Afghanistan War Commission Outlines Progress, Priorities,
and Plans in First Report to Congress
August 22, 2024
In its first interim report to Congress one year after its official launch, the Afghanistan War Commission (AWC) detailed its activities to date, its research priorities, and its plans for the coming year as it develops the comprehensive assessment, lessons learned and policy recommendations from the 20-year war Congress mandated by August 2026.
“In our first interim report, we offer a window into our current research on wartime decisions,” write AWC co-chairs Shamila N. Chaudhary and Dr. Colin Jackson in the preface. “With our plan in place, we are accelerating and intensifying our work, determined as we are to deliver the rigorous, independent, and objective assessment of the war that those who served and sacrificed, American policymakers, and the larger public expect and deserve.”
The full interim report can be found on the Reports section of our website.
In its first full year of operation, the Commission:
Held more than 30 plenary meetings and research sessions
Hired more than 35 full time professional staff
Established critical liaisons with all relevant agencies, including State, DoD, and USAID
Held numerous work plan briefings with members of Congress
Issued formal Requests for Information (RFI) to executive branch agencies
Received dozens of briefings and thousands of pages of documentation in response to RFIs
Held hundreds of formal and informal meetings with experts and stakeholders, including veterans and Afghans
Launched an online portal for gathering testimonials from veterans, which has received 200+ responses to date
Held our first public hearing, generating significant media coverage
Conducted numerous site visits, including to U.S. Central Command, NATO, the UN and September 11 Memorial and Museum
During its first year the Commission progressed each of its research priorities, which are staffed by five thematic teams covering policy and diplomacy; development; intelligence assessments; military operations and security force assistance; and counterterrorism. The Commission also includes two functional teams focused on interviews and information management, and on writing and production. Two special project teams are looking at counternarcotics and counter-corruption.
Research priorities referenced in the interim report include:
U.S. government policy and diplomacy objectives, and efficacy of efforts made to achieve them
Role of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, most notably Pakistan, in contributing to stability and instability
The manning, training, and equipping of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and the circumstances leading to their disintegration in 2021
Activities of U.S. and Afghan military and intelligence entities aimed at disrupting, degrading, and defeating terrorist groups during the Afghanistan War.
Whether development activities advanced U.S. national security interests in Afghanistan
The efficacy of intelligence assessments pertaining to post-U.S. withdrawal scenarios in Afghanistan
Finally, the Commission’s interim report previews its plans for the coming year, including:
Rigorously reviewing the war’s key decisions and the policy, operational, intelligence, and other documentation we receive from RFIs
Conduct formal interviews of current and former government officials and subject matter experts
Holding public hearings and private roundtables focused on specific lines of research
Conducting analysis and writing of staff papers for the final report
Background
The Afghanistan War Commission is an independent legislative commission established by Congress in the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, Sec. 1094). The following 16 commissioners were appointed by Congressional leaders on a bipartisan basis:
Shamila N. Chaudhary, Co-Chair
Dr. Colin F. Jackson, Co-Chair
Michael Allen
LTG (ret.) Robert Ashley
Jeremy Bash
Amb. Ryan Crocker
Jeffrey Dressler
Daniel Fata
Dr. Anand Gopal
Luke Hartig
Dr. Seth Jones
Laurel Miller
LTC (ret.) Chris Molino
Dr. Dipali Mukhopadhyay
Gov. Bob Taft
Dr. Andrew Wilder
Biographies of the commissioners may be found here.
Contact Us
Join the Commission mailing list here to receive updates and other important news. and follow us on X (Twitter) @AfghanWarComm and on LinkedIn.
Media queries and meeting requests should be directed to Matt Gobush, Strategic Communications Advisor, at matthew_gobush@awc.senate.gov.