The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Republican leader unveiled a resolution on Tuesday designed to take the Biden-Harris administration to task for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, during which we tragically lost 13 brave U.S. military personnel. This resolution, H.R. 1469, with the verbose title ‘Ensuring Accountability for Key Officials in the Biden-Harris Administration Responsible for Decision-Making and Execution Failures Throughout the Withdrawal from Afghanistan’, has been put forth with a clear mandate. It aims to hold the administration responsible for the hasty evacuation that put not only our forces in danger, but also undermined American credibility.
Addressing the House Rules Committee on Monday, he championed the resolution in no uncertain terms. His robust argument was that such a resolution would serve as imperative action in the attempts to bring to justice those responsible for what transpired in Afghanistan, to honor the sacrifice of our service members, and for the peace of mind of veterans, Gold Star families, and the American populace.
It’s a stark blot on the Biden-Harris tenure that more than three years post the Afghanistan debacle, not a single person has been held accountable. The catastrophic failure was of an unprecedented magnitude, but it seems that the administration is in no hurry to rectify their blunder or admit their mistake.
The loss of 13 U.S. service members, not to mention the approximately 170 Afghan civilians claimed by a suicide bomber affiliated with ISIS-K, still haunts the collective memory. The catastrophe occurred at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on the fateful day of August 26, 2021. Beside the human cost, the political and international relations impact was a debacle in itself, with the Biden-Harris administration making zero amendments or acknowledgments.
Interestingly, the administration’s response to demands for a detailed accounting involved only vague assurances. When pressed on the aspect of accountability, the National Security Adviser claimed, albeit unconvincingly, that they ‘had all held ourselves accountable.’ Such insincere responses raises more questions than it answers.
Tuesday’s session of the committee was notable for another reason. The members also cast their votes, seeking to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt for neglecting a House summon. The meeting sought to hear Blinken’s version of the Afghanistan’s exit events.
Blinken’s refusal to appear before the committee citing the simultaneous convening of the United Nations General Assembly at New York as a reason was unconvincing at best. The demand for his testimony had been longstanding, having started in May. The avoidance on Blinken’s part doesn’t seem to be in service of anything but procrastination.
The committee sought answers from Blinken following the unearthing of information within a recent three years-long investigation into America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. What was revealed painted a disturbing picture of the Biden-Harris administration’s handling, or rather mishandling, of the whole episode.
The report suggested the administration turned a blind eye to the Taliban’s violations of the Doha Agreement, which was stipulated for the withdrawal of our troops. Perhaps even more alarmingly, they seemed to dismiss the misgivings raised by the country’s military, intelligence experts, and NATO allies alike. In the zeal of Biden-Harris team’s departure strategy, considerations of safety or agreement compliance were disturbingly absent.
Stubborn determination to execute the withdrawal, heedless of the consequences, seemed to dominate the Biden-Harris regime’s decision making. Their casual dismissal of the Doha Agreement as ‘immaterial’ is telling of their indifference towards the disastrous aftermath. As the Taliban began their unchecked rampage, claiming multiple provinces in violation of the agreement, the U.S. was left with fewer than a thousand troops on ground, leaving our Afghan allies to bear the brunt of the ensuing chaos.
Critics relying on party loyalties have been quick to deride the recently released report as biased, claiming it solely scrutinizes the Biden-Harris administration’s role, disregarding former President Trump’s agreement to pull the military out of Afghanistan. This defense, however, is a classic example of playing politics than facing the hard truths.
Some committee members aimed to deflect the blame, stating that the investigation was more about political one-upmanship than any sincere effort at uncovering the truth. Their allegations that the inquiry was primarily a narrow critique of the last few months of the Biden regime in the backdrop of the United States’ longest war, seemed more like smoke and mirrors meant to misdirect attention from the key issue at hand.
The push towards holding Blinken in contempt was lambasted as an attempt to swing the outcome of the upcoming general election on November 5. In light of all that’s happened, it may be time to ask whether the evasion and deflection are all part of a greater partisan plot, or merely the desperate attempts of an administration reeling from the aftermath of a poorly executed decision.