News
In the aftermath of the Afghanistan fiasco, Congress confronts the United States’ top diplomat
Congress interviewed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, with legislators from both parties grilling him on his role in the failed evacuation of Americans from Afghanistan.
As Americans and Afghan allies remain stranded in Afghanistan following the messy US pullout, the Biden administration has been roundly attacked by both sides of the aisle, as well as US media and academics.
On Tuesday, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a member of Biden’s own Democratic Party, Bob Menendez, chastised Blinken during the secretary’s second day of tough grilling by irate lawmakers.
Menendez stated in his opening remarks at the inquiry that the execution of the US pullout was “obviously and tragically defective.” “Accountability is required.”
The committee’s top Republican, Republican Senator James Risch, claimed that “the Biden administration alone is accountable for this catastrophe and its ramifications.”
Blinken strongly reacted to the allegations, blaming the Trump administration for putting the current government in a difficult position.
In February 2020, the United States and the Afghan Taliban struck an agreement that called for the removal of all US soldiers from Afghanistan by May 2021 if the Taliban met the terms of the accord.
“We were given a deadline. We did not inherit a strategy “On Monday, Blinken spoke before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
(210830) — WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2021 (Xinhua) — A paratrooper conducts security at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 29, 2021. The U.S. Central Command announced Monday that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan has completed, ending 20 years of U.S.-led invasion into the country. (U.S. Army Photo by Master Sgt. Alexander Burnett/Handout via Xinhua)
He also stated that no one in the government anticipated how rapidly Afghan security forces would crumble, allowing terrorists to take over the country in a couple of days.
“Even the most pessimistic evaluations did not expect that government troops in Kabul would collapse while US forces were still present,” Blinken remarked.
Senator Rand Paul, a Republican who has spent the last decade advocating for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, stated, “never in my darkest fears did anyone envisage such enormous stupidity.”
The senator also inquired about claims that a US drone attack in Kabul in late August killed a humanitarian worker and many children. Blinken refused to respond, stating that the situation is being investigated.
“You’d think you’d know if he’s an aid worker or an ISIS-K before you kill him with a predator drone,” Paul added, referring to an Afghanistan-based offshoot of the Islamic State. Blinken stated that the Pentagon and the State Department made a “exceptional effort” to evacuate Americans and Afghan friends before the remaining US personnel left last month.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson blasted the government for acting as if the pullout had been a resounding accomplishment. “If I simply read your testimony without watching any news, I’d think this was a great success,” Johnson added. “But I read the news, as most Americans do, and we see that this was a total disaster,” Johnson remarked. “Among many things, I suppose what concerns me the most is that alienation from reality.”
(210829) — NANGARHAR, Aug. 29, 2021 (Xinhua) — People gather at the site of an airstrike conducted by the U.S. against a planner for the Islamic State (ISIS) in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Aug. 28, 2021.
The Pentagon said on Saturday that two high-profile targets of ISIS-K, a local affiliate of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, were killed in a U.S. drone strike on Friday.
The strike came after a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport on Thursday which killed 13 U.S. service members and some 170 Afghans. ISIS-K had claimed responsibility for the attack. (Xinhua)
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen admitted that the situation in Afghanistan was the product of both Democratic and Republican administrations failing.
“I believe we need accounting because it is necessary for history and for our future, but let’s stop with the hypocrisy about who is to blame. There are many persons to blame, and we are all to blame “She stated.
Blinken is the first senior administration official to testify on Afghanistan after the tumultuous exit. Several Republican legislators have called for Blinken’s resignation. According to a Pew Research Center poll published last month, only 26% of Americans believe the Biden administration handled the Afghanistan issue effectively, while 42% say the administration did a terrible job and 29% believe the administration did merely a fair one.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
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