jack
The Legendary Troll Kingdom
While House Republicans struggle to find hard evidence for impeaching President Biden over his family members’ business dealings, it’s their probe of the Afghanistan withdrawal that could be the most damaging House investigation for the president. House Republicans are holding another hearing on the topic today, drawing attention to the chaotic withdrawal of more than 120,000 people from Afghanistan in 2021. In this election year, it’s expected to be contentious.
The committee includes some of the most outspoken Republicans, some of whom are expected to politicize the hearing and create fireworks.
It continues to be a political challenge for the president. Steve Nikoui, the father of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, a Marine who was one of the 13 soldiers who died during the evacuation, heckled the president at the State of the Union. Some family members of the 13 service members are expected to attend the hearing, a person familiar with the planning said.
Milley is returning to testify because he thinks it’s important to explain the military decisions behind the withdrawal to the public, those who served in Afghanistan and families who lost loved ones, a person close to him said. Retired Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., who led U.S. Central Command, will also testify.
While top Defense Department officials are testifying today, McCaul is expected to focus this hearing on the State Department, which he says is responsible for the messy withdrawal. He hopes the former generals provide insight into State’s role and whether it fell short, according to a person familiar with his testimony.
The politics of the withdrawal
The withdrawal after 20 years of U.S. troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan was chaotic, to say the least. House Republicans, led by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (Tex.), have been investigating since gaining the majority in the 2022 midterms. The withdrawal was a pivotal point in Biden’s presidency he has struggled to recover from. His job approval rating before it was above water, around 50 percent, according to a Washington Post review of polling. But afterwards, his disapproval numbers exceeded his approval numbers. That hasn’t turned around.The committee includes some of the most outspoken Republicans, some of whom are expected to politicize the hearing and create fireworks.
It continues to be a political challenge for the president. Steve Nikoui, the father of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, a Marine who was one of the 13 soldiers who died during the evacuation, heckled the president at the State of the Union. Some family members of the 13 service members are expected to attend the hearing, a person familiar with the planning said.
- “I think the reason he’s never recovered is because nobody has ever been held accountable,” Kelley Currie, a nonresident senior fellow for the Atlantic Council’s Freedom and Prosperity Center and former U.S. representative to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women during the Trump administration.
- “The Committee has also learned, in contrast to the Republicans’ framing of our withdrawal, that President Trump’s Doha Deal with the Taliban emboldened the Taliban and led to the Afghan government’s precipitous collapse,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), the committee’s top Democrat, said in a statement to The Earlyt, referencing the agreement signed in February 2020 that called for the U.S. military’s withdrawal within 14 months.
- Democrats will also defend the president and the Biden administration’s transparency during the House investigation.
- “The over 100 hours of closed-door testimony, multiple public hearings, and 11,000 pages of documents produced to the Committee have reinforced that the administration had a comprehensive plan to successfully airlift over 124,000 people out of Afghanistan, despite the dynamic situation caused by the Afghan government’s collapse,” Meeks said in a statement.
On the campaign trail, Trump rarely criticizes Biden over his Afghanistan withdrawal ― if he mentions it at all.
Milley is returning to testify because he thinks it’s important to explain the military decisions behind the withdrawal to the public, those who served in Afghanistan and families who lost loved ones, a person close to him said. Retired Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., who led U.S. Central Command, will also testify.
While top Defense Department officials are testifying today, McCaul is expected to focus this hearing on the State Department, which he says is responsible for the messy withdrawal. He hopes the former generals provide insight into State’s role and whether it fell short, according to a person familiar with his testimony.
- “Our investigation has uncovered repeated instances of White House refusing to listen to warnings about the situation on the ground in the country,” McCaul is expected to say, according to prepared remarks, though he could deviate from them.