Antony Blinken to appear before US Senate to testify nation's withdrawal from Afghanistan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, will on 14 September, appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to testify about the country's withdrawal from Afghanistan. On 30 August, the Pentagon concluded its evacuation process, airlifting more than 1,30,000 people from the Taliban captured Afghanistan and ending a 20-year long war which Biden said was not the US' “national interest”. Notably, next week’s hearing will mark the first time that an administration official would justify the withdrawal and the “mess” caused thereafter before the Senate.  

According to a report by The Hill, the Senate's public hearing is set to be on “examining the US withdrawal from Afghanistan''. As of now, only Blinken is summoned for the testimony, however, there are speculations of other officials also being called. It is also set to trigger a long grilling of the Biden administration on its hasty withdrawal from the Asain country and the uncertain future of hundreds of people who have been left stranded as the Taliban seized full control. 

Previously, Biden dismissed taking the blame for jeopardising the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and said that it was not his fault. Pinning the blame on Afghan leaders and military for the crisis, Biden said that the Afghan failed to protect their country, and that there was no chance the US military kept spending more years defending the region.  "I stand squarely behind my decision," Biden had said from the White House. "After 20 years, I have learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw," he had added.

The Fall of Kabul 

After the Taliban stormed into Kabul on 15 August, Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani resigned and fled the country with his associates. Since then, several persons have lost their lives in the chaos at the Hamid Karzai International Airport with thousands of people desperately trying to flee the country. This includes the death of at least 169 Afghans, 11 US Marines, a US Navy sailor, and a US Army soldier in a suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate of the Kabul airport on 26 August. This led to US airstrikes on terrorists belonging to ISIS-K which claimed responsibility for this attack.

On 31 August, the Taliban gained control of the Kabul airport after the last batch of US troops left Afghanistan. While the Taliban promised to form an "inclusive" government to run Afghanistan, it announced a 33-member caretaker Cabinet a day earlier which neither has women nor mainstream politicians from previous regimes. While Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the chief of the Taliban's Rehbari Shura, is the new Prime Minister, he has two deputies in Mullah Baradar and Mawlavi Hanafi. Another terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani is the Interior Minister whereas Taliban founder Mullah Omar's son Mullah Yaqoob has been named the Defence Minister. 

Image: AP