Republicans continue to hammer Biden over Afghanistan evacuation shortcomings

Yesterday, a group of those veteran members along with House Republican leaders stood outside the Capitol and one-by-one excoriated the president for what they said was a failure of leadership.

“I heard the Pentagon say the time just wasn’t there to get more Americans out. But let me be crystal clear: This isn’t the U.S. government’s timeline; it’s the Taliban’s timeline,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy.

“This president announced a complete withdrawal with no conditions, time certain, that was a surrender of the United States to the Taliban. Now they’re celebrating their victory over the United States of America,” said Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “I never thought I would see this in my life. It’s embarrassing. It’s shameful. It’s wrong to our veterans who served so well.”

“While they’re killing people, while they’re refusing to adhere to the agreement, while they’re already — I have voicemails of people telling me that their wives were raped. Antony Blinken wants to do a deal with the Taliban,” said Tennessee Rep. Mark Green, a decorated combat veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan. “The audacity.”

“But first, the administration has to admit it’s wrong, stop running victory laps. It’s like the arsonist claiming he did a really great job putting the fire out, when in fact there’s actually still people inside,” said Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw. “Stop giving in to the Taliban. I can’t believe we even have to ask for that. I can’t believe Secretary Blinken is even toying with the idea that these illegitimate terrorists could ever be recognized as a government.”

“This administration making these decisions — Blinken, Sullivan, Finer, Psaki, we can go down the list — do not have a speck of Middle East dirt under their fingernails. They don’t have a clue what this means,” Rep. Michael Waltz, a former Green Beret who served multiple tours in Afghanistan. “I’m on the phone — as so many of us have been, congressional offices — with veterans downrange that have buses full of Americans, citizens, green card holders, legal permanent residents, our allies that are stuck because they can’t get through the bureaucracy at the State Department to get them out; right now, through the bureaucracy.”

CRENSHAW CLAIMS US ‘IN A WORSE POSITION NOW THAN WE WERE’ ON 9/11

WE LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND (UNLESS THEY WANT TO STAY): Hours later, President Joe Biden delivered a defiant defense of how and why he ended the U.S. war the way he did. “I give you my word: With all of my heart, I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision, and the best decision for America.”

Biden insisted the effort to rescue any American who wants to leave Afghanistan will continue with no time limit. Same for at-risk Afghans. “No country in history has done more to airlift out the residents of another country than we have done. We will continue to work to help more people leave the country who are at risk,” Biden said in remarks from the White House. “We’re far from done.”

“Most of those who remain are dual citizens, longtime residents who had earlier decided to stay because of their family roots in Afghanistan,” Biden said. “And for those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out.”

Biden complained that President Donald Trump’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban left him few options, while at the same time arguing Trump’s decision to leave Afghanistan was the right one.

And he seemed to place some of the blame on Americans who didn’t leave Afghanistan months ago. “Since March, we reached out 19 times to Americans in Afghanistan, with multiple warnings and offers to help them leave Afghanistan — all the way back as far as March,” he said. A U.S. Embassy travel advisory issued April 27 said, “U.S. citizens wishing to depart Afghanistan should leave as soon as possible on available commercial flights.”

“Now, some say we should have started mass evacuations sooner and ‘Couldn’t this have been done in a more orderly manner?’ I respectfully disagree,” Biden argued. “Imagine if we had begun evacuations in June or July, bringing in thousands of American troops and evacuating more than 120,000 people in the middle of a civil war. There still would have been a rush to the airport, a breakdown in confidence and control of the government, and it still would have been a very difficult and dangerous mission.”

BIDEN CONCEDES NO MISTAKES BUT FAULTS TRUMP PEACE DEAL IN DEFENDING AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: At his Monday Pentagon briefing, Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie made several comments about how the Taliban was “very pragmatic and very business-like” as the U.S. prepared for its final departure. “They were actually very helpful and useful,” he said.

Now CNN is reporting that under a secret arrangement, the Taliban actually escorted groups of Americans to a “secret gate” at the airport manned by U.S. special operations forces.

Two U.S. defense officials told CNN that said Americans were notified to gather at pre-set “muster points” close to the airport, including the Ministry of Interior Affairs, where the Taliban would check their credentials and take them a short distance to a gate manned by American forces.

“Multiple sources in the US who were in contact with people trying to escape reported that American citizens and passport holders in Kabul were in disbelief that they were being told they would receive safe passage from the Taliban,” CNN said. “Many thought they were misunderstanding the directions and sought clarification.”

