WASHINGTON: Republicans on the House Committee, an Oversight and Accountability regulator, are kicking off their investigation into the Joe Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan Friday, sending letters requesting information to the White House, Pentagon, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, USAID and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

To launch an investigation against the Biden administration for losing a crucial ally in the region and creating humanitarian issues for the populace, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has demanded information from the heads of the Defense and State Departments, among others, about the rapid troop withdrawal and the situation that followed.

Top Biden administration officials received letters from the House Oversight Committee on Friday requesting details about the disorganised pullout of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021.

According to committee chairman James Comer, "the Biden administration was catastrophically unprepared for the Afghanistan pullout and their policies in the region directly resulted in a national security and humanitarian calamity." He was cited in the media as saying, "The American people deserve answers and the Biden administration's continuous obstruction of this investigation is inexcusable."

The issue here is that the decision to remove troops from Afghanistan was not made by the Biden administration. Donald Trump, his predecessor, decided to completely withdraw the soldiers in response to pressure from the public that had been building up since the recruitment of 18-year-olds to fight in an Iraq War from grieving families who lost their children in a struggle that served no purpose to them. Domestic politics took precedence over regional geopolitics.

Biden merely carried out Trump's order to withdraw the troops, but it is possible that doing so prematurely was a grave mistake because neither the US military brass nor the intelligence services expected the Taliban to quickly regroup and retake the city as the US marines were leaving, as per reports.

As Americans believed it was highly improper to meddle in the internal affairs of another country for one, sending American troops to fight out the battles for the local people in other continents was not a concern of the US government, engaging US marines outside of the US in the Asian region has always been a point of contention between the government, the defence ministry, and the people of America.

The retention of troops in Afghanistan in a conflict that is not their issue has been met with a great deal of public protest from both the US and NATO partners, and the fallout from the Taliban takeover has alarmed lawmakers not only in the US but also in Europe. like losing a regional basis. Pakistan is not a reliable ally since it harbours terrorists and has a homegrown Taliban that causes significant problems for the Muslim nation.

Comer made the announcement as he and the chairs of several subcommittees sent letters to Samantha Power, Lloyd Austin, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, and Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, requesting records, documents, and communications regarding the withdrawal.

The Hezbollah and the Taliban, which the American intelligence had armed to drive out the Russian soldiers, turned on the US like the Frankenstein's Monster twenty years after the Soviet Union withdrew. August 2021 saw the departure of US forces. According to media accounts, terrorists overran the airport and killed 13 service members and hundreds of civilians during the chaotic evacuation of terrified residents and thousands of Americans and Afghan friends.

The Taliban gained access to military weapons, Afghan women's advancement was halted, US service members lost their lives, Americans were abandoned, public monies went missing, and the entire region is now under hostile Taliban control, according to Comer.

"All pertinent departments and agencies should be ready to collaborate and supply all necessary information." Comer lamented the absence of a hearing on the withdrawal during the House Democrats' control of the committee, despite the fact that the House Military Services Committee held a hearing on the subject in September 2021 and featured testimony from Austin and Milley.

The House Foreign Services Committee heard testimony about the withdrawal from Blinken, and several Senate committees also held hearings.

Milley has publicly acknowledged that the US was unprepared for the quick overthrow of the Afghan government it had supported. He claimed that "we completely missed the quick, 11-day fall of the Afghan military and Afghan administration."

The US State Department "does not comment on Congressional correspondence," according to a spokesperson, but "is committed to working with Congressional committees with jurisdiction over US foreign policy to accommodate their need for information to help them conduct oversight for their legitimate legislative purposes," the spokesperson added.
When the United States withdrew from the war-torn nation, the spokeswoman said 150 briefings on Afghanistan policy were given to MPs and employees.

Nearly 2,500 service members and 3,800 US contractors were killed over the span of the nearly 20-year war, reports said.

"I don't support regime change in Russia": Emmanuel Macron at Munich meet

'We are not the countries that make stories...', says Jaishankar

Attack in Karachi: Each vest of suicide bombers carried 8 kg explosives