If the head of the US Defense Ministry Lloyd Austin ignores the hearings of the Congress on the mistakes made in the evacuation of the American contingent from Afghanistan, it will have to be submitted to it. This threatened the Democrat Senator from New Jersey Bob Menendes, reports the Military Times edition.
The warning followed the non-appearance of the head of the military department at the meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives, which was held on December 13. It gave testimony of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The publication reminds that Austin explained his absence of some circumstances that made a visit impossible.
Menendes noted that in any case the testimony will achieve not only from Austin, but also from all military leaders who were involved in the 20-year-old US campaign in Afghanistan. On September 28, the Committee of the Chamber of Representatives of the Armed Forces will be held in Congress. In addition to Austin, the Chairman of the Joint Committee of Headquarters, General Army General Mark Milli and Head of the US Central Command, General Kenneth McCenzi, will be required.
At the hearings of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Blinken stated that the further stay of the American army in Afghanistan would not bring victories over the Taliban (a terrorist organization prohibited in the Russian Federation) to the Government of Ashraf Ghani. This, according to the head of the State Department, is evidenced by millions of dollars and 20 years who have not corrected the situation.
Evacuation of American troops from Afghanistan ended on August 31, 2021. On September 1, President Joe Biden stated that the era of large military operations of the United States was completed with the departure from Afghanistan to reorganize the world.