The Biden administration was not adequately prepared for the military's withdrawal from Afghanistan in the event the situation deteriorated, according to a newly released review of the final months of the two decadeslong war.

The State Department released a 21-page after-action review Friday afternoon focusing on the Biden administration's final months in Afghanistan. While the AAR praised both embassy officials and U.S. troops for their role in what ultimately became a massive evacuation operation, it also acknowledged the department's shortcomings, which included not being ready for the worst-case scenario.

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"Concern about signaling a loss of confidence in the Ghani government also impeded preparations for a worst-case scenario in Washington and Embassy Kabul. Those concerns were not illegitimate, and Ghani himself even protested U.S. efforts to expedite the movement of SIV applicants, but the AAR team recognizes the need going forward to insulate worst-case contingency planning," the report claimed.

Then-President Donald Trump agreed to a deal with the Taliban to withdraw troops in Feb. 2020, and President Joe Biden agreed with his predecessor's desire to end America's "forever wars," though he delayed the end date by a couple of months. Pulling troops out of Afghanistan had "serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security," the report found, adding, "the AAR team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow."

While experts disagreed on exactly how long the Ghani government could sustain itself, the prevailing belief was that they would be able to steady themselves for weeks or months following the U.S. withdrawal, though that proved not to be the case. With their departure weeks away, the Taliban launched an offensive to seize territory, and had surprising amounts of success. The U.S. had spent many years arming and training the Afghan military, but it meant little in stopping the Taliban's push as they were able to topple the government within about two weeks.

The Department of Defense had long been planning for a possible noncombatant evacuation operation, though the State Department’s participation in this process was hindered because they didn’t have a clear leader for this effort. The administration ultimately began the NEO in mid-August after Kabul fell, with only two weeks between then and the military's impending withdrawal at the end of the month.

U.S. troops ultimately evacuated roughly 120,000 Afghans who believed themselves to be at risk under the new Taliban regime, including those that had worked with or alongside American troops. During the NEO, thousands of Afghans swarmed the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA), in Kabul, every day hoping that they would be lucky enough to be selected from the crowd to get on a western aircraft out of the country.

"The withdrawal, and evacuation of more than 120,000 people from Kabul in two weeks was an extraordinary event — but our efforts to apply these lessons, focused on improved communications, resources, and preparedness, have strengthened our response to the full range of crises," Under Secretary for Management John Bass said. "The Department of State has already acted on many of the After Action Review’s recommendations, strengthening our capacity and systems to respond to unexpected crises around the world, protect U.S. citizens abroad, and offer support to foreign nationals who work within and assist our diplomatic missions."

On Aug. 26, days before the U.S. is set to leave Afghanistan, an ISIS-K operative detonated a suicide vest outside the airport gates, killing roughly 170 people, including 13 U.S. service members. Three days later, with intelligence of another imminent attack on U.S. forces at the airport, U.S. Central Command launched a drone strike. But, they later admitted the target of the strike, Zemari Ahmadi, who was killed along with nine others, including children, had no terror ties.

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Republicans have been critical of the Biden administration's withdrawal since it occurred with the House, which is currently in Republican control, digging into what happened.

“On April 25, I called upon the State Department to declassify its After-Action Review on Afghanistan within 60 days," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) said in a statement. "The department failed to fulfill that request, instead choosing to release only a small portion of that document — 24 of 87 pages that were already unclassified — and completely omitted the narrative which forms the bulk of the report. There is no reason not to produce a declassified version of the full report, as much of it is marked ‘Sensitive but Unclassified’ or ‘Unclassified.’ This is another blatant attempt to hide the Biden administration’s culpability in the chaotic and deadly evacuation from Afghanistan.”