In a vote of 219 to 194, the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning key officials from the Harris-Biden administration for their decisions regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal. The resolution said their actions harmed the United States’ national security and international reputation. Ten Democrats joined 209 Republicans to support the resolution.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) initiated the resolution earlier this month. It seeks to establish accountability for those responsible for the botched withdrawal and its devastating aftermath, which saw 13 armed service members killed by ISIS at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
His resolution criticized numerous Biden administration officials for failing to “plan for foreseeable contingencies,” allowing the Taliban to supervise airport checkpoints, and leaving 1,000 Americans at the mercy of a brutal regime.
The resolution condemned several officials, including former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, State Department spokesperson Ned Price, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, former Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and White House national security communications adviser John Kirby.
The resolution specifically named President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who boasts she was “the last person in the room with Biden” when the decision was made.
The resolution passed just one day after the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress for not agreeing to testify during a hearing on Tuesday. For him to be officially held in contempt, the entire House must support the measure. Fortunately for him, the Harris-Biden Justice Department ultimately decided whether to press charges, which is a nonstarter for obvious reasons.
Earlier this month, McCaul’s committee published a scathing report stating that Biden was determined to leave Afghanistan after over 20 years of U.S. military presence. Biden refused to listen to advice from allies and the Afghan government when making his unfortunate decision.
Supporters of Biden and Harris have tried to blame former President Donald Trump for the deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump was involved in the Doha Agreement negotiations with the Taliban, which set up the plan for leaving Afghanistan, depending on certain conditions being met by the Taliban.
The Doha Agreement is a deal made in 2020 between the United States and the Taliban, a group in Afghanistan. This agreement aimed to end the long war in Afghanistan and set the stage for U.S. troops to leave the country.
In the deal, the U.S. promised to pull out its troops from Afghanistan over time as long as the Taliban kept their word on other conditions. The Taliban agreed to stop attacking U.S. forces and not to allow terrorist groups, like al-Qaeda, to use Afghanistan to plan attacks on the U.S. or its allies.
Additionally, the agreement encouraged peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government to work towards a more peaceful future for Afghanistan. The deal was important because it sought to end years of conflict, but it was controversial because many were concerned that the Taliban would not stand by the agreement.
It was a valid concern. The Taliban failed to keep its end of the bargain. Reports show that the Taliban continued to conduct attacks against Afghan forces and civilians. They also failed to limit the activities of terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda.
The situation raised concerns about the safety and rights of Afghan citizens, especially women and girls, under Taliban rule. The failure to honor the Doha Agreement has contributed to instability in the region and ongoing issues for the Afghan people.
Biden negated the deal when he pulled troops out of Afghanistan, surrendering it to the Taliban and other terrorist organizations.
Harris remains proud of Biden’s disastrous decisions, saying during the presidential debate, “Four presidents said they would, and Joe Biden did.”
But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. The media is trying to separate her from her part in the disaster, but the families of the service members she and Biden killed will not forget her role in their deaths when casting votes in November.
