US Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies on Afghanistan withdrawal

Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the Biden administration’s much-criticized handling of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan before Congress Monday.

Blinken faced lawmakers angry about the administration’s response to the quick collapse of the Afghan government and, more specifically, the State Department’s response to what many claim was a predictable result in the final days of the American military presence there.

The department has come under heavy criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for not doing enough and not acting quickly enough to get American citizens, legal residents and at-risk Afghans out of the country after the Taliban took control of Kabul on Aug. 15.

In remarks before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Blinken sought to deflect allegations of unpreparedness by noting that the Biden administration had inherited a U.S.-Taliban peace deal from its predecessor, along with a languishing program to grant visas Afghans who had worked for the U.S. government.

Blinken, who had publicly predicted in June that a complete Taliban takeover would not happen “from a Friday to a Monday," also moved to pre-empt criticism of his prediction by noting that no one in the U.S. government expected the Afghan government to fall as quickly as it did.

“Even the most pessimistic assessments did not predict that government forces in Kabul would collapse while U.S. forces remained,” Blinken says in prepared remarks released by the State Department. He also defended the evacuation effort, saying it succeeded despite near insurmountable odds.

“The evacuation was an extraordinary effort – under the most difficult conditions imaginable – by our diplomats, military, and intelligence professionals,” he told  lawmakers.

But Republicans, in particular, have been demanding answers as to why American citizens were left behind in the chaotic days and weeks before the military completed its withdrawal on Aug. 30.

Image: AP