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“I think the secretary has been devoid of reality all this time since the decision was made in May. I think it’s an absolute disaster of epic proportions,” Texas Rep. Michael McCaul told Jake Tapper of CNN on “State of the Union,” referring to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“And I think the president – it’s going to be a stain on this president and this presidency. And I think he’s going to have blood on his hands for what they did,” McCaul said, later adding that He thinks Afghanistan is going to return “to a state before 9/11 – fertile ground for terrorism”.
“I hate to say this: I hope we don’t have to go back, but it will be a threat to the homeland in some time,” he told Tapper.
Blinken, in a separate interview on Sunday on “State of the Union,” defended Biden’s decision to end the American war in the country, telling Tapper: “The point is, the president has decided to maintain forces in Afghanistan beyond May 1. Attacks have reportedly resumed against our forces. ”
“The Taliban had not attacked our forces or NATO during the period from which the agreement was reached until May 1,” Blinken said, referring to the May 1 withdrawal agreement that the Trump administration had negotiated with the Taliban. The secretary also noted that the United States plans to “maintain in place in the region the capacity to see any re-emergence of a terrorist threat and to be able to deal with it”.
Nonetheless, Republicans were quick to blame the Biden administration for the situation in Afghanistan.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday criticized the Biden administration in a statement, saying its “botched exit from Afghanistan, including the frantic evacuation of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from Kabul, is a shameful failure of American leadership “.
“Everyone saw this coming except the president, who publicly and confidently rejected the threats just a few weeks ago.” McConnell said.
At the White House just over a month ago, Biden used a question-and-answer session to downplay the prospect that the Afghan government could collapse and the Taliban could take over, claiming the result did not was not inevitable. Aides said Biden showed no idea to question himself after announcing in April that all U.S. troops would leave Afghanistan by September 11, a symbolic deadline 20 years after the terrorist attacks that sparked the war to begin with.
McConnell’s statement continued, “The United States had the capacity to avert this catastrophe. We still have the capacity to mitigate its effects, but without a presence on the ground or local partners, defending the homeland against a resurgence. Al Qaeda will be much more difficult. “
Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, also lambasted the Biden administration on Sunday over the situation in Afghanistan, saying “the catastrophe that we are seeing unfolding right now across the country. Afghanistan did not have to happen. “
“It’s not just that people predicted it would happen. Everyone has been warned that it will happen,” she told ABC News.
Cheney, who has long held hawkish views on foreign policy, also blamed the Trump administration for trusting and “legitimizing the Taliban.”
“President Biden bears the responsibility for making this decision, but there is no doubt that President Trump, his administration, Secretary (of State Mike) Pompeo, they also bear a very significant responsibility in this regard. way of legitimizing the Taliban, of perpetuating this fantasy, telling the American people that the Taliban are a partner for peace, ”Cheney said.
Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, also said on Sunday that Biden and Trump were both responsible for the “totally avoidable” situation in Afghanistan.
Lawmakers demand answers from senior administration officials
In a virtual briefing with members of Congress on Sunday morning, Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley were pressed by lawmakers to the quick schedule of the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
Minority Parliamentary Leader Kevin McCarthy told officials why the process went so quickly, saying, “We didn’t give them air coverage. You say you had this plan. No one would plan this plan. The ramifications of this for America will last for decades and it won’t just be in Afghanistan, “according to a GOP source during the call.
But a Democratic source on the call said Austin had defended the administration’s actions as an extension of the original withdrawal deadline under the Trump administration. The secretary also said the United States maintains the ability to conduct air strikes to respond to any Taliban action that interferes with the evacuation.
“We will defend ourselves as well as our people and any attack on an American will receive a strong and immediate response,” he said.
The appeal has largely guided members of Congress through the removal strategy of the country, and in particular the capital. The three officials had no answer as to who the interpreters and other Afghans could actually call to leave the country.
Milley, meanwhile, said the withdrawal of US diplomatic personnel on Sunday was a “very dynamic and very risky operation”, calling it a “deliberate and controlled evacuation”. He said terrorist groups like al-Qaeda – which was responsible for the 9/11 attacks and which were protected in Afghanistan by the Taliban – could now reconstitute in Afghanistan earlier than the two years defense officials had. previously estimated, according to a Senate adviser. informed of comments.
Austin said they wanted to keep Kabul airport open and secure, adding that the United States had a contingency plan in place, which is why they were able to respond so quickly to the rapidly deteriorating situation. .
Senators received their own briefing from Blinken, Austin and Milley on Sunday, but a Senate aide told CNN the meeting was not controversial and focused primarily on evacuations.
Senators learned that there were as many as 60,000 people who could potentially be considered special immigrant visa (SIV) holders or applicants, P1 or P2 visa holders, or others like human rights defenders.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story distorted Liz Cheney’s condition. She’s from Wyoming.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux, Chandelis Duster, Kylie Atwood, Natasha Bertrand and Jasmine Wright contributed to this report.
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