Current, Former State Department Officials Miss Deadline for Interviews About Afghan Withdrawal

A general view of Kabul city, Afghanistan, on Aug. 10, 2023. Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images

Nine current and former State Department officials failed to comply with a Sept. 7 deadline to submit to transcribed interviews with the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, said the committee’s chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), on Sept. 8.

“The State Department has indicated that all requested department officials are willing to cooperate with the committee’s request but has yet to schedule any of the interviews,” said Mr. McCaul in a statement.

“I expect these interviews be scheduled without further delay,” he continued. “These are crucial witnesses for the committee’s investigation, and I will leave no stone unturned in getting answers for our Gold Star families, veterans, and the American people.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the State Department for comment.

The current and former officials the committee wants interviews from are Under Secretary of State for Management and former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass, State Department Counselor Derek Chollet, Chief of Staff to the Secretary Suzy George, Director of Policy Planning Salman Ahmed, U.S. Ambassador to Nepal and former Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Dean Thompson, former acting Under Secretary of State for Management Carol Perez, former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, former Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian McKeon, and former acting U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson.

“Through our ongoing investigation, we have determined these individuals have important information that is critical to uncovering how and why the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan resulted in a disgraceful surrender to the Taliban, the death of 13 U.S. servicemembers and injuring 45 more — all which could have been prevented,” said Mr. McCaul.

“This was an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions and I will not rest until the American people receive the transparency and answers they deserve,” he continued. “The committee will continue to interview additional current and former administration officials involved in the planning and execution of the withdrawal.”

The missed deadline comes over a week after family members of eight of the 13 U.S. service members killed in an ISIS terrorist attack on Aug. 26, 2021, at the Abbey Gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, voiced their feelings on Aug. 29—just over two years since the bombing, which occurred just days before the United States and its allies departed Afghanistan following the 20-year war there.

During the committee-hosted roundtable discussion, which was almost three hours, there were calls for accountability, transparency, and even resignations directed at President Joe Biden and his administration.

During the discussion, Mr. McCaul read a statement he had just received from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.

“We owe them transparency, we owe them honesty, we owe them accountability. We owe them the truth about what happened to their loved ones,” he said in a statement first reported by Fox News.

“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,” the four-star general continued. “I believe the briefers gave every piece of information that they could. If there were issues with that, we need to take whatever corrective action is necessary. And our hearts go out to those families.

“This is a personal thing for all of us in uniform. We don’t like what happened in Afghanistan. We don’t like the outcome of Afghanistan. We owe it to the families to take care of them. Their sacrifices were not in vain.”