(PartiallyPolitics.com) – The House Foreign Affairs Committee is preparing for the first public hearing into the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. This is following the promises of GOP lawmakers that President Biden’s role in the chaotic withdrawal would be examined. The hearings in the investigation are going to be focused on what is widely viewed as one of the most intense months in Biden’s presidency.
Biden’s allies have maintained that Biden had successfully managed to make the largest evacuation in history, despite the difficulties involved. However, the GOP does not share this view and has pointed out the chaotic and borderline disastrous results of the evacuation.
On Wednesday lawmakers on the panel are scheduled to meet with two leaders of outfits who during the withdrawal managed to charter flights in order to help Afghans and other veterans escape the country.
In August of 2021, the U.S. managed to evacuate around 88,500 Afghans. However, as part of these efforts, thirteen service members lost their lives as the military tried to keep control of Hamid Karzai International Airport. Many Afghan allies were also left behind following the evacuation.
The Taliban were quick to gain control of the country, which is now facing an economic and food shortage crisis. Many of those who aided the U.S. during their 20-year mission in the country have had to remain in hiding as they try to find ways to leave the country.
The committee, led by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), is going to focus its investigation on how difficult it was for the U.S. to evacuate their allies as the U.S. struggled to leave the country by the deadline they had previously set as the end of August.
McCaul in a statement to The Hill has said that what occurred in “Afghanistan was a systemic breakdown of the federal government at every level” he further noted that it was heartbreaking to see the events that unfolded in the airport in Kabul following the Biden administration’s failure.
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