Two House oversight committees want to know more.
The Chairmen of the House Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers of Alabama, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul of Texas, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley asking about the chain of command at the Kabul airport during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The letter is a follow-up on testimony heard before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in early March. The chairmen wrote that serious questions were raised by the testimony “from witnesses on the scene of the August 26, 2021, terrorist attack at Abbey Gate, which killed 13 American service members and wounded another 45, also killing approximately 170 Afghan civilians. Testimony during the hearing raises serious questions regarding the events leading up to the attack, which must be answered.“
Chairmen Rogers and McCaul acknowledged that decisions made on the battlefield “are often made in a cloud,” but say, “in honor of the lives lost and those still living following that terrible day, it is incumbent we learn whether events were unavoidable and if uncertain procedures, broken lines of communication, or worse, contributed to the lack of engagement.”
Earlier this week, the State Department permitted Chairman McCaul and ranking member Representative Gregory Meeks to view a redacted version of the classified document outlining the military withdrawal from Afghanistan by President Biden’s administration in 2021. Chairman McCaul has scheduled a meeting to discuss whether or not to hold the Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for withholding this particular document from legislators.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Chairmen McCaul and Rogers as they seek further information on the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
- For Chairman McCaul and Congressman Meeks as they consider the information provided by the State Department.
- For discernment for Secretary of State Blinken as he responds to requests from members of Congress.
Sources: Reuters, Townhall, C-Span
