Republican-led House committee begins Afghanistan withdrawal investigation
Mike Brest
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The GOP chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has requested an expansive set of government documents from the State Department regarding the U.S.’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the newly selected chair of the committee, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, in which he threatened to use the subpoena power of the committee should he not get a response, like he said happened previously.
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“Past requests for documents and information on the withdrawal dating back to August 2021 have generally gone unanswered for well over a year. On October 14, 2022, I renewed these requests and requested the preservation of documents related to the withdrawal,” the Texas lawmaker wrote. “Therefore, I hereby request that you now provide the Committee these documents without further delay.”
McCaul’s 10-page letter included a long list of questions he wants answers to that span from before the troops left, to the effects their departure had on Afghanistan. He also is seeking information on reports and intelligence assessments on the Afghan government’s viability without the United States’ presence dating back to Jan. 1, 2021, as well as information on the threat of ISIS-K, the Islamic State offshoot that is primarily in Afghanistan.
McCaul is also seeking information on the military’s decision to leave Bagram Air Base, and how the U.S. forces who conducted the evacuation operation following the Taliban’s ascension to power vetted those who were ultimately taken to nearby countries nicknamed “lily pads.”
Now that McCaul is chair of the committee, instead of when he was ranking member during the previous Democrat-run Congress, he and the GOP have more power to demand responses from relevant agencies.
McCaul and Blinken met at the State Department earlier in the week.
“It was a truly constructive — at least from our vantage point – successful engagement with the chairman,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday. “Yesterday’s engagement with Chairman McCaul was the start of that engagement with the 118th Congress, but we expect a lot more to come.”
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“We look forward to continuing our engagement with this Congress on those areas that are of interest to them and that most importantly are of priority to the American people,” he added.