Sec. 1080. Commission on Afghanistan

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There is hereby established a commission to be known as the Commission on Afghanistan (in this section referred to as the Commission ). The purpose of the Commission is to examine the war in Afghanistan and make recommendations regarding lessons learned. The Commission shall be composed of 12 members appointed as follows: Three members appointed by the chair of the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives. Three members appointed by the ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.

Three members appointed by the chair of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate. Three members appointed by the ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate. The chair of the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representative and the chair of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate shall jointly designate one member of the Commission to serve as chair of the Commission. The ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representative and the ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate shall jointly designate one member of the Commission to serve as vice chair of the Commission.

Members shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. Any vacancy in the Commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. The Commission shall examine the following periods of the war in Afghanistan; Generally, the entirety of the war beginning with Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 under the Bush administration. The period beginning in 2009 under the Obama administration, when the United States deployed an increased number of members of the Armed Forces to Afghanistan, and ending when such members of the Armed Forces were reduced in 2011.

The period beginning in August 2019 and ending in February 2020, covering the negotiation and execution of the U.S. Government-Taliban agreement during the Trump Administration. The period beginning in February 2020 and ending in August 2021, with the completion of the withdrawal of the Armed Forces from Afghanistan under the Biden Administration. The period from 1996 to 2001, during which the Taliban controlled the country, highlighting events or the absence of certain key events that enabled conditions on the ground in Afghanistan in 2001, including efforts to support the Northern Alliance and related resistance groups, opportunities to eliminate terrorist leaders like Osama Bin Laden and others, and opportunities to address terror threats emanating from Afghanistan prior to 2001.

The Commission shall conduct a comprehensive assessment of the war in Afghanistan and make recommendations to inform future operations with tactical and strategic lessons learned, including the impact of troop increases and decreases and date-certain deadlines. In carrying out its duties, the Commission shall receive the full and timely cooperation of the Secretary of Defense in providing the Commission with analysis, briefings, and other information necessary for the fulfillment of its responsibilities.

The Secretary shall designate at least one officer or employee of the Department of Defense to serve as a liaison officer between the Department and the Commission. The Commission may secure directly from any Federal department or agency information, including, consistent with the obligation to protect intelligence sources and methods, information in the possession of the intelligence community, that is necessary to enable it to carry out its purposes and functions under this section.

Upon request of the chair of the Commission, the chair of any subcommittee created by a majority of the Commission, or any member designated by a majority of the Commission, the head of such department or agency shall furnish such information to the Commission. Information shall only be received, handled, stored, and disseminated by members of the Commission and its staff consistent with all applicable statutes, regulations, and Executive orders. Not later than August 31, 2022, and consistent with the protection of intelligence sources and methods, the Commission shall submit to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the appropriate congressional committees a report on the Commission’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

The report shall address each of the following: The findings of the Commission with respect to each of the periods referred to in subsection (c)(1). Intelligence and information upon which the Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations made planning decisions. The impact of the reduction in the number of members of the Armed Forces deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. The assessments made for the security conditions to create a viable peace agreement in 2019. The security conditions necessary to make such agreement a reality.

A detailed analysis of the security conditions on the ground in Afghanistan during the entirety of the war in Afghanistan. The circumstances under which the Biden Administration withdrew the Armed Forces from Afghanistan in 2021. The lessons learned from 20 years in Afghanistan. The lessons learned from 20 years of equipping and supporting the Afghan National Security Force. The impact of civilian harm and human rights violations, including civilian casualties from airstrikes, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and the use of torture, on the security situation in Afghanistan, the ability to equip and train the Afghan National Security Force, and popular perceptions of the Afghan National Government and the Taliban, including an examination of the extent to which such events contributed to the resurgence of the Taliban.

Not later than March 3, 2022, the Commission shall provide to the appropriate congressional committees a briefing on the status of its review and assessment, and include a discussion of any interim recommendations. The report submitted to Congress under paragraph

(1)shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated by to this Act for the Department of Defense, $5,000,000 is available to fund the activities of the Commission. The Commission shall terminate 6 months after the date on which it submits the report required by subsection (e).