Missouri senator calls for creation of select committee to investigate U.S. - Afghanistan withdrawal

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is calling for the creation of a Senate Select Committee to investigate the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“There needs to be real accountability here,” said Hawley.

Hawley introduced legislation to establish a 20-member committee to review intelligence, interview U.S. officials, and to hold public hearings.

“Yet the White House doesn’t want to answer any questions,” said Hawley. “They will not have hearings in public. Will not consent to it.”

It was back in February of 2020 when former President Donald Trump’s administration signed an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops by May 1, 2021.

President Joe Biden followed through on Trump’s commitment just months into his presidency.

Biden made these remarks on July 8, 2021 when talking about the Afghanistan troop withdrawal.

“As I said in April, the United States did what we went to do in Afghanistan: to get the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and to deliver justice to Osama Bin Laden.”

The Taliban advanced, taking power in the capital Kabul.

Thousands of Afghan civilians tried to flee before the complete U.S. troop pullout at the end of August.

Senator Hawley questions the Biden administration’s actions following a bomb attack at Kabul’s airport just day before the full withdrawal on August 31, 2021.

More than a hundred Afghans were killed along with thirteen U.S. service members including Missouri native, Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz.

The Biden administration says the stability and future of Afghanistan remains on the agenda, and the Pentagon says the war against terrorism continues just in a different way.

In a speech by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to U.S. Special Operations during a change of command ceremony on August 30, the Pentagon chief said, “since the end of the war in Afghanistan, this Command has been instrumental in developing over-the-horizon counter-terrorism approaches. And no one—no one—should doubt the fierce resolve of the United States to protect our homeland.”

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