Early U.S. Decisions in Afghanistan War Focus of Commission’s Second Public Hearing on Capitol Hill

Today co-chairs Shamila N. Chaudhary and Dr. Colin F. Jackson announced the Afghanistan War Commission (AWC) will hold a public hearing on Friday, April 11, 2025, beginning at 9:00 am ET in Senate Dirksen Office Building room SD-G50 in Washington, D.C.

Key developments and decisions in the war between Dec. 2001 and Dec. 2008 will be the subject of the AWC’s second hearing.  In its first hearing in July 2024, the Commission examined the roots of the 20-year war.  Future Commission hearings will cover events between 2009 and 2021.

Expert witnesses who served in senior military, intelligence, diplomatic, and policy roles during the administration of President George W. Bush, as well as leading Afghan officials who served during the administration of President Hamid Karzai and in the Afghan Parliament, will testify in three panels during the hearing.

The first panel, “Strategy, U.S. Policy, and Interagency Decision-making” will feature testimony from:

• Amb. Henry (Hank) Crumpton, Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State (2005-2007), and retired Central Intelligence Agency officer;
• Amb. Nancy Jo Powell, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (2002-2004), and National Intelligence Officer for South Asia, National Intelligence Council (2006–2007); and
• COL Anthony (Tony) Harriman, U.S. Army (retired), National Security Council (NSC) Director for Afghanistan (2003-2005); NSC Senior Director for Afghanistan (2005-2007); and NSC Special Advisor for Policy Implementation (2007-2009).

The second panel, “Bonn Conference, State-Building, and Reconciliation Attempts,” will feature testimony from:

• Amb. Richard Boucher, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs (2000-2005); Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia (2006-2009);
• Amb. Mohammad Umer Daud Zai, Chief of Staff to Afghan President Hamid Karzai (2003-2005 and 2007-2011); Afghan Ambassador to Iran (2005-2007) and Pakistan (2011-2013);
• The Honorable Andrew Natsios, USAID Administrator (2001-2006); and
• H.E. Mohammad Younus Qanooni, Afghan Minister of Interior Affairs (2001-2002); Speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament (2005-2010); First Vice President of Afghanistan (2014)

The third panel, “Military Operations and Counterterrorism,” will feature testimony from:

• LTG Dave Barno, U.S. Army (retired), Commander of Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan (2003-2005); and
• LtGen Keith Stalder, U.S. Marine Corps (retired), Deputy J5 for CENTCOM (2000-2002).

The hearing is open to the public and will be livestreamed via the Commission’s YouTube page. 

Media wishing to cover the event must register by contacting matthew_gobush@awc.senate.gov.

The Afghanistan War Commission is an independent legislative commission established by Congress in the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, Sec. 1094).  For detailed information, including material on the Commission’s first public hearing and interim report, visit www.afghanistanwarcommission.senate.gov.

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 Robert Ashley, U.S. Army (retired)

Jeremy Bash

Amb. Ryan Crocker

Jeffrey Dressler

Daniel Fata

Dr. Anand Gopal

Luke Hartig

Dr. Seth Jones

Laurel Miller

LTC Chris Molino, U.S. Army (retired)

Dr. Dipali Mukhopadhyay

Gov. Bob Taft

Dr. Andrew Wilder

Biographies of the commissioners may be found on the Commission website at https://www.afghanistanwarcommission.senate.gov/commissioners/.

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Media queries and meeting requests should be directed to Matt Gobush, Strategic Communications Advisor, at matthew_gobush@awc.senate.gov.