The Pentagon's chief spokesman has long insisted there was no "chaos" during the bungled U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, but his own email correspondence shows senior officials were acutely aware that conditions in the country were chaotic and spiraling into deadly violence, according to newly obtained government documents.
The memos show, for instance, that while then-DOD Undersecretary of Communications John Kirby tried to jaw-bone reporters to portray the Afghan withdrawal as orderly like President Joe Biden had promised, he was receiving briefings from diplomats and military officials in theater who were frantic to stabilize a crisis, particularly at the Kabul airport were evacuations of Americans were taking place.
These memos and emails chronicle political efforts by the Biden/Harris administration to soft-pedal the truth to the American people about its first major foreign crisis.
In all, the internal Pentagon emails to Kirby used the words "chaos" or "chaotic" more than two dozen times and stand in stark contrast to the contemporaneous efforts by Kirby and then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki to downplay concerns that the administration had mishandled the withdrawal.
One State Department situation report emailed to Kirby on Aug. 16, 2021 -- 10 days before a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. Marines -- referred to "breaches" and "flightline insecurity" at the airport that resulted in the exchange of gunfire that killed five Afghans and may have wounded an American soldier.
Crowds continue to run alongside planes, including mil aircraft," the report added.
Then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also sought to publicly downplay the chaotic pullout and stick to the official narrative being peddled by the White House.
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