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The State Department finally issued its official ‘what happened in Afghanistan’ report that mostly absolved it of responsibility while suppressing dissenting materials. Congress has been trying to get hold of those even while State keeps stonewalling. Now Congress is beginning to lose its patience.
McCaul signed the subpoena with a pen gifted by the family of U.S. marine Hunter Lopez — who was among 13 U.S. service members tragically killed in the Abbey Gate bombing. pic.twitter.com/lR8jA5jwtF
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) July 18, 2023
US House foreign affairs committee chairman Michael McCaul on Tuesday subpoenaed the State Department in a bid to obtain documents related to its Afghanistan withdrawal report, accusing President Joe Biden’s administration of “obstruction”.
Mr McCaul said in a statement that the subpoena was delivered directly to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday morning for the “Afghanistan AAR files” – the collection of underlying documents used to produce the State Department’s After-Action Review.
“The committee has been forced, by the department’s obstruction, to issue a subpoena,” Mr McCaul said.
Meanwhile, at the hearing on Afghanistan, military leaders testified that there was no plan. Family members of those lost in Afghanistan were present.
"By a nod of your head, yes or no, do you feel like this administration has taken ownership and accountability?" @RepEliCrane asks the families of victims of Biden's botched Afghanistan withdrawal.pic.twitter.com/fxDBwmh1lo
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 27, 2023
“There was very little intelligence to suggest the Biden administration’s plan would work and a mountain range of evidence to suggest the plan would fail,” retired Col. Seth Krummrich, former chief of staff for special operations at U.S. Central Command, testified on Thursday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The president’s decision to ignore the best military advice and execute an immediate military withdrawal was a shock and a rude awakening for all the planners.”
Another senior military leader, Command Sergeant Major Jacob Smith, warned State Department officials in the months leading up to September 2021 that Kabul International Airport—the eventual site of a terror bombing that killed 13 service members—was not equipped to handle a mass exodus of Americans. But the administration refused to shift the evacuation to the more secure Bagram Air Base, which had been shut down by the time of the withdrawal.
Bagram, Smith revealed, “had a completely secured airfield that would require a massive military offensive to overrun or breach.” Kabul airport, on the other hand, was surrounded by a city of 4.4 million residents and not even completely controlled by U.S. forces, presenting a host of security challenges.
Bagram also had “the mechanical capability to destroy sensitive equipment on an industrial scale in a short time,” while Kabul airport “did not,” according to Smith. If the State Department had chosen Bagram as the site of its evacuation, the military likely could have destroyed much of $7.2 billion in sensitive military equipment that was left behind and ultimately seized by the Taliban.
“I advised the embassy team against using” the Kabul airport, Smith said, noting that the State Department initially agreed with his assessment. However, officials back in Washington, D.C., ordered the base be shut down by early July 2021. “It is my understanding that those in [U.S.] embassy did not think that Taliban would advance to take Kabul.”
By August, a month before the full-scale evacuation effort, Kabul airport was left mostly undefended.
“An area once protected by hundreds of soldiers and contractors was now protected by 113 American soldiers,” Smith said, as the families of several soldiers killed in the September terrorist bombing wept behind him. “This was the only force left in Afghanistan.”
The State Department insisted on dispensing with the military’s role and maintaining a civilian diplomatic presence, fantasizing that some sort of Taliban-Government coalition would peacefully come together.
Was there a plan? Not so much.
Chair @RepMcCaul: "Did you ever see an [Afghanistan] evacuation plan?"
Col. Seth Krummrich (Ret.): "I did not." pic.twitter.com/iHmdi0zD3S
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 27, 2023
So you can see why Secretary of State Blinken’s only plan is obstruction and more obstruction.
Biden’s House of Cards is about to come down around him
I sure hope so. I’m so sick of that fraud. She’s such a bitch.
Not if our garbage “news media” have anything to say about it. I’m shocked I didn’t hear anything about this testimony and I watch and read a lot of news. FWIW, if I recall, there have been reports that a report dissenting from Biden’s withdrawal policy was file by a fair number of our Kabul embassy employees. Is the maladministration hiding that, too?
I went totally Cold turkey on the M.S. Media over 20 years ago and i wont be going back
And, now?
This website exhibits a degree, a platform of relevance. However, they are data mining for future projects, books, speeches, etc. You have been caught in the “Web”.
All,
Well, first off, this isn’t our president (start there, and stop pretending). And, second Biden is not in charge. Either he’s unfit for office, or he’s not (legitimate or not). No one in public office (past, present, or future) is or will be “calling the shots”. Let’s start there.
Elections have consequences stolen elections have catastrophic consequences. 2024 is the last exit before the cliff. If commieKKKrats are able to steal 2024 elections America will never come back. It would be the end of American experiment.
You’re always supposed to have a plan of how to retreat. Before WW1, JFC Fuller wrote a paper for the British Army outlining a scheme for rear guard actions during a retreat. It was rejected and he was criticized because “The British Army never retreats.”
Then during the Ludendorff offensive of 1918 Fuller watched the chaos of endless British retreats with no plan.
Didn’t Trump order us out of Syria and the military ignored him?
Top Brass not wanting to accept responsibility for a screw up. Been there, seen that.
With no plan, they moved forward. Who’s fault is that? Sorry, not Bidens/Blinkens fault all together.
But yeah, by all means get to the bottom of it. It may help if there is a next time.
The military were removed from command of the withdrawal. Instead the Regime appointed incompetent Blinken and the State Dept to run the OP. State is incompetent and fantasy driven in all their activities. But, Like Joey Lil tony was corrupt, and a supporter of the regime.
State considered that it FAR more important that the withdrawal be convenient to the the location of the Embassy staff than any other reason. Why they would have had to drive/ride to Bagram and left soooo many of their goodies behind if the evac had gone out of Bagram!!
Senator John McCain warned us about Blinken back in 2014 when he was just an”assistant”!!!!!!!!!!!
Big deal! Blinken will lie. And even if he doesn’t, the GOP is more than satisfied yelling “GOTCHA!” and then allowing the criminal Democrats to go back to committing crimes. No matter what facts they establish about the Afghanistan debacle, nobody responsible for it will face any consequences at all. They never do.