{"id":109148,"date":"2021-09-13T20:54:39","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T20:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/09\/13\/blinken-vows-afghanistan-evac-mission-will-continue-despite-lawmakers-skepticism\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:06:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:06:46","slug":"blinken-vows-afghanistan-evac-mission-will-continue-despite-lawmakers-skepticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/09\/13\/blinken-vows-afghanistan-evac-mission-will-continue-despite-lawmakers-skepticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Blinken vows Afghanistan evac mission will continue, but lawmakers skeptical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/09\/03\/state-department-vows-to-improve-visa-process-for-afghans-rescue-those-left-behind\/\" target=\"_blank\">Secretary of State Antony Blinken<\/a> on Monday offered repeated assurances to lawmakers that Americans and allies in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Afghanistan<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/09\/12\/us-defense-state-officials-will-meet-with-rescue-groups-to-help-evacuate-americans-afghan-allies\/\" target=\"_blank\">will be brought safely out of that country<\/a> but gave few new specifics on how federal officials will do that in the absence of military forces there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his first appearance before Congress since the end of the military\u2019s evacuation mission in Afghanistan \u2014 and the first public oversight hearing on Capitol Hill since the full U.S. military withdrawal there \u2014 Blinken said that work still continues to get individuals trapped in the Taliban country to safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are in constant contact with American citizens still in Afghanistan who have told us they wish to leave,\u201d he told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. \u201cWe will continue to help Americans \u2013 and Afghans to whom we have a special commitment \u2013 depart Afghanistan if they choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is no deadline to this mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/09\/13\/us-defense-state-officials-will-meet-with-rescue-groups-to-help-evacuate-americans-afghan-allies\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AfghanRamstein2.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">U.S. Defense, State officials will meet with rescue groups to help evacuate Americans, Afghan allies<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Pentagon and State need to work more closely with veterans to help rescue American and Afghan allies, the founder of one rescue effort says.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that pledge (repeated often by Blinken in the two weeks since the evacuation mission ended) was met with skepticism and disdain by Republicans on the panel, several of whom called for the Secretary of State to resign over the \u201cbungled\u201d withdrawal from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn the weeks before the fall of Kabul, I was on the phone with very high ranking officials at the State Department and the White House trying to save lives,\u201d said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas and ranking member of the foreign affairs committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe had Americans that couldn\u2019t get out. We had interpreters that couldn\u2019t get through. They are left behind, and they will be executed (by the Taliban).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 124,000 individuals were airlifted out of Afghanistan in the last 18 days of August, ahead of the end of the nearly 20-year American military presence there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 100 Americans still in Afghanistan have asked for assistance in escaping the country. Advocates \u2014 including veterans groups still in contact with individuals on the ground \u2014 say thousands more Afghan allies were left behind and now face retaliation from the Taliban for aiding U.S. troops over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republicans on the committee labeled that a failure by Blinken and President Joe Biden. McCaul said the incomplete evacuation effort means that \u201cOur standing on the world stage has been greatly diminished, our enemies no longer fear us, and our allies no longer trust us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats on the panel criticized their GOP colleagues for grandstanding during the hearing and ignoring decisions by former President Donald Trump in the U.S. departure from Afghanistan. Blinken echoed that blame in his statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe inherited a deadline, we did not inherit a plan,\u201d he said. \u201cThe deal that the previous administration struck involved committing to remove all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by May 1 of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But along with the political support, Democratic lawmakers still questioned Blinken on what will happen to individuals trapped in Afghanistan now, both those trying to leave and minority groups that may be oppressed by the new Taliban government there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blinken promised to use \u201cevery tool at our disposal \u2014 through our diplomacy, through our economic assistance, humanitarian assistance, programmatic assistance\u201d to address the issue. That includes naming a new senior official at the State Department specific to protecting women and minority rights in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/09\/08\/white-house-wants-64-billion-to-help-resettle-afghan-allies-refugees\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21251384626954.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">White House wants $6.4 billion to help resettle Afghan allies, refugees<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Lawmakers could approve the money as part of a budget extension plan due at the end of September.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also vowed to work with outside groups on the continuing evacuation efforts, saying he is in close contact with more than 75 veterans organizations working with individuals on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to another point of GOP criticism, Blinken dismissed concerns about military equipment left behind in the withdrawal and shown under Taliban control in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur folks worked very hard to disable or dismantle equipment that we still controlled before we left,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we see now is much of the equipment that was left behind, including what was in the hands of the Afghan forces that then fell to the Taliban, much of it &#8230; is inoperable or soon will become inoperable because it has to be maintained.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bliken is expected to testify Tuesday on Afghanistan before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Gen. Austin Scott Miller, former commander of U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, will testify in a closed briefing before the Senate Armed Services Committee later in the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Secretary of State faced partisan criticism for the Afghan withdrawal in the first oversight hearing since all U.S. troops left the country last month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":100534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":86,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[132,10,29,116,15,86,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3347],"class_list":["post-109148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afghanistan","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FUM2JQGUQVFLFBQGP7GRTR3ZI4","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/09\/13\/blinken-vows-afghanistan-evac-mission-will-continue-despite-lawmakers-skepticism\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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