House Committee to Review Cable of Dissent on Afghanistan Withdrawal.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee has secured a victory as they will now be able to view a dissent cable from the time of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. This development is a win for the committee’s chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).

Committee Members to View the Cable

The committee announced this development on June 5. McCaul, along with Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), viewed the cable on May 23 at the State Department. Whether committee members will have to go to the department to see it or whether they can view it in the House’s sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) is yet to be determined. The committee’s deputy communications director, McLaurine Pinover, told The Epoch Times that the timing of when they will view the document is also yet to be determined.

The Dissenters Were Right

“Although I cannot discuss the classified information in the cable, I can say the dissenters were right–and the administration should have listened,” said McCaul in a May 23 statement released by the committee. McCaul had called on the State Department to let other committee members view the cable as well.

What the Cable Contains

The committee subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken in March for the cable, which, as The Wall Street Journal first reported, shows the U.S. Embassy in Kabul warning the State Department about the Taliban quickly gaining ground and the Afghan forces falling apart. They gave suggestions on how to expedite an evacuation and alleviate the situation.

• The cable, dated July 13 [2021], also called for the State Department to use tougher language in describing the atrocities being committed by the Taliban,” the Journal reported, citing a person familiar with its contents.

“The cable was written by 23 officials at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, including the then-Charge d’Affaires Ross Wilson, and was sent through the State Department’s dissent channel, which allows officials to voice concerns without fear of retaliation,” the Journal reported.