US lawmakers warn State Department over Afghanistan

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The US Department of State must comply with a request from Congress to provide documents on the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan or face a mandatory process, as per a letter from the new Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

In a ten-page letter dated Thursday, Representative Michael McCaul demanded a laundry list of documents and answers to specific inquiries from Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

McCaul also called President Joe Biden's administration's prior denials of his requests "absurd and shameful," warning that the committee "would use the authorities available to it to enforce" the release.

"In total chaos" - this is how the #UnitedStates left #Afghanistan after 20 years of war. #kabulairport pic.twitter.com/a3yRUDlSvh

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 16, 2021

The questions he posed encompass the department's views on the consequences of withdrawing NATO soldiers from Afghanistan, the process itself, and the state of the country afterward. He also demanded an explanation for Washington's contacts with the Taliban, which retook control of Afghanistan amid the US-led pullout.

The demands come after McCaul's first visit to Foggy Bottom in his new role on Wednesday. The discussion with Blinken and other employees was "really beneficial", according to State Department Spokesperson Ned Price, who declined to comment on the lawmaker's interest in Afghanistan.

Price told reporters during a daily briefing that Blinken "believes passionately" in gaining bipartisan support in Congress. He noted that the legislative body has essential functions, such as authorization, appropriation, and oversight and that the State Department "believes in the value, in the importance of each of those functions."

Joe Biden's decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was a miscalculated decision on all levels - not because they did any good to Afghanistan, but the reason is attributed to how the US left the country. In a war that cost 20 years and 1.5 trillion dollars and was "lost" in 20 days, a lot of things could be happening that are far from good. 

The never-ending costs of US failure, in lives and dollars, are tragic for those living under occupation and others recruited to force it. The poor decisions of the United States will go down in history, never to be forgotten. 

Read next: 2021 Roundup: The failed US withdrawal from Afghanistan