Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday to answer for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that left 13 servicemen dead.
It was a tense and at times outright hostile hearing with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle ripping into the secretary for the lack of security and botched logistical planning that kept airplanes scrambling and hundreds of desperate Americans waiting for evacuation.
Blinken addressed Gold Star family members, relatives of those killed by a suicide bomber during the withdrawal, who were present at the hearing, with a personal apology, stating that he “deeply regret[s] we did not do more to protect them.”
At the same time, Blinken defended President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the country on the agreed timeline.
“Had [Biden] not followed through on his predecessor’s commitment, attacks on our forces and allies would have resumed and the Taliban’s assault on the country’s major cities would have commenced,” Blinken told the committee.
With only weeks to go until the end of the Biden administration, the hearing will likely be Blinken’s final word on the tragedy as secretary of state.
“As secretary of state, you were trusted with the protection of American interests and citizens overseas,” said committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX). “You ignored the Taliban’s violations of the Doha Agreement, you ignored objections by our NATO and Afghan allies, you ignored the security risks in keeping the U.S. Embassy in Kabul open despite warnings of our top military advisers. … And now, tragically more than three years after this administration’s disastrous withdrawal, you’re finally here to take responsibility.”
McCaul, who will soon turn his chair over to Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), told Blinken that he believed the weakness shown in the final days of Afghanistan ultimately sparked the ongoing upheaval of global security in Ukraine, the Middle East, and elsewhere.
“This catastrophic event was the beginning of a failed foreign policy that lit the world on fire,” McCaul said.
It is the coda to a yearslong government scandal as lawmakers have struggled for transparency on the decision-making that led to the humiliating end of U.S. presence in Afghanistan — a moment encapsulated in images of Afghan citizens plummeting to their deaths while trying to escape on the outside of departing planes.
“Blinken failed in his duty as secretary of state to protect Americans abroad, overseeing catastrophic failures and lying about them on several occasions,” Rep. Corey Mills (R-FL) told the Washington Examiner.
During the hearing, Mills told Blinken that the State Department’s failures in Afghanistan and elsewhere forced himself and other veterans to render aid themselves.
“When the State Department abandoned Americans in Afghanistan, Israel, and Haiti, military veterans stepped up,” he told the Washington Examiner.
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The secretary’s appearance follows weeks of calls for him to be held in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena.
The proceedings were at various points interrupted by anti-Israel protesters who accused Blinken of abetting genocide in Gaza, which remains under military control by the Israel Defense Forces.