The US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, now controlled by Republicans, launched an investigation. Chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan under the government of Democratic president Joe Biden.
Republican Congressman Michael McCaul requested documents from the State Department regarding its decision to end the twenty-year occupation of Afghanistan by the end of August 2021; this led to a chaotic retreat and the Taliban takeover of almost the entire country.
Biden withdraws troops from Afghan territory pursuant to an agreement reached between the rebels and the previous administration of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021).
McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, formally requesting notes, correspondence, emails and other records related to the operations.
The list contains items such as The State Department channels messages “about the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan” between 2020 and 2021.
Also, the “total number of task forces involved in the withdrawal/evacuation” and “personnel assigned to each task force” from the country, in addition to information on talks with the Taliban since January 2021.
The Republican referred to previously unanswered requests for this information, so he has now given the State Department a deadline of January 26 for a response.
“It is imperative that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fully respond to these demands”McCaul cautioned that “in the event of non-compliance, the Committee will use the authorities at its disposal to properly comply with these requests, including through a mandatory process.”
The hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan ended on August 31, 2021, due to the sudden advance of the Taliban, who carried out an attack that killed 13 US soldiers and more than 170 civilians during the evacuation of Kabul airport.
Since last week, Republicans have held a majority in the House of Representatives due to the result of the November midterm elections. To force the Biden government to account.