WASHINGTON: State Secretary Antony Blinken is preparing to face a formidable Congress question this week for handling the Biden military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In separate homes and senate hearings, lawmakers are expected to bake Blinken in the response of the Biden government on the collapse of the Afghan government that is fast and more specific to the department of the Foreign Department’s response to what many claims can be predicted in the last days of the American military attendance there.
Blinken, which openly predicted in June that the complete Taliban takeover will not occur `from Friday to Monday,` “will appear in front of the home foreign affairs committee on Monday and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
He is likely to be suggested for that prediction, which turned out to be wrong.
The State Department has received severe criticism from the Republican Party and Democrats because it did not do enough and did not act quickly to get American citizens, legal residents and at risk of Afghanistan abroad after the Taliban controlled Kabul on August 15.
Republicans, in particular, have demanded an answer about why American citizens were lagged behind the chaotic days and weeks before the military finished withdrawals on August 30.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and the wider administration have maintained their efforts, referring to an unprecedented airlift from more than 100,000 people from Kabul in two weeks in the midst of rampant confusion, extreme security risks and severe logistical challenges.
In the possibility of previewing GOP questions, the National Committee of the Republic released a statement on Monday morning with the banners’ headline “ Fire Blinken, ” demanded that he be held to take into account what was described as a litany of failure.
“The handling of Blinken disasters from Afghanistan and weak leadership places American life in danger, including the lives of Americans who are still trapped in Afghanistan,” he said.
Blinken is very close to President Joe Biden and his job because American top diplomats are almost certainly safe, but criticism of the handling of the administration of the Afghan withdrawal is not yet limited to the Republican Party.
Many Democrats also questioned policies and expressed concerns about stranded Americans, green and Afghan card holders who could deal with retaliation from the Taliban because of their work or bond with the US government for the past 20 years.
Officials of Foreign Affairs acknowledge that the congressional hearings can be debated and may be ugly, but many are sure they are doing the best they can in a very trying condition, including the evacuation of the US Embassy and a crush on desperate people at Kabul Airport who are looking for go.