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Rep. Comer slams Biden Administration’s excuses for disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal

https://oversight.house.gov/

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) issued the following statement on the Biden Administration’s review of the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal and announced a full committee hearing on April 19, 2023:

“The American people are owed answers about the Biden Administration’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal but all they are getting are excuses from this Administration. President Biden and his administration made several blunders during the withdrawal that led to the deaths of 13 service members, left Americans stranded, and allowed U.S. military equipment to fall into the hands of the Taliban.

"Since the withdrawal, the Biden Administration has been slow to provide information to Congress and has even obstructed the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s (SIGAR) congressionally mandated investigations.

“On April 19, the House Oversight Committee will hold a hearing with SIGAR as well as Inspectors General for the Department of Defense, Department of State, and U.S. Agency for International Development to examine their work on the factors that led to the collapse of Afghanistan. Unlike this administration, House Republicans will continue to get the answers the American people deserve." 

John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said this week it was "undeniable that decisions made and the lack of planning done by the previous administration significantly limited options available to (Biden)."

Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo said he wasn't surprised by Kirby's statement, saying Biden and members of his administration routinely blame anyone but themselves for their own failures.

"I am outraged by the fact that the 13 Americans that were killed there didn't have to happen," Pompeo said. "President Biden made the decision to announce the date of withdrawal, to publicize it, and then to withdraw – in spite of the fact that the military clearly had told him that was a likely outcome. I don't know what they're talking about."

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