Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) led off Senate Committee on Foreign Relations’ hearing on Afghanistan by chastising Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the rest of the Biden Administration over the U.S.’ chaotic withdrawal from the country.
Blinken appeared before the Senate committee on Tuesday after a contentious day of testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Menendez began the hearing with an opening statement as committee chairman, and he told Blinken “the execution of the U.S. withdrawal was clearly and fatally flawed.”
“There has to be accountability,” Menendez continued. “This rapid collapse laid bare a fundamental fact that successive administrations lied to the Congress over the years about the durability of Afghan military and governing institutions. And we need to understand why.”
Menendez went on by condemning the failures of previous administrations that led to current events, plus he outlined the dire consequences of the Taliban’s return to power. He prefaced his comments by saying that even though he supported withdrawing from Afghanistan, “doing the right thing in the wrong way can end up being the wrong thing.”
Menendez noted the questions that the Biden administration must answer for, and added that he was “very disappointed” that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin chose not to attend the hearing.
A full accounting to this crisis is not complete without the Pentagon, especially when it comes to understanding the complete collapse of the U.S.
-trained and funded Afghan military. His decision not to appear before the committee will affect my personal judgment on Department of Defense nominees. I expect the secretary will avail himself to the committee in the near future and if he does not, I may consider the use of committee subpoena power to compel him and others from the last 20 years to testify.
Watch above, via MSNBC.