Republicans are preparing to take control of the House in the new year by preparing an investigation into the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan abruptly.
During the final days of the August 2021 messy withdrawal, a suicide bombing led to 13 U.S. service members dying.
Incoming Foreign Affairs Committee chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, in a recent interview with The New Republic (TNR) questioned why the withdrawal went “so badly”. He also questioned why both Americans and Afghan partners were left behind unprotected to fall to the hands of the Taliban. He added that before the decision to withdraw comes there needs to be a plan in place, and so far he hasn’t “seen one.”
There are multiple committees that are expected to start investigations on the withdrawal. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, has also promised that there would be an investigation into the withdrawal.
Further investigations into the Afghanistan troop’s withdrawal will also lead to more investigations into the Biden administration, including probes regarding the border crisis, Hunter Biden’s business dealings, and the politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI.
Besides the suicide bombing, during the withdrawal, there was also a U.S. drone strike that led to the death of 10 civilians. McCaul in October sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the DOJ to keep all records from the troop withdrawal operation.
The lawmaker has also alleged that the State Department, Treasury Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development have been trying to block the investigative efforts by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
