Republican gives Blinken ‘BULL***’ warning and sets Monday deadline to deliver Afghan document

The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday called “bulls***” over Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s refusal to hand over a key document on the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

And Representative Mike McCaul gave Blinken until late Monday to hand over a mid-July 2021 telegram sent by diplomats in Kabul outlining their reservations about leaving.

Failure, he said, would force legal action.

“I’ve got the subpoena — it’s here,” McCaul said, waving a document in the air during the committee hearing. “And I am willing to serve this.”

He first requested the telegram in August 2021, as the chaotic departure unfolded, and has tightened his demands since Republicans took control of the House and its committees as he explores how the departure went so wrong.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said dissident cables were intended to be confidential, and so he was unwilling to hand over an important document to the committee

He also sought the post-action report on the withdrawal and the embassy’s evacuation plans. The evacuation plan has been submitted and Blinken announced that the after action report would soon be submitted to Congress.

The dissident cable reportedly warns that the internationally backed government in Kabul would likely collapse if the US left.

During his whims, the Secretary of State said that dissident cables should be kept secret.

“The tradition of having a channel for dissent is one that is cherished in the department, and one that goes back decades – it’s a unique way for everyone in the department to speak the truth to the power as they see it. see, without fear or favour,” he said. .

“And they do so in a privileged and confidential manner, according to the regulations we have established for these cables.

It is vital to me that we maintain the integrity of that process and that channel – that we do not take any steps that could have a chilling effect on the willingness of others to come forward in the future, to address dissenting opinions on the express policy. who are being prosecuted.’

Instead, he suggested holding a briefing on some of the most important details.

McCaul was having none of it. He referred to a similar dispute in the 1970s and to a message from a former US ambassador.

The withdrawal in August 2021 was marked by dramatic footage from Kabul airport as desperate Afghans tried to flee their new Taliban rulers

And in a statement [former Ambassador Boyatt] provided to the committee, he says that any claim she provides to Congress would have, I quote, chilling effect — as your staff has claimed — and I quote him directly here, “Bulls***.”

“Not my words, those are from the ambassador.”

McCaul set a deadline for Monday.

“I’m giving you until the end of the business day Monday to produce that dissident telegram to this committee and this congress so that the American people can see what the embassy staff in Kabul thought about your policies that they disagreed with.” , he said.

Republicans are investigating the circumstances leading to the US withdrawal and how 13 US personnel were killed in a suicide bombing amid the chaos at Kabul airport.

Earlier this month, the committee heard of Marine sniper Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, security detail in a tower, watching desperate Afghans try to flee the city’s new Taliban rulers, when he was blindsided by a massive wave of pressure.

The withdrawal reached its darkest moment when a suicide bomber detonated explosives amid the chaos, killing 13 US servicemen and dozens of Afghans.

Marine sniper Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews burst into tears earlier this month as he recounted his harrowing ordeal criticizing the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, which Republicans have called a “stunning failure of leadership.”

It was August 26, 2021, and an ISIS-K suicide bomber had been detonated on the outskirts of Hamid Karzai International Airport during the chaotic evacuation resulting from the Biden administration’s troop withdrawal after 20 years in Afghanistan.

Just before the attack, the California veteran spotted a terrorist who matched the suspect’s description and asked if he could “connect,” but he says his leaders refused.

Between 100 and 150 ball bearings entered Vargas-Andrews’ body in the explosion that killed 11 fellow Marines, two Marine Corps and hundreds of Afghan men, women and children. His right arm and right leg had to be amputated over the course of 43 surgeries that followed.

Vargas-Andrews burst into tears as he recounted his harrowing ordeal, criticizing the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, which Republicans called a “stunning failure of leadership.”

He explained how military leaders ignored his warnings minutes earlier and how those stationed at the airport were told not to intervene – even as the Taliban shot people trying to board a plane.