Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and several other GOP committee chairs have sent letters to top Biden administration officials seeking all documents and records on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI |
License PhotoFeb. 17 (UPI) — Several U.S. House Republican committee chairs have sent letters to Biden administration officials requesting all documents, communications and information related to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“The Biden Administration was tragically unprepared for the Afghanistan withdrawal and their decisions in the region directly resulted in a national security and humanitarian catastrophe,” House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement.
Comer said Republicans are determined to provide answers, transparency and accountability regarding the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Letters were sent by Comer and other Republicans to the White House, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff seeking information for oversight hearings.
In the House Republicans’ letter to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, they made it clear they already blame the Biden administration before the oversight hearing evidence has been collected and before the oversight investigation has been completed.
They wrote, “You were at the center of planning the withdrawal and evacuation, and you advised President Biden on decisions that amounted to tactical and strategic failures. Further, you contrived a narrative of success and orderliness as the Taliban retook Afghanistan, as Afghans clung to and fell from planes departing Hamid Karzai International Airport, and a suicide bomber murdered 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of innocent Afghans.”
In August, Biden marked the one-year anniversary of the Afghanistan chaotic withdrawal and the attack during that withdrawal that killed 13 U.S. service members. He said then that the nation will forever mourn their sacrifice.
And Biden said the Pentagon is keeping pressure on terrorist networks in Afghanistan.
Biden wanted to end the Afghanistan “forever war,” and has said he believes history will show it was the right decision to leave. He said 33,000 people were successfully evacuated as the Taliban took over in the wake of the Afghan government collapse.
Billions of dollars in U.S. weapons were left behind.
In addition to Comer, the letters to Biden administration officials were signed by Border and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Glenn Grothman, R-Wis.; Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Subcommittee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas; Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Mace, R-S.C.; Economic Growth, Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Pat Fallon, R-Texas; and Health Care and Financial Services Subcommittee Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich.
