Washington – Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to testify Wednesday before the Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has long sought to question him on the deadly desertion of Afghanistan.
Blinken's testimony comes almost three months after the committee vote in part to suggest that the nation's top diplomat be held in contempt of Congress amid standoff over his appearance before the panel to discuss its investigation into the 2021 withdrawal.
The committee and the State Department had been at odds for several months, prompting Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman, to issue several subpoenas for Blinken to testify in September. McCaul said Blinken's appearance was important because the committee is considering “potential legislation aimed at preventing the terrible mistakes of the withdrawal.” ”
Republicans on the committee revealed a long report in September that detailed their year-long investigation into the chaotic exit from Afghanistan and accused the Biden administration of misleading the public about the end of the war 20 -year.
During its investigation, the committee conducted 18 transcribed interviews with Biden administration officials and obtained more than 20,000 pages of State Department documents, some of which were obtained through subpoenas. Blinken was not among those who testified for the report, but the State Department noted during the deposition with the committee that he has testified to Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times.
The report accused President Biden and his administration of ignoring constant warnings from military officials, national security advisers and US allies about the dangers of withdrawing all American forces. from Afghanistan, saying that Mr. Biden was “prioritizing politics and his personal legacy over America's national security interests.” ”
Blinken was among those blamed in the report, which said he had “been largely absent throughout the State Department's withdrawal planning” and the evacuation.
“In fact, witnesses interviewed, and documents released by federal agencies as a result of the investigation, confirm that Secretary Blinken appears to have neglected his duty for his Afghan subordinates,” the report said.
Blinken advocated for the U.S. embassy in Kabul to remain open regardless of the military withdrawal, according to the report, which said the desire to maintain a diplomatic presence contributed to “the Department's lack of urgency of the State and their delay in planning for the worst. case conditions.”
The report also noted that diplomatic officials on the ground expressed concerns about the pledge to keep the embassy open despite the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, culminating in a dissenting cable warning in July 2021 that Kabul would fall after the intended withdrawal. Two weeks before US troops left Afghanistan, State Department leaders agreed to close the embassy, the report said.
Republicans threatened to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress in 2023 as they seek to review the classified intelligence cable. Last State Dept let lawmakers see a partially redacted version.
Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee accused Republicans of politicizing the withdrawal and said the majority was “especially concerned with facts related to the former Avoid President Donald Trump.”
Last year, the The White House released his own 12-page summary of a classified investigation into Afghanistan's withdrawal that largely blamed the Trump administration for a deal it struck with the Taliban to withdraw US forces from the country by May 2021. The agreement, known as the Doha Agreement. a series of conditions for the Taliban to meet so that US forces can leave Afghanistan. another report which was partially declassified and released by the State Department last year blamed both the Trump and Biden administrations for “inadequate” planning around the withdrawal.
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