The final message Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darrin Taylor Hoover despatched to his household again dwelling in Utah was meant to supply a measure of consolation and reassurance to his family members. It was Aug. 25, 2021, and he was serving to to maintain order at Kabul’s most important airport throughout the chaos and confusion of the ultimate U.S. navy withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“It said, ‘I’m safe, Mama. I love you,’” his mom, Kelly Barnett, recalled Tuesday throughout a roundtable organized by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, marking the two-year anniversary of the troubled American pullout and the Aug. 26, 2021 bombing that killed her son and a dozen different U.S. service members.
The session was a part of a push by the brand new House Republican majority to probe the endgame of the 20-year American navy mission in Afghanistan and the way President Biden and his prime safety aides managed the ultimate days because the U.S.-backed authorities in Kabul melted away within the face of advancing Taliban fighters. The lethal explosion at Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate, blamed on an Islamic State suicide bomber who slipped in among the many crush of Afghans attempting to enter the airport, has served as a ultimate punctuation mark for maybe the darkest week of Mr. Biden’s presidency.
In addition to the 13 U.S. navy deaths, some 170 Afghan civilians had been killed and dozens of American troops had been injured. One of the final days of the American mission in Afghanistan turned out to be one of many bloodiest as properly.
The dad and mom and kin of a few of the troops misplaced in that ultimate retreat who gathered in a congressional listening to room Tuesday put a human face on the tragedy and on the lingering ghosts that also hang-out the survivors.
Ms. Barnett informed committee Chairman Mike McCaul, Texas Republican, and a handful of different lawmakers that the chaplain of her son’s unit joined them for the brief commute to their project on the Kabul airport’s Abbey Gate. He supplied a prayer due to info {that a} terrorist was someplace within the crush of Afghans hoping to flee the nation following the swift collapse of the U.S.-backed authorities.
“They knew there was a bomber in the crowd. These brave men and women did their job and they knew they were in imminent danger,” Ms. Barnett mentioned. “Why was the Taliban entrusted with my son’s security? We fought these people for 20 years and we were supposed to rely on them for the security of our men and women?”
Hermann Lopez just lately started re-reading textual content messages despatched by his son within the days main as much as the deadly bombing assault. Cpl. Hunter Lopez informed his household that he regarded ahead to serving to with the evacuation in Kabul and being together with his fellow Marines. He noticed that girls and kids in Afghanistan had been handled poorly by their new Taliban rulers and the way U.S. troops typically shared meals and water with the crowds hoping to push their means onto the airport grounds.
“He also told me of the struggles they were having with their equipment — having to hot-wire vehicles just to get from one part of the airport to the other,” Mr. Lopez mentioned. “But they stayed strong and they pushed forward with the mission.”
Cpl. Lopez was upset that U.S. troops on the airport had been ordered to work facet by facet with the Taliban fighters.
“We all knew that the Taliban was our enemy. This was something that was foreign to Hunter and to the other Marines,” Mr. Lopez mentioned.
‘Disaster of epic proportions’
Mr. McCall, who has sparred repeatedly with the administration in search of extra info on how the withdrawal was performed, mentioned historical past will file the Biden administration’s pullout from Afghanistan as a “disaster of epic proportions,” and one that might have been prevented. He mentioned a Marine Corps sniper on the airport recognized the bomber earlier than the assault and was prepared to have interaction however wasn’t given clearance to fireside.
“It could have been prevented. We want to find out why permission was denied,” Mr. McCall mentioned. “When you make mistakes, you own it. Admit the mistakes and rectify the problem. This cannot ever happen again.”
The State Department and the Pentagon warned the White House {that a} hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan would end in elevated violence and threaten the protection of the U.S. embassy in Kabul. Now, two years later, the American folks nonetheless have but to obtain straight solutions from the Biden administration, Mr. McCall mentioned.
“They want to sweep what happened under the rug. They know they bear the brunt of the blame and they want to escape any accountability,” he mentioned. “This was a disgraceful surrender to the Taliban.”
Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee typically spoke about how proud she was to be assigned to the airport as a part of what the service known as a “Female Engagement Team.” Their job was to assist evacuate Afghan ladies and kids. She informed members of the family that moms had been tossing their kids over the razor wire to the American troops to safe a seat on packed departing planes as a result of they knew they’d have a greater life within the United States.
“They carried out this humanitarian evacuation in the worst of circumstances,” Christy Shamblin, Sgt. Gee’s mother-in-law, testified.
During the listening to, Mr. McCall mentioned he obtained a message concerning the Abbey Gate Gold Star households from Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Milley mentioned the Defense Department owes them transparency, honesty, and accountability.
“I trust the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps did the best they could in briefing the families who had loved ones killed at Abbey Gate. I believe the briefers gave every piece of information that they could,” Gen. Milley mentioned. “If there were issues with that, we need to take whatever corrective action is necessary. And, our hearts go out to those families.”
Ms. Barnett mentioned she is uninterested in listening to what she says are distortions and excuses from the White House concerning the terrorist assault that killed her son and 12 different U.S. troops.
“They knew this was going to happen but they were too busy shaking hands with the Taliban,” she mentioned. “I want justice [but] the justice I crave will never be had in this life.”
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