Blinken defends Afghanistan withdrawal before Senate

Secretary of State Antony Blinken connected Tuesday sought to parry bipartisan legislature criticism of the Biden administration's Afghanistan withdrawal, arsenic caller quality estimates warned that al-Qaeda could soon again usage Afghan ungraded to crippled attacks connected the United States.

Blinken had mixed results successful attempting to look down a 2nd time of pugnacious legislature questioning, this clip from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A time earlier earlier the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Blinken was assailed by Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike implicit the administration's mentation for and handling of the pullout.

Even lawmakers sympathetic to President Joe Biden's determination to extremity America's longest-running warfare by withdrawing from Afghanistan aft 20 years expressed disappointment and interest astir the ample fig of Americans, greenish paper holders and at-risk Afghans near down successful the chaotic and hasty evacuation from Kabul.

And, arsenic Blinken testified conscionable 3 days aft the 20th day of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that led to the U.S. penetration of Afghanistan, quality officials presented a bleak appraisal that al-Qaeda could statesman to usage Afghan territory to endanger America wrong 1 to 2 years.

"The execution of the U.S. withdrawal was intelligibly and fatally flawed," said committee president Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), who has mostly been supportive of Biden's overseas argumentation but has taken contented with respective of its aspects, including Afghanistan.

"This committee expects to person a afloat mentation of this administration's decisions connected Afghanistan since coming into bureau past January," Menendez said. "There has to beryllium accountability."

"The withdrawal was a dismal failure," said Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the apical Republican connected the committee.

He and virtually each of his Republican colleagues accused the medication of "ineptitude" that has outgo the United States planetary credibility, led to a deadly onslaught connected U.S. troops and Afghan civilians astatine the Kabul airdrome and near galore successful the lurch.

Much arsenic helium did connected Monday astatine the often contentious proceeding successful the House, Blinken tried to deflect the disapproval and maintained the medication had done the champion it could nether highly trying and chaotic circumstances.

Blinken again blamed the Trump medication for its February 2020 bid woody with the Taliban that helium said had tied Biden's hands, arsenic good arsenic the speedy and unexpected illness of the Afghan authorities and information forces that led to the Taliban takeover connected Aug. 15.

"Even the astir pessimistic assessments did not foretell that authorities forces successful Kabul would illness portion U.S. forces remained," Blinken said. "They were focused connected what would hap aft the United States withdrew, from September onward."

Blinken said the medication would clasp the Taliban, which hosted and protected Osama bin Laden and apical members of his al-Qaeda web arsenic they plotted the 9/11 strikes, to their promises not to let Afghanistan to beryllium utilized again arsenic a basal for violent attacks.

Experts person agelong said the Taliban inactive maintains ties to al-Qaeda, which took sanctuary successful Afghanistan anterior to 9/11. Although Blinken was not asked straight astir the quality assessments, helium said the Taliban had not afloat severed its links with the group.

The State Department has travel nether dense disapproval from some sides for not doing capable and not acting rapidly capable to get radical retired of the state aft the Taliban took power of Kabul, cementing its clasp connected the state earlier the completion of the U.S. withdrawal connected Aug. 30.

Blinken defended the withdrawal and the extremity of America's longest-running warfare arsenic "the close happening to do" aft 20 years.

This communicative was primitively published by Newsy. Additional reporting by the Associated Press.