and how they shaped some of the decision-making that was laid before the president and the questions that he asked. This document and this effort isn’t about accountability today, it’s about understanding,” Kirby responded.
Doocy confronted Kirby on the children killed and the Afghan people hanging from the last remaining U.S. planes that departed Afghanistan as the Taliban regained control of Kabul. He challenged the administration saying they are “proud” of their handling of the withdrawal.
“You’re saying that you guys are proud of the way that this mission was conducted?” Doocy asked. “Proud of that?”
“Proud of the fact that we got more than 124,000 people safely out of Afghanistan, you bet. Proud of the fact that American troops were able to seize control of a defunct airport and get its operational in 48 hours, you bet,” Kirby pushed back. “Proud of that fact that we now have about 100,000 Afghan allies and partners living in this country and working toward citizenship, you bet. And does that mean everything went perfect in that evacuation, of course not.”
He assured that there were many flaws with the evacuation, but highlighted the many things that “went right.” He touted the administration’s efforts to help Afghans seek refuge in safe places around the world.
“So yeah, there’s a lot to be proud of, Peter,” he concluded.
The evacuation led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members after two suicide bomb explosions erupted outside of a Kabul airport during the U.S. evacuation.