(PatriotWise.com) — Late Wednesday night, the White House released a statement marking the second anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Daily Caller reported.
In the statement, President Biden thanked members of the US military, intel officials, and diplomats who helped coordinate the withdrawal that resulted in the Taliban retaking the country, the deaths of 13 US service members in a terrorist bombing in Kabul, and hundreds of Americans stranded.
Biden honored the Americans who served in the two-decade war in Afghanistan, including the 2,461 who died and the 20,744 who were wounded.
However, the president’s statement made no mention of the 13 service members who were killed in the Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul on August 26, 2021.
Just one day before the president released his late-night statement, the parents of nine of the 13 US service members appeared at a roundtable event on Capitol Hill, where they once again demanded accountability from the Biden administration for the bungled withdrawal.
Mark Schmitz, whose son Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz was killed in the bombing, said that two years later, the families are still “knee-deep in bullsh*t.” He noted that the military officials involved in the bungled withdrawal are either still in their positions or have been promoted, as the Washington Examiner reported.
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover’s father, Darin, called for the resignations of President Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.
Chairman McCaul (R-TX) announced at the start of last Tuesday’s roundtable that the Foreign Affairs Committee is investigating the withdrawal and revealed that the Pentagon will allow the committee to interview Marine Corps Lt. Col. Brad Whited.
The committee sought Whited’s testimony after Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews testified in a March hearing that he identified the would-be bomber but could not get the go-ahead to eliminate him.
In April, the Biden administration released an unclassified summary of the withdrawal from Afghanistan in which it faulted the previous administration for limiting its options.
Copyright 2023, PatriotWise.com
