Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken set off on separate overseas trips starting in the Persian Gulf to thank allies for assistance in Afghanistan withdrawal efforts after a chaotic and deadly several weeks.
Blinken landed in Doha, Qatar, on Monday, where several diplomatic exchanges with the Taliban have taken place in recent years and where diplomatic operations serving Afghanistan have been based since the United States closed its embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.
A State Department official told the Wall Street Journal that the administration is not expected to meet with the Taliban while there, saying: “We’re not at that stage.”
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On Friday, Blinken will travel to Germany, where the U.S. Ramstein Air Base is the site of a major pit stop for evacuees from Afghanistan making their way to the U.S. In addition to meeting with foreign officials, Blinken will visit State Department employees working on evacuation efforts.
Austin is also scheduled to visit Qatar, as well as Bahrain and Kuwait, sites of additional evacuee holding and processing operations, and Saudi Arabia.
The relationships-focused trips come as both Biden administration officials face calls from numerous Republicans to resign or be impeached over what they allege was a botched withdrawal operation.
Two House Republicans have introduced articles of impeachment against Blinken, accusing him of presiding over “a reckless abandonment of our nation’s interests, security, and values” and “ignoring critical intelligence received from the embassy in Kabul and United States intelligence agencies.”
Some Republicans have signed on to resolutions calling on Austin, President Joe Biden, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to resign. A group of nearly 90 retired generals and admirals also called on Austin and Milley to resign last week.
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With the trips, Binken and Austin aim to reassure allies in the Gulf and Europe that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan does not mean a U.S. abandonment of working with partners to combat extremist threats in the region.
“Operation ALLIED REFUGE would not have been possible with our friends in the Gulf. Their support saved lives,” Austin said in a tweet on Sunday.
Wheels up @Andrews_JBA. I’m on my way to the Gulf to personally thank our partners there for supporting the Afghanistan evacuation effort. Operation ALLIED REFUGE would not have been possible with our friends in the Gulf. Their support saved lives. pic.twitter.com/Nv8D0WSSOO
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) September 5, 2021
