Bice Demands Answers for Disastrous Afghanistan Withdrawal
Washington, D.C. – Representative Stephanie Bice, a member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), today questioned Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and General Kenneth McKenzie, Commander of U.S. Central Command, on the Biden Administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Americans deserve to know the reasons for the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan and today’s hearings were an opportunity to demand answers for the complete failure of President Biden’s actions,” Bice said. “We must also hold the intelligence community accountable for their role in this situation and discover if a failure to provide accurate or timely information played a part.”
Bice began her line of questioning by discussing the numerous calls from her constituents, including members of the military, veterans and their families, who expressed outrage at the failed withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the abandonment of Afghan allies and American Citizens.
“I, too, am deeply outraged and have been equally stunned by the lack of leadership shown by President Biden throughout all of this. The American people deserve to have a full accounting of the President’s decision making processes and what ultimately led to this disastrous outcome,” Bice said.
Bice then pressed the witnesses on the decision to use the Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) instead of Bagram Air Base to evacuate American citizens.
“During the Senate testimony yesterday, Gen. Austin, you said the choice to abandon Bagram was made carefully based on the mission to protect the embassy. What aspect of security at HKIA made it more secure than Bagram? And following that you mentioned in your opening statement that Bagram had little strategic value. If could elaborate on those please,” Bice asked.
“…In the event of an evacuation, we would have to start with evacuating the embassy first, and so Kabul makes all, it provides everything you need to be able to do that,” Austin answered.
Bice further questioned Austin and the other witnesses about the level of trust they have with the information being provided by the intelligence community.