A group of House Republicans introduced a resolution urging the Pentagon inspector general to investigate President Joe Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal.
According to the resolution, the investigation would include an analysis of which, and why, United States humvees, helicopters, artillery, and drones ended up in the hands of the Taliban.
It would also look at “the extent to which Afghan forces in possession of the United States equipment entered Iran with such equipment,” as well as the effectiveness of the evacuation of American citizens and allied personnel from Afghanistan.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), the sponsor of the resolution, and 11 other House Republicans asked for the report to be submitted to Congress not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the resolution.
Gimenez said in a statement, “President Biden has made categorically false statements to the American people, including lies that the American embassy in Kabul was secured and prepared for the withdrawal, that there are no Al-Qaeda militants in Afghanistan, that America’s allies are not questioning the President’s judgments, and even changing readouts with our most important allies.”
He added, “These falsehoods, of course, are deliberately deceptive to the American people with both the mainstream press and the President’s own senior national security officials contradicting these claims.”
Gimenez argued if Biden “is not going to be straight with the American people, all while American lives are being left in Afghanistan at the mercy of the Taliban, then Congress has both the moral and constitutional obligation to demand accountability of any and all Biden Administration officials who deliberately put American lives at risk. I urge my colleagues to support this investigation.”
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the original 11 cosponsors of the bill, called it “wrong to remove our forces from Afghanistan in the first place.”
She explained, “We’re now seeing first-hand the ramifications of this irresponsible decision and our country is going to experience the consequences of this withdrawal for decades. The American people deserve answers about how and why the Biden Administration went forward with this approach when it was clear that the fallout would jeopardize the safety of Americans still in Afghanistan, endanger our Afghan partners who have fought alongside us for two decades, and threaten our broader national security interests.”
Cheney argued, “This is a critical investigation and I urge my colleagues to support it so we can learn the truth about how this unfolded and ensure our country never makes such a catastrophic mistake again.”
The president said Tuesday he is keeping the August 31 deadline to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.
