The US Secretary of State won’t be able to testify to lawmakers on the day he was referred to as, his workplace has mentioned
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken won’t seem earlier than the Home Overseas Affairs Committee to testify on the chaotic withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, his workplace mentioned on Tuesday. Lawmakers subpoenaed him to take action earlier within the day.
Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) has been attempting to get Blinken’s testimony on the debacle since Could. The highest US diplomat “should seem earlier than the committee on September 19, 2024, or face contempt,” the committee mentioned in an announcement.
In a letter to Blinken, McCaul mentioned that the investigation recognized him as “the ultimate decisionmaker” for his division through the evacuation of troops and civilians from Afghanistan in August 2021, and that the secretary’s testimony may benefit lawmakers as they contemplate “potential laws geared toward serving to stop the catastrophic errors of the withdrawal.”
State Division spokesman Matthew Miller responded by stating that Blinken had already testified earlier than Congress on a number of events, together with earlier than the Overseas Affairs Committee completely on Afghanistan. The highest diplomat won’t be out there on September 19, Miller mentioned in an announcement to the press.
The assertion accused McCaul of rejecting “cheap options” to having a public listening to and mentioned it was “disappointing that as a substitute of continuous to have interaction with the Division in good religion, the Committee as a substitute has issued one more pointless subpoena.”
The withdrawal from Afghanistan was initiated by the administration of then President Donald Trump, after a long time of failing counterinsurgency operations towards the Taliban and a whole lot of billions of {dollars} in US taxpayer cash spent. The ultimate pullout occurred beneath his successor, Joe Biden, and Republicans have been extremely vital of the way it was completed.
The withdrawal led to 13 US service members being killed in a bomb assault in Kabul, which was masterminded by the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS). Shortly afterwards, US forces killed 10 civilians, together with seven kids, in a drone strike on the car of an support employee, which the People mistook as an imminent menace.
Final yr, the State Division launched an after-action report, which cited lack of disaster preparation beneath each administrations, miscommunication with the US-supported authorities in Kabul and different components explaining why the pullout was botched. It largely absolved the division, praising its workers for “nice agility, willpower, and dedication” beneath excessive circumstances.
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