Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives have just released a damning report on the Biden-Harris administration's botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. 

Fox News reports that U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the report over the weekend.

The lengthy report, in its entirety, can be read here.

We'll take a look at some of the committee's findings below.

Background

This all comes at about the three-year anniversary of the Biden-Harris administration's botch withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

This is the same incident that, in the summer of 2021, led to the deaths of 13 United States service members. The service members were killed on Aug. 26, 2021, by a suicide bomber at the Hamid Karzai International Airport. Islamic State terrorists have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Although the terrorists are directly to blame for the attack, many have also placed a good amount of blame on the Biden-Harris administration. Critics argue - and the committee's report confirms - that the administration went about the withdrawal in about the worst way possible.

This all comes at a politically inopportune time for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

Harris was once asked whether she was the last person in the room when the decision was made to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. She said that she was and that she felt "comfortable" about it.

The committee's findings

As mentioned at the outset, the report is extremely damning.

In summary, the committee writes:

Our investigation reveals the Biden-Harris administration had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies. At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security.

Fox summarizes some of the reports major findings.

They include that the "State Department built up personnel [but] failed to hatch escape plan as it became clear Kabul would fall" and that the "terror threat warning [at Abbey Gate went] unheeded before bombing." The report also reveals that, in the withdrawal, "Americans and allies [were] turned away, while unvetted Afghans go on flight."

The consequences of the botched withdrawal, however, were not just short term. The report indicates, according to Fox, "In addition to the $7 billion in abandoned U.S. weapons, the Taliban likely gained access to up to $57 million in U.S. funds that were initially given to the Afghan government."