For ads-free news, click here.
From the New York Post: Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken finally expressed remorse that the Biden administration had not done more to protect the 13 US troops who were killed in an ISIS-K suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
“I think today, especially of the 13 heroes that we lost at Abbey Gate. And I deeply regret we did not do more and could not do more to protect them,” Blinken said as he testified Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “And to those families who are here with us today, you’re in my thoughts and my prayers.”
Blinken, 62, mixed a conciliatory tone with a defensive message during his hotly anticipated appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which came after months of bickering with the panel to answer questions about its probe into the botched bug out from Kabul in August 2021.
Blinken also reportedly tried to blame the first Trump administration, claiming, “Any attempt to understand, learn from the US withdrawal from Afghanistan has to be put in the proper context of what preceded it.”
“All of us, including myself, wrestled with what we could have done differently during that period and over the preceding two decades,” he said.
Blinken offers an apology to the families of U.S. troops who lost their lives during the BOTCHED Afghanistan withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/fsl2OSqErg
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 11, 2024
“I deeply regret that we did not do more and could not do more to protect them.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before a House committee on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, apologizes to families of 13 service members killed. https://t.co/5WI0jopUWR pic.twitter.com/9dmEfDYxv3
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 11, 2024
News Nation correspondent Joe Khalil explained, “Before the hearing began Secretary Blinken turned and greeted Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee who was killed in Afghanistan during the withdrawal.”
Before the hearing began Secretary Blinken turned and greeted Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee who was killed in Afghanistan during the withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/eWWGeVti64
— Joe Khalil (@JoeKhalilTV) December 11, 2024
Inside the hearing room, a constant loop of photos of the 13 fallen service members is being played on the television.
Secretary Blinken is in the hearing room, as are protestors and some family members of the 13 fallen service-members killed outside the Kabul airport during the withdrawal.
There’s also a constant loop of pictures of those servicemembers on the TV screen pic.twitter.com/g9iy3LeM0e
— Joe Khalil (@JoeKhalilTV) December 11, 2024
Although the hearing is about the Afghanistan withdrawal, a number of Gaza supporters arrived as a protest against Blinken over the Israel-Hamas war, and are calling him “Bloody Blinken.”
Outside the House Foreign Relations Committee… Gaza supporters call Secretary of State Antony Blinken a war criminal. He is testify about the deadly evacuation from Afghanistan. Capitol police are anticipating a number of arrests during the hearing. @EWTNNewsNightly pic.twitter.com/1wRlG3uTow
— Erik Rosales (@ErikRosalesNews) December 11, 2024
Below is a video of the full hearing, which is currently still ongoing.
Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter.)
Dennis Michael Lynch personal: www.X.com/TrustDML
The DML News App: www.X.com/DMLNewsApp
The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast archive is available below, with the most recent on top. Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the show by downloading The DML News App or go to Apple Podcasts.
