British and Canadian soldiers stand guard near a canal late Sunday while Afghans wait outside the foreign military-controlled part of the Kabul airport in hopes of fleeing the country following the Taliban’s military takeover of Afghanistan. Wakil Kohsar / AFP via Getty Images Hide caption
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Deputy Kohsar / AFP via Getty Images
British and Canadian soldiers stand guard near a canal late Sunday while Afghans wait outside the foreign military-controlled part of the Kabul airport in hopes of fleeing the country following the Taliban’s military takeover of Afghanistan.
Deputy Kohsar / AFP via Getty Images
Veterans and Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., And Peter Meijer, R-Mich., Traveled “secretly” to Kabul on Tuesday and aroused the ire of Biden government officials.
Congressmen now doubt the Biden government’s planned exit date of August 31.
“As Congressmen, we have a duty to oversee the executive branch. At the moment there is no place in the world where supervision is more important, ”said Moulton and Meijer in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The trip was criticized by a State Department official who said of the Congressmen, “You have chosen to put yourself, our service members and our diplomats at even greater risk – while potentially keeping those who need a seat safe bring to .”
The Associated Press, which first covered the trip, added that other Biden government officials were “angry” with the trip.
Moulton and Meijer defended their trip to Afghanistan.
“We carried out this visit in secret and only talked about it after we left, in order to minimize the risk and disturbance for the local people, and because we were there to gather information, not to take the stands,” it said in their statement. “We left on an airplane with empty seats just for the crew to make sure that no one who needed a seat would lose one because of our presence.”
Today I visited Kabul Airport with @RepMeijer to monitor the evacuation.
It was indescribable to see our young marines and soldiers at the gates navigating a confluence of humanity as raw and instinctive as the world has ever seen. pic.twitter.com/bWGQh1iw2c
– Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) August 25, 2021
Congressmen added, “After speaking to commanders in the field and seeing the situation here, it is obvious that no matter what we do, we are not getting everyone out on time, even by September because we started the evacuation so late 11. Unfortunately and frustratingly, our people’s liberation depends on maintaining their current bizarre relationship with the Taliban. “
Earlier Tuesday, President Biden said the US was well on track to go by August 31.
The Taliban, who orchestrated a violent takeover of Afghanistan last week, announced that they would not extend the US grace period beyond the end of August.
Michele Kelemen from NPR contributed to the coverage.
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