Ex-military leaders testify at Afghanistan withdrawal hearing

Ex-military leaders testify at Afghanistan withdrawal hearing



  • The US withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021; 13 Americans and 170 civilians died
  • The House Foreign Affairs Committee is expected to scrutinize former military leaders
  • Gold Star families say they are still waiting for answers and accountability

WASHINGTON (NewsNation) – Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are still searching for answers to the chaos US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, and they hope to receive some on Tuesday.

Two of the country’s top military officials from that era – retired former Chief of Staff Mark Milley and retired former commander of U.S. Central Command and the Department of Defense Gen. Kenneth McKenzie – will testify before the meeting on Tuesday House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Last year, Milley called the withdrawal a “strategic failure.”

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaulR-Texas, plans to denounce the Biden administration over the way it handled the withdrawal.

In McCaul’s remarks, obtained by NewsNation ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, the chairman says the committee’s investigation has repeatedly uncovered instances in which the White House refused to listen to warnings about the situation on the ground in Afghanistan.

The chairman will also address the need for the Defense Department to release documents about a US sniper who said he saw a suicide bomber detonate an explosive at Kabul airport, killing 13 US soldiers.

McCaul will also say that the committee learned that the State Department requested an emergency evacuation only after Kabul was surrounded.

Last month, McCaul threatened to be detained Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for “failure to deliver all required documents relating to the withdrawal.” McCaul then backed down Blinken agreed to send the documents.

For some, Tuesday’s hearing will feel like home.

Mel Ghani, the nephew of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, spoke to NewsNation about the moment U.S. troops and his uncle fled their country.

Mel Ghani said he witnessed it The Taliban take power.

“The other biggest blemish in the history of the Biden administration will be Afghanistan. There is no doubt about it,” said Mel Ghani. “Your timely departure was not timely at all. They left during the Taliban’s peak fighting season, leaving several U.S. bases to the Afghan government in the middle of the night.”

Although there has been a test on both sides, President Joe Biden has made it clear that he does not regret his decision in Afghanistan.

Two and a half years after the airport bombing, Gold Star families say they are still waiting for answers and accountability from the Biden administration.

Gold Star families previously said the Biden administration was not transparent about the attack and accused U.S. officials of putting politics over their children’s lives.

McCaul and other Republican lawmakers invited some of the parents who lost their children during the Afghanistan withdrawal to Congress State of the nation earlier this month.

The Father of a Marine who died in the Kabul International Airport bombing was arrested and faces charges after he interrupted Biden’s address and shouted “Abbey Gate” and “United States Marines.”

McCaul has since filed charges against him Steve Nikoui51, should be dropped.

Steve Nikoui’s son, Marine Lance Cpl. Kareem M. NikouiHe was only 20 years old when he was killed in the bombing along with 12 other American soldiers and 170 Afghan civilians.



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