Smith calls on Biden to meet with families of servicemembers killed during Afghanistan withdrawal

At a House Foreign Affairs Committee roundtable yesterday with the families of the servicemembers killed during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) called on President Joe Biden and top Defense Department officials to meet with those Gold Star families and hear their concerns.

“I think that Biden, [Secretary of State Antony] Blinken, [Secretary of Defense Lloyd] Austin, and [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark] Milley ought to meet with you just like this: a roundtable discussion, no timetable,” Smith told the assembled family members. “As long as it takes for you to convey to them the horror that you have faced, and of course the horror that your loved ones endured, because of this.”

During the American evacuation from Afghanistan in August 2021, a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. servicemembers and 170 Afghan civilians. Those casualties, and the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban that preceded them, drew intense scrutiny from Republicans like Smith, who questioned at the time why the Biden Administration “didn’t anticipate the tragic scenario that is unfolding right before our eyes.”

After taking control of the House this January, Republicans quickly launched several investigations into the withdrawal, including one led by the Foreign Affairs Committee. But Smith told the Gold Star families yesterday that there still needs to be an “independent, comprehensive investigation” that comes from outside Congress and the Pentagon.

“Words are cheap in Washington,” Smith said. “There needs to be a truly independent investigation into all of the very valid questions you have asked.”