WITH LAST TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN, HOUSE GOP PLANS ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’ FOR BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

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HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley will deliver remarks on the end of the military mission in Afghanistan in the Pentagon Briefing Room at 1 p.m. Livestream at https://www.defense.gov/Watch/Live-Events

President Joe Biden meets with his national security team this morning to receive updates on the evolving situation in Afghanistan before welcoming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House at 2 p.m.

ZELENSKY MEETS AUSTIN: As a prelude to his much anticipated one-on-one with President Joe Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenesky and his defense minister, Andrii Taran, met yesterday afternoon at the Pentagon with Austin, who declared U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and Euro-Atlantic aspirations “unwavering.”

“You can count on our continued support in the face of Russian aggression,” Austin said. “The United States and our allies are committed to supporting Ukraine’s right to decide its own future foreign policy, free from outside interference.”

“We are very grateful,” said Zelensky. “I believe this is true that the U.S. assistance — military assistance is getting stronger.”

“It is difficult now for me to say whether it is truly historic … or turning point or whether it will promote both countries to a different level of cooperation,” he added. “But this is what I wish for, and this is what I hope for.”

UKRAINE TO GET $60M SECURITY PACKAGE: At the Pentagon yesterday, Austin signed a strategic defense framework to enhance U.S.-Ukrainian cooperation on Black Sea security and cyber and intelligence sharing. In addition, after meeting with Zelensky, Biden will announce the approval of a new $60 million security assistance package for Ukraine that will include additional Javelin anti-armor systems and other defensive lethal and non-lethal capabilities.

“We expect the two leaders to discuss the comprehensive reform program that President Zelensky is continuing to develop and implement, with an aim to bring the country in line with Euro-Atlantic principles,” a senior administration official told reporters Monday. “This includes steps to protect the independence of the anti-corruption institutions, legislation on human rights.”

“President Biden needs to use this opportunity to rebuild trust in U.S.-Ukrainian relations, and to reaffirm and deepen U.S. support for Ukraine,” says John Hardie, a Russia expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Biden should take care not to lecture the Ukrainian leader and must not use the anti-corruption issue to change the subject from potentially tough questions regarding U.S. support for Ukraine. Zelensky, for his part, needs to exercise patience on the issue of a NATO Membership Action Plan and to reaffirm — and then back up with action — his commitment to anti-corruption and reform.

ALSO TODAY: The House Armed Services Committee begins its markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 at 10 a.m.

There are some 700 amendments to be considered to the House version of the bill, including an amendment to add $25 billion to the top line of the defense budget to bring it in line with the Senate version of the NDAA, which calls for a $778 billion defense budget, with $740 billion for the Pentagon.

Republicans are still smarting about being stymied by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who would not recognize Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, who was seeking unanimous consent for a bill to ensure the U.S. does what is necessary to rescue Americans, bar ransom payments to terrorists, and provide for a full accounting of billions of dollars worth of equipment the U.S. left behind in Afghanistan.

“And yet when I asked unanimous consent to do that on the floor a few minutes ago, I was gaveled down,” said Gallagher, a former Marine captain. “It’s too late to save face. But we can still save lives. We can still get Americans out of the country, and we have to do that. We have a moral obligation as Americans to do that.”

Gallagher, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, will instead try to get his proposals adopted as amendments to the NDAA today.

HOUSE ARMED SERVICES GOP FILE MORE THAN 50 AFGHANISTAN-RELATED NDAA AMENDMENTS

ARE PHOTOS A FACTOR IN MILITARY PROMOTIONS? In July of 2020, former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper banned official photos from being used in the selection board process to prevent discrimination and to ensure that officers are promoted based on merit.

Some suggested the move would help increase diversity in the officer ranks by eliminating unconscious bias, but a funny thing happened. Without photos that showed a candidate’s race, the number of whites promoted went up, not down.

Now the Navy is considering reinstating the inclusion of photos for use by officer selection boards, with the goal, again, of increasing diversity in the upper ranks, according to Vice Adm. John Nowell, who spoke on a panel on diversity and inclusion at this month’s Navy League Sea-Air-Space conference.

“I think we should consider reinstating photos in selection boards,” Nowell said. “We look at, for instance, the one-star board over the last five years, and we can show you where, as you look at diversity, it went down with photos removed.”

