Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan
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Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said Tuesday he would hold hearings into the "flawed" U.S. troop withdrawal of Afghanistan.
Driving the news: Menendez, who blamed both the Biden and Trump administrations for the crisis unfolding in the Taliban-controlled country, is one of three top Democrats who head Senate committees who've vowed to investigate the Afghanistan crisis.
- Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I) said in a statement Tuesday his panel would launch an investigation into the "failures of intelligence, diplomacy and a lack of imagination as we transitioned military forces from the country."
- Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in a statement Monday he would ask "tough but necessary questions" about why the U.S. wasn't "better prepared for a worst-case scenario involving such a swift and total collapse of the Afghan government and security forces."
What he's saying: "The events of recent days have been the culmination of a series of mistakes made by Republican and Democratic administrations over the past 20 years," Menendez said in a statement.
- "The wholly inadequate agreement the Trump administration made with the Taliban did not get commitments for the Taliban to break ties with Al Qaeda, nor did it account for the day after our withdrawal.
- "In implementing this flawed plan, I am disappointed that the Biden administration clearly did not accurately assess the implications of a rapid U.S. withdrawal. We are now witnessing the horrifying results of many years of policy and intelligence failures.
"To see [the ousted government's] army dissolve so quickly after billions of dollars in U.S. support is astounding. The American and Afghan people clearly have not been told the truth about the ANDSF’s capacity and deserve answers."
What's next: Menendez said the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would hold a hearing on U.S. policy towards Afghanistan — "including the Trump administration’s flawed negotiations with Taliban, and the Biden administration’s flawed execution of the U.S. withdrawal."
- The committee plans to seek a "full accounting for these shortcomings" and assess why the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces collapsed so quickly, Menendez said.
- The committee will also examine the path forward for Afghanistan, focused on the international response to the "looming humanitarian and human rights catastrophe under a Taliban-led regime, the senator added.
For the record: President Biden and former President Trump have blamed each other for the Afghanistan crisis.
- The Biden administration did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Pelosi Piles On:
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Pin the tail on the Trump.
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
Biden Wanted to Leave Afghanistan. He Knew the Risks.The president’s top generals, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley, urged Mr. Biden to keep a force of about 2,500 troops, the size he inherited, while seeking a peace agreement between warring Afghan factions, to help maintain stability. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who previously served as a military commander in the region, said a full withdrawal wouldn’t provide any insurance against instability.
In a series of meetings leading up to his decision, military and intelligence officials told Mr. Biden that security was deteriorating in Afghanistan, and they expressed concerns both about the capabilities of the Afghan military and the Taliban’s likely ability to take over major Afghan cities.
Other advisers, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, raised the possibility of Taliban attacks on U.S. forces and diplomats as well as the Afghans who for two decades worked alongside them. Ultimately, neither disagreed with the president, knowing where he stood.
Mr. Biden, however, was committed to ending the U.S. military role in the country. The president told his policy advisers the U.S. was providing life support for the Afghan government, which, in his view, was corrupt and had squandered billions of dollars in American assistance, according to current and former administration officials. He wanted to reorient American foreign policy onto what he sees as more pressing international matters, including competition with China, and domestic issues including infrastructure and battling Covid. “I am deeply saddened by the facts we now face, but I do not regret my decision,” he said Monday.
Remember when "Listen to the generals" was an idea?
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@jolly said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:
Pin the tail on the Trump.
Exactly. But it won’t work except for those who have already done so. There was no reason at all for Biden to adhere to the existing agreement if he found it flawed. He rescinded plenty of Trump’s work so that dog won’t hunt.
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill
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Pelosi is trying to cover the fact that moderate Dems are going to force her hand on the infrastructure bill and not tie it to the 3.5Trillion giveaway.
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@george-k said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:
ask "tough but necessary questions" about why the U.S. wasn't "better prepared for a worst-case scenario involving such a swift and total collapse of the Afghan government and security forces."
But Mr. Biden has already told us it was all his fault.
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@mik said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:
@jolly said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:
Pin the tail on the Trump.
Exactly. But it won’t work except for those who have already done so. There was no reason at all for Biden to adhere to the existing agreement if he found it flawed. He rescinded plenty of Trump’s work so that dog won’t hunt.
No need to fight over this - plenty of blame for everyone. Just stand in line with your plate and wait your turn. Kind of fun for congress to do this - as they too own a piece of this.
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@kluurs said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:
@mik said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:
@jolly said in Menendez: We're going to investigate Afghanistan:
Pin the tail on the Trump.
Exactly. But it won’t work except for those who have already done so. There was no reason at all for Biden to adhere to the existing agreement if he found it flawed. He rescinded plenty of Trump’s work so that dog won’t hunt.
No need to fight over this - plenty of blame for everyone. Just stand in line with your plate and wait your turn. Kind of fun for congress to do this - as they too own a piece of this.
Agreed. Way too early as well to draw any conclusions yet.
