House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is calling for a congressional probe into the disaster unfolding in Afghanistan, which has left thousands of Americans stranded in the country scrambling to get out, according to a report.
McCarthy told Punchbowl News on Sunday that Congress needs to investigate the Biden administration’s execution of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling it a “mistake that will haunt us for decades.”
He told the outlet he wants to see the intelligence assessment that led to Biden bringing home U.S. troops, and he wants to understand how the Afghan army fell so apart fast after two decades of American-led training.
McCarthy reportedly “unloaded” on Biden administration officials briefing members of Congress on the withdrawal on Sunday, which included Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley.
McCarthy said Biden should not have been “so public” about the departure date of U.S. forces, and that he should not have drawn them down during the summer, which is the height of the Taliban fighting season.
He also said U.S. forces should have bombed and destroyed all of their military equipment upon withdrawal so that it would not have fallen into Taliban hands.
McCarthy said he would have kept a “small number of troops” to control Bagram airbase, which the U.S. handed over to Afghan troops, who subsequently handed it over to the Taliban.
“How does the rest of the world look at us? They like that the president doesn’t tweet but they don’t… think America is very tough,” McCarthy told the outlet.