That has prompted six Republican House members, led by Mike Gallagher, to write a letter to Nowell questioning whether the move is in keeping with promotion based on merit.

“We are concerned that the back and forth on this issue may be causing officers in the ranks to question whether the Navy’s true goal aspires to meritocratic values or whether these values may be juxtaposed against the political vicissitudes of the day,” the House members write. “We were also not sure if you were thinking out loud when you made your statements at the symposium or were signaling future intent as a senior Navy leader. As Members of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, we would like clarification on the Navy’s latest policy regarding photographs on officer selection boards.”

AFGHAN JOURNALISTS STRANDED: Among the people left behind in Afghanistan are more than 500 journalists and their families who were employed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, according to House Foreign Affairs Committee lead Republican Michael McCaul, who said in a statement that “only 50 USAGM staffers were evacuated, thanks to efforts by our allies – not the United States government.”

“It is absolutely disgraceful the U.S. State Department claimed they evacuated their local employees when in reality they abandoned hundreds of USAGM journalists and their families. Some of these journalists were given express assurances by the Biden administration that they would be treated as locally employed staff — but were not,” McCaul said. “My office was working with one of these journalists and tried for two weeks to get attention brought to his case so he, his wife, and his infant child could be saved — but our pleas were ignored.”

“I am calling on the president and the State Department to rapidly find ways to get these people to safety and away from the threats President Biden and Secretary Blinken enabled.”

NO DOGS LEFT IN CAGES: “To correct erroneous reports, the U.S. Military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, including the reported military working dogs. Photos circulating online were animals under the care of the Kabul Small Animal Rescue, not dogs under our care,” tweeted John Kirby.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: With last troops out of Afghanistan, House GOP plans ‘accountability’ for Biden administration

Washington Examiner: Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan in line for GOP backlash over Afghanistan crisis

Washington Examiner: Taliban demand US diplomats return to Kabul

Washington Examiner: State Department moves embassy in Afghanistan to city that hosted US-Taliban peace talks

Washington Examiner: Senate sends to Biden’s desk bill to help Americans returning from Afghanistan

Washington Examiner: Pentagon debunks reports claiming US abandoned dozens of military service dogs in Kabul

Washington Examiner: ‘Consequence’ of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan ‘will reverberate for decades,’ retired generals say

Washington Examiner: House Armed Services GOP file more than 50 Afghanistan-related NDAA amendments

Washington Examiner: Crenshaw claims US ‘in a worse position now than we were’ on 9/11

Washington Examiner: Veterans Affairs suicide hotline received more than 35,000 calls during Afghanistan evacuation

Reuters: Before Afghan collapse, Biden pressed Ghani to ‘change perception’

Air Force Magazine: F-35 Not as Survivable as Previously Hoped, HASC Chair Says

Vanity Fair: “A Vast Criminal Racket”: Sebastian Junger on how the U.S. corrupted Afghanistan

Breaking Defense: Smith Says Afghanistan Withdrawal Won’t Change Russia, China’s Calculus

CBS News: Veteran dies of treatable illness as COVID fills hospital beds, leaving doctors “playing musical chairs”

19fortyfive.com: The Navy’s Columbia-class Submarine Will Break All of the Records

19fortyfive.com: The US Military’s ‘Ninja’ RX 9 Hellfire Missile Strikes Again (It Smashed ISIS K)

USNI News: New Satellite Images Hint How Russian Navy Could Use Massive Nuclear Torpedoes

Washington Times: China Tests New Missiles In Simulated Taiwan Strike

Reuters: Taiwan Says China Can ‘Paralyse’ Its Defences, Threat Worsening

19fortyfive.com: Want to Sail in the South China Sea? You Better Tell China.

Military.com: Marine Corporal Discharged Over Refusal To Wear A Mask

Military.com: A Resignation And Mental Health Screening: The Unfolding Saga Of The Marine Who Called Out Leadership On Afghanistan

Miami Herald: U.S. Uses Choppers, Ships And Military Personnel To Deliver Aid To Haiti Quake Victims

Stars and Stripes: One Crew Member Rescued After Navy Helicopter Crashes Into Sea Near San Diego

19fortyfive.com: Fact Check: The Taliban Did Not Get $83 Billion in Arms (More Like $24 Billion)

The Cipher Brief: Opinion: Why We’re Much Safer from Terrorism Now than we were After 9/11 by Cipher Brief Expert and former Director of NCTC, Mike Leiter

