Secretary of State Antony Blinken will testify twice to Congress this week about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, as lawmakers kick off what could be a long series of high-intensity hearings about the chaotic end to America's longest war.
WASHINGTON -Secretary of State Antony Blinken beat back criticism of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Monday at a contentious congressional hearing where at least two Republicans called on him to resign.
"There's no evidence that staying longer would have made the Afghan security forces or the Afghan government any more resilient or self-sustaining," Blinken said. Blinken appeared on Monday before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and was to testify on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the first Biden administration official to testify publicly to lawmakers since the Islamist militant group's takeover.
"This is a national security threat as China moves in. For all I know they make take over Bagram," McCaul said.Lawmakers asked a long list of questions about the rapid collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and scramble to evacuate 124,000 people. Afghanistan is at risk of running out of food as it faces a terrible drought in addition to political upheaval. "We need to do everything we can to make sure the people of Afghanistan don't suffer any more than is already the case," Blinken said.
Republicans grilled Blinken about what happened at Kabul's airport during the evacuation ahead of the administration's Aug. 31 deadline to leave. Thirteen U.S. troops and dozens of Afghans were killed in a suicide bombing amid the chaos.
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