Afghanistan War Commission

The Afghanistan War Commission is a bipartisan task force set up to study the entirety of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021.^[1] This commission was formally authorized as part of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.^[2]

The commission will spend four years studying all aspects of the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, including military operations, the efforts of non-military government organizations, and the cooperation between those actors. The commission will draft a report of its findings, styled after the 9/11 Commission Report.

Members

• Four members of this commission were nominated by the Congressional Armed Services Committees:^[3][4]
  • Colin Jackson, chair of Naval War College's Strategic and Operational Research Department
  • Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff for the Department of Defense
  • Michael Allen, former special assistant to President George W. Bush
  • Michael Lumpkin, president of Amida Technology Solutions

• Other commission members:^[5]
  • Shamila Chaudhary- American foreign policy expert, Senior Advisor at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
  • Luke Hartig- President of National Journal Research, former Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council under Obama Administration
  • Robert Ashley- Retired Army Lieutenant General and the 21st Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
  • Laurel Miller- Former acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the U.S. Department of State from 2013-2017
  • Andrew Wilder- Vice President of Asia Programs at United States Institute for Peace, previously served as director of Afghanistan and Pakistan Programs
  • Anand Gopal- Author of “No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban and the War Through Afghan Eyes”
  • Seth Jones- Previously served as a plans officer and advisor to the Commanding General, U.S. Special Operations Forces, in Afghanistan (Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command–Afghanistan)
  • Christopher Molino- Army Captain who served during Operation Iraqi freedom, received Silver Star
  • Ryan Crocker- Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (2011-2012)
  • Jeffrey Dressler- Served as Professional Staff Member for the House Foreign Affairs Committee (Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade Subcommittee) from 2013-2015, was National Security Advisor to both Paul Ryan (2017-2019) and Kevin McCarthy (2015-2017)
  • Daniel P. Fata- 25 years of experience working in Congress (as a leadership staffer in both the House and Senate), and at the Department of Defense (as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO)
  • Bob Taft- former Ohio Governor

References

1. Mamoon Khawar, Sarah Fuhrman and Dhabie Brown (2022-03-27). "Afghanistan War Commission should focus on humanitarian impact of the war". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
2. Webb, James (2021-12-17). "Veterans and bi-partisan group of lawmakers look forward to Afghan war commission". Military Times. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
3. . www.inhofe.senate.gov. Archived from the original on 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-04-03.
4. Martin, Nichols (2022-04-04). "Congressional Armed Services Committee Leaders Unveil Afghanistan War Commission Members". executivegov.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
5. "Rep. Turner appoints former Ohio Gov. Taft to Afghanistan War Commission".