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| US soldier tearfully describes 'catastrophic' withdrawal of US troops in Kabul |
A former US soldier who was seriously injured during the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has told Congress that the 2021 withdrawal of US troops was extremely 'devastating'.
Tyler Vargas Andrews testified before the Republican-led committee that is reviewing the Biden administration's handling of the withdrawal of US troops from Kabul.
Tyler recounts in great detail the events of the day after the Taliban captured Kabul. In his statement, he said that the American government in Kabul was absolutely not ready for this withdrawal.
At this point, others mentioned the mental trauma caused by the incident and the morale degradation caused by deserting the Allies and fleeing.
Sergeant Vargas Andrews, 25, was among the soldiers tasked with guarding Kabul Airport on Aug. 26, 2021, when two suicide bombers attacked a crowd of Afghans who had been waiting for the U.S. withdrawal. They had gathered there to escape from the Taliban.
170 Afghan civilians, including 13 American soldiers, were killed in these suicide attacks.
In his testimony to Congress, Sergeant Vargas Andrews said that he and another US Marine had received an intelligence report of the attack before the attack and had seen the alleged attackers in the crowd.
He said he informed his supervisor about the attack and sought their permission to take action, which he never received.
"Simply put, we were completely ignored," said Sergeant Vargas Andrews.
In an emotional statement before Congress, he told how during the suicide attack, the bodies of his comrades were blown up in the air and when he regained consciousness, he found the bodies of his comrades lying there.
"My whole body went numb due to the blast," he said. My stomach was torn. Every part of my body that was hit by the blast was riddled with bomb fragments and iron ball bearings.
Sergeant Vargas Andrews described the troop withdrawal as 'catastrophic', adding that 'there was an incredible lack of responsibility and gross negligence.'
He said, "All the faces come before me that we couldn't save, that we left there."
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives, which is investigating the events of the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021, also heard statements from US soldiers and retired soldiers who suffered from mental illnesses due to the trauma of the withdrawal. are
Retired Lt. Col. Scott Mann, who was tasked with evacuating the Afghans at the time, said his experience transporting allies to safety showed the system was "completely destroyed."
He added that after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, telephone calls from senior soldiers seeking emergency help had increased by 81 percent, after which he warned that "America is facing a tsunami of mental illness." was faced.'
He said that one of his colleagues who was working with him had committed suicide due to the effects of the incident.
Lt. Col. Mann said, "The darkness he felt because of the moral decline could not escape the trauma."
The majority of soldiers who appeared before the committee blamed the events in Afghanistan on all presidents from George W. Bush to Joe Biden.
These witnesses demanded immediate assistance from all allies in Afghanistan and the United States.
"From the Montagnards of Vietnam to the Kurds of Syria, the United States has given its allies a bad reputation for generations to come because of a system of abandoning them in their worst hour," said Lt. Col. Mann. Getting it.'
The Republican Party, which has long been demanding an inquiry into complaints of mismanagement during the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, blames the entire incident on the Biden administration.
Texas congressman Mike McCall, who chairs the committee, says there was an administrative deadlock at all levels of the federal government during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and a stunning leadership failure in Joe Biden's administration. '
In response to the Republican Party, the Democratic Party is defending Joe Biden.
Congressman Gregory Max from New York said that Joe Biden "made the right decision by calling all the troops home."
"I can't imagine sending American men and women to Afghanistan."
President Joe Biden has previously said he was "primarily responsible for whatever happened there," but he also blamed former President Donald Trump for the withdrawal agreement with the Taliban.