The US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday announced the Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability will convene a hearing on US President Joe Biden’s failure to plan the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2021.
In a notice issued Thursday, the committee said the hearing, titled “A Failure to Plan: Examining the Biden Administration’s Preparation for the Afghanistan Withdrawal” will be held on Thursday, July 27.
According to the notice, this hearing will examine the Biden administration’s planning for the unconditional U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the administration’s decision to close Bagram Airfield and to run the evacuation solely through Kabul airport.
The hearing will also examine the administration’s planning for worst-case scenarios, its responses to indications of a rapid Taliban takeover, the conflicting lines of authority within and between the Pentagon and the State Department during the withdrawal and the evacuation, and its responses to indications of a rapid Taliban takeover.
At least two witnesses have so far been called to testify including retired US military colonel Seth Krummrich, the former chief of staff, Special Operations Command Central; and Command Sergeant Major Jacob Smith.
Additional witnesses may be added, the notice stated.
This latest hearing comes amid the committee’s ongoing investigation into what they have called Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul sent the State Department another subpoena, this time demanding the release of the department’s After-Action Review (AAR) files on the withdrawal.
According to a statement from McCaul’s office, while the department has complied with two of the three items requested by McCaul on June 8, it has repeatedly failed to produce the Afghanistan AAR files within the committee’s specified deadlines.
The statement noted that the State Department has until 10:00 am ET on Tuesday, July 25, to produce the files.
