WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES – The US House of Representatives passed a resolution seeking to hold key members of the Biden administration accountable for the “chaotic” and deadly Afghanistan withdrawal.
The resolution, H.Res. 1469, introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, passed with 219 votes in favor and 194 against, with ten Democrats backing it.
The resolution, based on the committee’s yearlong investigation into the withdrawal, specifically named 15 key current and former U.S. officials, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Antony Blinken, and Zalmay Khalilzad, to be held accountable for the issue.
Defending the resolution, Mr. McCaul stressed that it is the first step in holding the Biden administration accountable for “one of the worst foreign policy failures in U.S. history,” on behalf of U.S. service members, Gold Star families, and the American people.
“Three years ago, the world witnessed one of the most devastating foreign policy disasters in American history,” McCaul said. “The Biden-Harris administration withdrew all U.S. forces from Afghanistan with no plan, no care, and no remorse.”
“Three years after the deadly and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden-Harris administration has yet to hold anyone accountable for one of the most devastating foreign policy blunders in American history.”
“If the administration refuses to hold itself accountable, then Congress must,” he added.
He accused the Biden administration officials involved in the withdrawal of “prioritizing optics over security,” which he said resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in the attack at Kabul Airport during the withdrawal.
Mr. McCaul further criticized the Biden administration for relying on the Taliban, which he described as a terrorist group, for withdrawal security, claiming that the Taliban allowed ISIS-K terrorists to carry out the suicide attack.
The U.S. and NATO military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 resulted in the rapid collapse of the Western-backed government and the subsequent return to power of the Taliban, whom they had fought against for two decades.
During the withdrawal process on August 26, a suicide bomb at Kabul airport, claimed by ISIS-K, killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghans, injuring dozens of others who rushed to the airport in a desperate attempt to board planes and flee the country.
Since then, the Republican-led Congress, particularly the House Foreign Affairs Committee chaired by McCaul, has begun an investigation into the withdrawal, which he says is essential for the transparency and accountability that the American people deserve.
However, the Biden administration has thus far defended the withdrawal as the right decision to end America’s longest war and bring U.S. troops home.
Most recently, in his address to the 59th session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, September 24, Joe Biden described the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as a “hard but right decision.”
“When I came to office, Afghanistan had replaced Vietnam as America’s longest war. I was determined to end it. And I did,” Biden said.
“Four American presidents had faced that decision but I was determined not to leave it to the fifth,” he added.