Calendar

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 1

8 a.m. — Henry L. Stimson Center virtual discussion “Changing the Discourse on Taiwan: Japan-Taiwan Ties in 2021,” with Madoka Fukuda, professor at Hosei University; and Hung-jen Wang, associate professor at National Cheng Kung University https://www.stimson.org/event/changing-the-discourse

9 a.m. — Heritage Foundation virtual event: “Biden’s Crisis in Afghanistan — What Happens After August 31st?” with retired Lt. Gen. Tom Spoehr, director of Heritage Center for National Defense and former deputy commander, U.S. Forces Iraq; and Luke Coffey, director of Heritage Allison Center for Foreign Policy. https://www.heritage.org/events

9 a.m. — National Defense Industrial Association virtual 2021 iFest conference, with Maj. Gen. Donn Hill; Fred Engle, acting deputy assistant Defense secretary for force education and training; Latvian Brig. Gen. Ilmars Lejins, assistant chief of staff for joint force development at NATO Allied Command Transformation; and Zoran Sajinovic, Bosnia and Herzegovina assistant defense minister; and Amy Parker, chief learning officer at the Veterans Affairs Department. https://www.trainingsystems.org/events/2021/8/31/ifest

10 a.m. — House Armed Services Committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

10 a.m. — Army’s Fires Center of Excellence Fort Sill virtual 2021 Fires Conference with Gen. Christoper Cavoli, commanding general of the Army Europe and Africa Command; Lt. Gen. James Rainey, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and training at the Army; and Gen. James Dickinson, commanding general of the U.S. Space Command. https://sill-www.army.mil/fires-conference/

11:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies and the U.S. Naval Institute Maritime Security Dialogue: “An Update on the Marine Corps,” with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger; Seth Jones, senior vice president and director, CSIS International Security Program. https://www.csis.org/events/maritime-security-dialogue

1 p.m. Pentagon Briefing Room — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley deliver remarks about the end of the military mission in Afghanistan. Livestream at https://www.defense.gov/Watch/Live-Events/

2 p.m. — President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

2 p.m. — Washington Post Live virtual discussion: “The Future for Afghan Women,” with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; and former Afghan judge Najla Ayoubi, chief of global programs at Every Woman Treaty. https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 2

9:30 a.m. — Harvard University Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies virtual discussion: “ The Taliban Takeover and Central Asian Security: New Reality on the Ground,” with Omid Marzban, senior multimedia editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Salimjon Aioubov, director of the RFE/RL Tajik Service; Stephen Blank, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute; Muhammad Tahir, media relations manager at RFE-RL; Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets; and Nargis Kassenova, senior fellow at the Davis Center https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/events/taliban-takeover

11 a.m. — Middle East Institute virtual discussion: “Syria Today: How Assad ‘Won’ Beyond the Military,” with Rahaf Aldoughli, lecturer on Middle East and North African studies at Lancaster University; Guy Barton, visiting fellow at the London School of Economics’ Middle East Center; Eric Lob, associate professor at Florida International University; and Emma Beals, nonresident scholar at MEI https://www.mei.edu/events/syria-today-how-assad-won-beyond-military

11 a.m. 1750 Independence Avenue S.W. — Friends of the National World War II Memorial and the National Park Service ceremony to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Allied Forces’ victory in the Pacific and the end of World War II. https://wwiimemorialfriends.networkforgood.com/events Livestream at https://www.facebook.com/WWIIMemorialFriends

12 p.m. — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “ The Future of the Navy and Marine Corps,” with Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine; and Seth Cropsey, director of the Hudson Center for American Seapower. https://www.hudson.org/events/2005-virtual-event

2 p.m. — The Jewish Institute for National Security of America virtual event, “America’s Afghanistan Disaster,” with Amb. Eric Edelman, is former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and former undersecretary of defense for policy; retired Gen. Charles Wald, former deputy commander of U.S. European Command, and John Hannah, JINSA senior fellow. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register

4:30 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “The U.S.-ROK alliance, the North Korea situation and the Korean-American community,” with Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii https://www.csis.org/events/capital-cable-33-senator-brian-schatz

6 p.m. — Politics and Prose Bookstore book discussion on “The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War,” with author Craig Whitlock, investigative reporter at the Washington Post; and James LaPorta, investigative reporter at the Associated Press.