President Joe Biden remained defiant regarding his deadly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, despite a State Department report finding fault with his administration’s crisis management and situational awareness before and during the collapse of the Afghan government.

"I said al Qaeda would not be there. I said it wouldn't be there. I said we would get help from the Taliban," he told reporters Friday at the White House. "What is happening now? What's going on? Read your press. I was right."

US ALLIES AND PEERS MOVE TOWARD REGULATING 'MISINFORMATION' ON BIG TECH

The 23-page, heavily redacted report, requested by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also apportions blame to former President Donald Trump and the pandemic for the challenges encountered amid the end of the 20-year war, such as staff shortages overseas and a COVID-restricted in-person crisis response.

Although the Defense Department started planning for an evacuation from Kabul "some time” before August 2021, the State Department’s participation in those preparations “was hindered by the fact that it was unclear who in the Department had the lead," according to the report. The report, too, found U.S. officials provided “insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Thirteen service members were killed in an ISIS-K terrorist attack near Hamid Karzai International Airport's Abbey Gate during the withdrawal. Almost 200 Afghan civilians died in the incident as well. This spring, the United Nations found 20 years of progress for women's and girls’ rights in Afghanistan had been undone since the Taliban's takeover.