Active U.S. soldiers and veterans shared harrowing accounts and demanded accountability for the abrupt and chaotic pulling out of American troops from Afghanistan.
The distraught military members Wednesday spoke at what was the first of a series of Republican-led hearings to investigate the Biden administration’s frenzied withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as the Taliban took over, CNN reported.
Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, 25, recalled witnessing two suicide bombers attacking crowds of Afghans as they were attempting to flee the Taliban during the U.S. evacuation in August 2021.
Vargas-Andrews, who was among a large number of U.S. military personnel ordered to protect Kabul’s airport, said he and another Marine received intelligence about the bombing. They also spotted the suspect in the crowd before the bomb went off.
“Over the communication network, we passed that there was a potential threat and an IED attack imminent. This was as serious as it could get,” he said. When he asked for permission to shoot, “our battalion commander said, and I quote, ‘I don’t know,’ end quote.”
Vargas-Andrews maintained the forces were ignored and their expertise was disregarded. “No one was held accountable for our safety,” he added.
The suicide bombing resulted in the killing of 13 American soldiers and 170 Afghan civilians. Vargas-Andrews was among those injured, according to KCRA.
“My body was overwhelmed from the trauma of the blast. My abdomen had been ripped open. Every inch of my exposed body took ball bearings and shrapnel,” he said.
Calling the withdrawal of troops a “catastrophe,” he added: “There was an inexcusable lack of accountability and negligence.”
Retired Lt Col David Scott Mann also spoke at the hearing, noting that Washington is abandoning allies.
“America is building a nasty reputation for multi-generational systemic abandonment of our allies where we leave a smoldering human refuse, from the Montagnards of Vietnam to the Kurds in Syria,” Lt Col Mann said.
Troops were first deployed to Afghanistan during the presidency of George W Bush. Witnesses at Wednesday’s hearing blamed every presidential administration from Bush to Biden for the chaotic withdrawal following the long-standing conflict.
New York Rep. Greg Meeks, a Democrat on the panel, defended Biden during the congressional hearing, saying the president made the “right decision” to end the decades-long war.
“It underscores to me that the president of the United States made the right decision to bring all our troops home,” Meeks said, as quoted by NPR.
He further admitted that there were “mistakes made” but also affirmed he cannot in “good conscience imagine sending more American men and women to fight in Afghanistan.”
AFP / –
