Congress established the Afghanistan War Commission in 2021 as an independent body to review U.S. decisions pertaining to the war in Afghanistan from June 2001 to August 2021.

The commission’s charter is set out in The Afghanistan War Commission Act of 2021, Section 1094 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Pub. L. No. 117-81, 135 Stat. 1935 (2021)). The commission comprises 16 members, one each selected by the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, the speaker and minority leader of the House, and the chairmen and ranking members of the following congressional committees:

• The Senate Armed Services Committee
• The House Armed Services Committee
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee
• The House Foreign Affairs Committee
• The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
• The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Continuing in this bipartisan intent, the commission is led by two co-chairs. All 16 commissioners have significant national security expertise in government and academia.

The commission’s mandate is to independently examine key strategic, diplomatic, and operational decisions the U.S. government made throughout the Afghanistan War. The scope of this study includes combat operations, reconstruction and development assistance, intelligence assessments, counterterrorism activities, political and diplomatic initiatives, and the most senior policy deliberations of the U.S. government. Through this encompassing study, the commission will derive insights and actionable recommendations in an unclassified, public final report designed to inform effective strategic decision-making by Congress and policymakers throughout the U.S. government. The final report is due by August 22, 2026, with annual interim reports due each year.

Congress empowered the commission to conduct hearings and obtain information, including interviews and documents, from federal agencies “as the commission considers necessary” to execute its mandate upon written requests of the co-chairs. It correspondingly requires the heads of departments and agencies to furnish requested information to the commission expeditiously.

The commission is charged with examining multiple aspects of the 20-year war:

Policy objectives in three areas:

• Diplomacy: Reviewing diplomatic efforts and their impacts on the conflict and regional stability;
• Military operations: Assessing the goals, strategies, and effectiveness of military operations in Afghanistan; and,
• Development assistance: Evaluating the objectives and outcomes of development projects and humanitarian aid.

Strategic and operational decisions: Reviewing significant decisions, including options presented to policymakers and their subsequent impacts, and evaluating the efficacy of interagency coordination and execution processes.

Counterterrorism efforts: Assessing the success of counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda, the Islamic State Khorasan Province, and other foreign terrorist organizations, and examining the efforts to degrade the capabilities of foreign terrorist organizations to mount attacks against the United States and its allies or threaten regional stability.

Intelligence efforts: Analyzing the application of the Intelligence Community’s analytic tradecraft standards in Afghanistan-related analytic production over time.  This includes incorporation of divergent analytic views in intelligence assessments and whether assessments concerning probable outcomes of the coalition forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan provided sufficient warning to policymakers.

Metrics and effectiveness: Analyzing the metrics and milestones used to assess progress of military, diplomatic, and intelligence efforts.

Collapse of Afghan forces: Exploring the factors leading to the collapse in August 2021 of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, including their training with and reliance on technology and support systems provided by the United States.

Counter corruption and counternarcotics efforts: Evaluating the effectiveness of efforts to combat endemic corruption and narcotics production and trade in Afghanistan.

Regional influences: Studying the role of neighboring countries in contributing to the situation in Afghanistan, including the disintegration of the U.S.-backed Afghan government.