Protests erupt as House Republicans grill Secretary of State Antony Blinken on 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan - UPI.com (original) (raw)

1 of 7 | Pro-Palestinian demonstrators raise painted hands as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken enters a GOP-led House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing Wednesday. Blinken said he firmly believes the withdrawal was the right decision. Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The House Foreign Affairs Committee heard testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday as he defended the Biden administration's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021 as the government collapsed.

Thirteen U.S. soldiers were killed during the withdrawal.

Blinken told the Republican-led committee, "I firmly believe the president's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was the right one."

His testimony was interrupted by protesters repeatedly.

Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Blinken Wednesday, "Tragically, more than three years after this administration's disastrous withdrawal, you're finally here to take responsibility."

But Blinken stood by the decision and did not accept that the blame rested with the Biden administration.

He said the Doha agreement negotiated by the Trump administration with the Taliban excluded the Afghan government and created a tremendous crisis of confidence for that government.

Blinken said the Taliban did not honor terms of a deal signed by the Donald Trump administration to withdraw American forces by May 2021.

He said despite the Taliban non-compliance, the Biden administration decided to withdraw forces in August 2021 in part due to the possibility that U.S. forces would again be attacked by the Taliban if troops remained as the Afghan government and armed forces collapsed.

Blinken said he deeply regrets the deaths of American soldiers and others during the withdrawal. He told the committee everyone involved in the withdrawal decision wrestled with what could have been done differently.

Republicans claimed in a report that the Biden administration mishandled the withdrawal and allegedly misled the public about it.

Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Republicans are politicizing the withdrawal and said the GOP took "particular pains to avoid facts involving former President Donald Trump."

Republicans on the committee grilled Blinken as they blamed the Biden administration for the chaos during the withdrawal.

American forces withdrew as the Taliban swept across the country amid the Afghan government's collapse.

The White House released its own report in April 2023 detailing what went wrong in the withdrawal but standing by the decision to pull forces out. That report put some of the blame for the deadly chaotic withdrawal on Trump's administration.

The White House report said, "The departing Trump Administration had left the Biden Administration with a date for withdrawal, but no plan for executing it. And after four years of neglect -- and in some cases deliberate degradation -- crucial systems, offices, and agency functions that would be necessary for a safe and orderly departure were in disrepair."