Secretary of State Antony Blinken will appear before the House Foreign Affairs Committee Monday afternoon, and is sure to face grilling over the White House’s handling of the evacuation from Afghanistan following the American military withdrawal.
According prepared remarks released before his appearance, Blinken will blame former President Donald Trump for striking a deal to withdraw U.S. troops in exchange for the Taliban not attacking Americans. He will also praise the evacuation as an “extraordinary effort,” and say that “even the most pessimistic assessments did not predict that government forces in Kabul would collapse while U.S. forces remained.”
According to Blinken, just two flights carrying American citizens and other evacuees have been allowed to leave Afghanistan – one last Thursday and another last Friday. Six Americans and 11 legal permanent U.S. residents have left the country by overland route, Blinken will testify.
American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies have been stuck in the Taliban-controlled country after U.S. forces left at the end of August, and members of Congress will be looking for answers as to how this happened.
