Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken finally expressed remorse that the Biden administration had not done more to protect the 13 US troops who were killed in an ISIS-K suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
“I think today, especially of the 13 heroes that we lost at Abbey Gate. And I deeply regret we did not do more and could not do more to protect them,” Blinken said as he testified Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “And to those families who are here with us today, you’re in my thoughts and my prayers.”
Blinken, 62, mixed a conciliatory tone with a defensive message during his hotly anticipated appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which came after months of bickering with the panel to answer questions about its probe into the botched bug out from Kabul in August 2021.
The secretary sought to deflect some of the blame over the debacle on the situation he inherited and stressed that he “firmly” believes President Biden’s decision to pull out was the “right one.”
“Any attempt to understand, learn from the US withdrawal from Afghanistan has to be put in the proper context of what’s preceded it,” Blinken stressed, calling the Doha agreement negotiated under the Trump administration flawed.
“By January 2021, the Taliban was in the strongest military position it had been since 9/11 [and] we had the smallest number of US forces in Afghanistan since 2001,” he said, arguing that the other option would’ve been for Biden to send in thousands more troops with at “best the prospect of restoring a stalemate.”
“All of us, including myself, wrestled with what we could have done differently during that period and over the preceding two decades.”
America’s top diplomat had feuded with the panel for six months over the course of its roughly two-year inquiry into the turbulent withdrawal, stonewalling two subpoena demands and prompting the committee to vote for a resolution holding him in contempt after he missed a Sept. 3 date to appear.
That same month, the House Foreign Affairs Committee dropped its blistering report on the hasty pull-out from Afghanistan, the release date of which happened to preempt the 2024 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump.
Blinken had been one of a handful of key officials from which the panel sought testimony.
Top of mind for Republicans on the panel was the tragic deaths of 13 US service members in an ISIS-K suicide bombing at Abbey Gate on Aug. 26, 2021.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who is term-limited and will be succeeded in the role by Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), locked down Blinken’s testimony last month, following weeks of negotiations.
McCaul greeted Blinken by taking note of their “cordial” rapport before pivoting to a stern lecture about his stonewalling and stewardship over the debacle in Afghanistan. The Texas rep also indicated that he has “admiration” for Biden’s cabinet official despite their staunch differences on the withdrawal.
“I have to say I’m disappointed,” McCaul said bluntly to Blinken, chiding him for “showing up only after violating a congressional subpoena.”
“With the warning bells … ringing loudly, you denied the imminent and dangerous threats to American interest,” the chairman added. “It was the deadliest day of the United States presence in … Afghanistan since 2012 and the saddest thing, sir, is that it did not have to happen.”
Ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-NY) defended the Biden administration and accused Republicans on the panel of politicizing the Afghanistan withdrawal.
“We should have conducted proper oversight of the policy decisions made across not one administration, but four administrations, not only for the months in which President Biden was in office for the sole purpose of politics,” Meeks chided.
This was McCaul’s last hearing as chairman of the committee. He also teased that the committee is negotiating testimony with outgoing National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, though noted that may be classified.
“While I wish he had not delayed this crucial appearance until the end of his tenure as head of the State Department, I look forward to hearing his testimony and asking poignant questions to help House Republicans and the next administration ensure nothing like this ever happens again,” McCaul said in a statement ahead of the testimony.
This article will be updated.
