I submitted a quote for the Washington Examiner on Secretary of State Blinken's reluctance to turn over documents from the Afghanistan Withdrawal to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I submitted the following quote but only had a short sound bite make the published version. I felt the longer quote was applicable and wanted to post it on my website. The quote I submitted is as follows:
The military’s Kabul bombing investigation illustrates how the State Department failed during the Afghanistan withdrawal. Secretary of State Blinken, a former Congressional staffer for Senator Biden, did not appear qualified for the job nor able to supervise his ambassadors. Blinken's firing of the Afghanistan Ambassador, Ambassador Wilson, during the largest evacuation in his Department’s history illustrates the ineptitude. It should also be noted that, astonishingly, Ambassador Wilson took two weeks of vacation in July 2021 while the entire world waited for him to declare the evacuation. Secretary Blinken was ultimately forced to send Ambassador Bass, the previous Afghanistan Ambassador, back to Kabul to oversee the evacuation. But Blinken, trying not to bring attention to his change in Ambassadors, left Ambassador Wilson in country after relieving him of his duties. Blinken’s facade created more confusion in a chaotic situation and undeniably cost lives. Secretary of State Blinken failed overseeing this operation from start to finish. Is it really a surprise that President Biden “reject[ed] this investigation” or that Secretary of State Blinken doesn’t want to release more details on his Department’s ineptitude?
The full article GOP demands Blinken contempt of Congress vote after Afghan cable deal falls short was written on May 23, 2023, and published by the Washington Examiner.
Stuart Scheller is a former USMC infantry officer and author of Crisis of Command: How We Lost Trust and Confidence in America’s Generals and Politicians.
