• The White House Thursday released its first after-action review of the disastrous 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan – without taking responsibility for its role in the rushed evacuation mission blighted by the deaths of 13 US service members and hundreds of Afghans in an ISIS suicide bombing.
• As National Security Council spokesman John Kirby took questions from reporters about the 12-page document — released moments before he met the media — President Biden himself slipped out the front door of the White House to a waiting helicopter, departing Washington to spend the Easter holiday weekend at Camp David.
• The review blames former President Donald Trump’s administration for pledging to the Taliban that the US would leave Afghanistan by May 2021 as part of the Doha agreement — a move that supposedly left his successor no option but to pull American forces out. In fact, the deal also gave the US the right to withdraw from the accord if Afghan peace talks failed — which they did.
• In a sign of the administration’s priorities, the name “Trump” is mentioned 14 times while “accountable” appears just once – and even then isn’t in reference to the US taking responsibility for anything.

Tagged: Joe Biden