Editor's note: Andrew Korybko is a Moscow-based American political analyst. The article reflects the author's views and not necessarily those of CGTN. 

Americans are shocked by reports that the CIA accurately predicted that the Taliban would quickly take over Afghanistan since they feel that this unprecedented foreign policy disaster could have been avoided had the Joe Biden Administration taken those forecasts seriously. 

The shameful abandonment of their country's Afghan allies to the group is akin to a criminal act in many of their minds. At the very least, they feel betrayed by Biden since he reassured them over the summer that no such outcome was likely even though it now seems like he might have actually been aware of that likely possibility this entire time.

They demand answers and want decision-makers held accountable, though it's unclear whether this will ever happen. Even so, it's worthwhile pondering the latest reports since they can provide some insight into what might have been going on behind the scenes. 

It now seems increasingly likely that at least someone in the administration was lying to the American people, even if it wasn't President Biden himself who might have also been lied to by his advisors. Regardless of whoever is ultimately responsible, it's clear that some officials didn't want the public to find out the truth about what was really happening in Afghanistan.

Of course, it should be assumed that some might have wanted to tell everyone since quite a few were against the withdrawal, but those dissident officials surprisingly didn't leak information about the CIA's report in a last-ditch attempt to sabotage everything. It can't be known for sure, but they might have realized that it wouldn't have made much of a difference since the process was already practically completed by the time that reported assessment was produced.

It therefore seems like the Biden administration was betting that the report wasn't accurate and felt like they'd deal with any disaster afterward in the event that everything fell apart.

That's exactly what ended up happening, which speaks to the Biden administration's deceptive practices, irresponsibility, and lack of accountability to the American people. There was nothing wrong with withdrawing from Afghanistan, but the process could have proceeded much more smoothly had military tripwires been established for deterring the Taliban by the time U.S. troops departed. These easy solutions could have at the very least prevented some of the embarrassment that the U.S. just experienced.

In fact, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently revealed that the Donald Trump administration had precisely such plans, which means that someone in the Biden Administration deliberately changed them. 

The real questions to ask should therefore be who changed those plans, when, and why instead of pointing fingers and wondering who knew what and when about the CIA's accurate prediction that the Taliban would quickly take over Afghanistan. The American people need to get down to the bottom of this.

Congress should therefore open up an official investigation into what happened. Even some Democrats are disgusted by all of this so the proposed committee could even include some members of Biden's own party. 

That would be best too since this is a bipartisan issue of pressing national security importance and shouldn't be politicized even though it should also be taken for granted that the Republicans will exploit this fiasco ahead of next year's midterms and definitely during the 2024 presidential election too.

Whoever changed the former Trump administration's withdrawal plans is responsible for the disaster in Afghanistan. The Taliban might still have taken over Afghanistan, but not as quickly as they ultimately did. A transitional government might even have been formed had former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resigned like the group demanded as a precondition for that happening and thousands of Afghans might not have swarmed the Kabul Airport in panic trying to flee. Instead, Biden oversaw America's worst military loss, and Americans want answers.

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