{"id":658525,"date":"2021-08-18T13:05:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T17:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=658525"},"modified":"2021-08-18T13:05:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T17:05:32","slug":"democrats-in-congress-preparing-hearings-into-frenzied-afghanistan-exit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-in-congress-preparing-hearings-into-frenzied-afghanistan-exit\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats In Congress Preparing Hearings Into Frenzied Afghanistan Exit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-in-congress-preparing-hearings-into-frenzied-afghanistan-exit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=658525&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>Democrats in Congress are preparing multiple hearings into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Biden administration\u2019s handling of it as the Taliban retook the country in days, jeopardizing the safety of Americans and Afghans who helped them during the war.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Foreign Affairs Committee is set to hold the first one next week, with its chairman, New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, saying Tuesday that he had invited Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to testify.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Top committee chairs in the Senate have also scheduled hearings. Democrats have offered both praise and pointed criticism toward President Joe Biden\u2019s exit.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Democrats in Congress are preparing multiple hearings into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Biden administration\u2019s handling of it as the Taliban retook the country in days, jeopardizing the safety of Americans and Afghans who helped them during the war.<\/p>\n<p>Hearings are expected in the House once it returns from its August recess Monday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the Foreign Affairs Committee will hold the first one next week, while its chairman, New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8PPGGsuRzY?amp=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a> Tuesday that he had invited Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to testify.<\/p>\n<p>Top committee chairs in the Senate have also said that hearings will convene once they return on Sept. 13. Several have pointedly criticized the Biden administration over its <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/15\/tom-cotton-stranded-americans-kabul-afghanistan-taliban\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">exit strategy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/17\/afghanistan-state-department-malliotakis-sasse-hinson-cotton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">underestimation<\/a> of how quickly the Taliban would advance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn implementing this flawed plan, I am disappointed that the Biden administration clearly did not accurately assess the implications of a rapid US withdrawal,\u201d said New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, the Foreign Relations Committee chair, in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foreign.senate.gov\/press\/chair\/release\/sfrc-chairman-menendez-statement-on_taliban-takeover-in-afghanistan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">statement<\/a> Tuesday. \u201cWe are now witnessing the horrifying results of many years of policy and intelligence failures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that he would soon hold a hearing on \u201cthe Trump administration\u2019s flawed negotiations with Taliban, and the Biden administration\u2019s flawed execution of the U.S. withdrawal.\u201d&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/15\/taliban-islamic-emirate-of-afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Taliban Reach Kabul, Afghan President Flees)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7261174\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"33\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7261174\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7261174\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234709652-scaled-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234709652-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234709652-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234709652-620x413-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234709652-768x512-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234709652-1536x1024-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234709652-2048x1365-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7261174\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taliban fighters stand guard along a street in Kabul on Aug. 16. (WAKIL KOHSAR\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the chair of the Armed Services Committee, said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reed.senate.gov\/news\/releases\/reed-statement-on-situation-in-afghanistan\">statement<\/a> that he was \u201cdeeply concerned about the evolving humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan\u201d and that there are \u201cno easy answers to how we got here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the appropriate time, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings on what went wrong in Afghanistan and lessons learned to avoid repeating those mistakes,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Both were echoed by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who called the recent events \u201cdevastating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIntelligence officials have anticipated for years that in the absence of the U.S. military the Taliban would continue to make gains in Afghanistan,\u201d he said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.warner.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/pressreleases\">statement<\/a>. \u201cThat is exactly what has happened as the Afghan National Security Forces proved unable or unwilling to defend against Taliban advances in Kabul and across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I hope to work with the other committees of jurisdiction to ask tough but necessary questions about why we weren\u2019t better prepared for a worst-case scenario involving such a swift and total collapse of the Afghan government and security forces,\u201d Warner said. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/16\/joe-biden-address-nation-afghanistan-taliban\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Biden Plays Blame Game While Addressing Afghanistan Collapse)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7263210\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"32\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7263210\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7263210\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234604502-scaled-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234604502-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234604502-177x120.jpg 177w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234604502-620x421-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234604502-768x521-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234604502-1536x1043-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234604502-2048x1391-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7263210\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Bob Menendez arrives at the Capitol on August 10. (MANDEL NGAN\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Other Democrats have offered criticism and praise toward the Biden administration\u2019s handling of the Afghanistan exit.<\/p>\n<p>Rhode Island Rep. Jim Langevin was perhaps the most pointed, writing a Foreign Policy op-ed stating that the current \u201ccatastrophe\u201d is why he opposed withdrawal in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis negligence was par for the course for the last U.S. administration,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2021\/08\/17\/afghanistan-withdrawal-taliban-biden-congress-democrats-military-plan\/\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cI am disappointed to see it now. At minimum, the Biden administration owed our Afghan allies of 20 years a real plan. They also owed it to our military service members and their families, particularly the men and women in uniform and their families who gave the ultimate sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pelosi, however, praised President Joe Biden and his decision. \u201cI commend the President for the action that he took. It was strong, it was decisive and it was the right thing to do,\u201d she told local <a href=\"https:\/\/sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com\/video\/5904137-kpix-5-exclusive-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-discusses-crisis-in-afghanistan-covid-and-more\/\">San Francisco station KPIX Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow we are unfortunately, one of the possibilities was it would be in disarray, as it is. But that has to be corrected,\u201d Pelosi said. \u201cIt\u2019s my understanding from the assurances we have received that the military will be there negotiating with the Taliban for the safe exit of American citizens and friends, people who have helped us, our allies there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy also defended Biden\u2019s decision. \u201cThe idea that a small, cloistered U.S. presence in Afghanistan was going to be able to prevent the completely understandable public panic caused by the overnight, complete collapse of the Afghan military is probably without merit,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisMurphyCT\/status\/1427732257960341508\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats in Congress are preparing multiple hearings into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Biden administration\u2019s handling of it as the Taliban retook the country in days, jeopardizing the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-658525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}