Loss in US Congress on Afghanistan – Blinken loses his temper

Scenes of tension unfolded at the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing to discuss the US withdrawal from the Afghanistan.

“Destruction”. “Betrayal”. “Unconditional surrender” to the Taliban. The “fires” were expected, given the escalation of the accusations and the ping pong responsibilities for the chaotic end of the 20-year American presence in Afghanistan.

Former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, with a stronger and stricter stance than he had shown so far, refuted the allegations of lack of preparation that were made even within the Democratic camp. And he retaliated by accusing mostly former President Donald Trump.

“We inherited a deadline, we did not inherit a plan,” he said during a hearing in the commission.

He went on to say that when Democratic President Biden came to power in early 2021, he had no choice but to “end the war or start an escalation.”

He reiterated that the former Republican president had negotiated a withdrawal deal with the Taliban and said the Biden administration had not considered renegotiating the deal because of threats from the Islamist movement to resume the deadly attacks.

“The Taliban were militarily stronger than ever “after the 9/11 attacks that sparked Western intervention, and the US military has never had so few men in Afghan territory.”

The agreement reached between the Trump administration and the Taliban established the total withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan – and allowed the release of 5,000 insurgents, according to international news agencies and the Athens News Agency.

Determined for a long time to end the longest-running war in American history, the Democratic president has honored the Trump-Taliban administration’s total withdrawal agreement begun by his Republican predecessor. But even without this agreement, it would not have “necessarily been done according to this timetable” or “this way,” Blinken said.

If the disengagement from Afghanistan had the support of much of the American political order, the implementation of this disengagement is criticized on all sides.

Because the withdrawal turned into a catastrophic scenario: the Taliban, ousted from power 20 years ago, regained it even before the last American soldier left Kabul.

Afghanistan – US: “We were prepared”

In a hurry, the US was forced to set up a giant flyover operation to evacuate foreign nationals and Afghans who were in danger of retaliation by the country’s Islamist new rulers. And 13 American soldiers were killed in a jihadist attack targeting this operation.

“The president refused to listen to his own generals and intelligence officials, who had warned him of exactly what would happen when we left,” said Republican MP Michael McCall, denouncing a “painful catastrophe” and “Unconditional surrender to the Taliban”.

He blamed the Biden duo-Blinken that he “broke his promise” not to leave any American behind.

“You are blaming everyone for this disaster, except yourself and the Taliban,” Republican MP Dan Musser continued in a sharp tone.

While most Democrats have remained silent and have not publicly criticized the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan since August, Republicans have stepped up their attacks on the hearing for more than five hours, with some even calling for his resignation. Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“You have falsified intelligence,” Brian Mast shouted on several occasions, waving photos of soldiers killed in the late August attack in Kabul.

Afghanistan – USA: Blinken lost his temper

“What you said is completely wrong,” said Blinken, who lost his temper when lawmaker Ronnie Jackson accused him of taking advantage of the Marines’ deaths.

“I am aware,” he also replied to a lawmaker who accused him of “betrayal.” “We did what was necessary,” he shouted, obviously irritated.

“The American people do not like to lose, especially not to the terrorists. “But that is exactly what happened.”

He asked why control of Bagram Air Base had not been maintained and why the government had not reached surveillance and counterterrorism agreements with neighboring countries.

“This is a threat to national security as China begins to increase its presence. “As far as I know, they are taking control of Bagram,” McCall said.

Blinken said the United States is actively working to identify threats.

Democrats have expressed concern for Americans and Afghans who are still in danger and still in Afghanistan and want to leave, but described the departure as necessary, albeit painful, after two decades.

“I would like to hear exactly what a smooth withdrawal from a chaotic 20-year-old war looks like,” said Commission President Gregory Micks.

In essence, the US diplomat explained that “even the most pessimistic analyzes did not predict the collapse of government forces in Kabul before the withdrawal of US forces.”

But “there is no evidence that staying longer would have made the Afghan security forces more resilient or self-sustaining.”

“However, we were prepared for a number of scenarios,” he said, which allowed 124,000 people to be released from Afghanistan.

This is the weak point of Anthony Blinken, who is accused of not doing enough in the months before the August 31 deadline to oust US nationals and Afghans who were collaborating with US forces.

And for that, the minister said that the process of issuing special travel visas to interpreters and other Afghan collaborators of the US, who were “at a dead end” by the Trump administration, has resumed. But this time-consuming bureaucratic process remained extremely slow until the final bailout.

Following his remarks to the House Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday, the first Biden administration official to be elected to the post after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the head of the US diplomacy committee is due to testify later today, Tuesday.