Hours before US defence chief Pete Hegseth was due to appear at a high-profile medals ceremony, Pentagon officials found mysterious documents blaming the Democrats for the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal. The ruling Republicans have been blaming former President Joe Biden and his party for years.
They’re not wrong to be critical. But this latest development arguably looks a little… odd.
Biden under scrutiny… but…
Politico reported on 26 August:
Pentagon officials on Wednesday claimed they have uncovered classified documents that were “hidden away in safes where they would not be found” that shed new light on the chaotic end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan five years ago — but declined to offer public details of the revelations.
The claim comes hours before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to participate in a Pentagon ceremony to upgrade the valor awards for service members who served at the Kabul International Airport during the final days of the conflict.
Biden has stood by the messy Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021 which saw the US-led occupation forces flee in defeat.
Politico said:
GOP lawmakers have accused Biden of too abruptly ending military operations in Afghanistan, endangering American troops and handing over control of the country to the Taliban.
The Trump administration had planned to use the medal upgrade ceremony to make this political point. Now, these suddenly discovered hidden files are being used to emphasise their point. Pentagon officials said Wednesday the documents were:
hidden away in safes where they would not be found.
Bi-partisan imperialism
The administration have not released the files on Biden’s Afghan withdrawal, or commented on them further. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell did post an explainer video on X:
An update from Sean Parnell, Chairman of the Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel, on the Fifth Anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing pic.twitter.com/5pkbmuuyX0
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) August 26, 2026
He said:
The deeper we look, the more there is to look at. We are finding things that we did not expect.
Parnell claimed his team had recovered “highly relevant classified documents”:
that should have been disclosed, stashed, and hidden away in safes where they would not be found. And after the team reviewed these documents, it became clear why someone tried to hide them.
Adding that Afghanistan veterans were owed:
the full picture of how and why those decisions were made, and we’re going to give it to them.
This all certainly sounds dubious. And that is not to say the Democrats under Biden did not make a complicated withdrawal worse. But let us be clear: the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan was a bi-partisan crime. Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden – and their cronies – caused enormous pain and harm to the country and its people.
Given none of these files have been produced publicly, it would be understandable if people felt this was little more than cheap political theatre – albeit, built on the backs of the war dead.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
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