House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul has hired Ryan Browne, a former embedded contractor adviser to the Afghan National Army and CNN national security reporter, to serve as the lead investigator into President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“What we saw in Afghanistan was a systemic failure of the federal government that led to the chaos and horrific devastation,” McCaul remarked. “That resulted in the death of 13 American service members and the abandonment of American citizens, green card holders, and our Afghan partners in a country controlled by a brutal terrorist organization. While I appreciate the Secretary testifying before our committee yesterday, he once again provided us with little to no new information. It is time for Congress to use our Article I responsibility and begin a vigorous investigation into how this all went so badly.”
The head-scratching development comes a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken virtually appeared before the committee in a contentious hearing over the Biden administration’s deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan that ended on Aug. 31. The lead diplomat was only three miles away from where the hearing was held but decided to testify virtually any way.
Predictably, the Democrats lauded and defended President Biden while the Republicans torched Blinken. Two members, Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and Brian Mast (R-FL) told Blinken he should resign.
NEW: “House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul has hired Ryan Browne to serve as the investigator into the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that has played out in recent weeks for the Committee Republicans.”https://t.co/RT19NJWag7
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) September 14, 2021
Browne has previously served as the director of international security studies at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress according to Politico. He was charged with examing NATO’s role in Afghanistan. He was an embedded U.S. Army contractor advisor to the Afghan National Army from 2011 to 2013 and then served as a national security reporter for CNN from December 2015 until January of 2021.
“Oversight is a critical function of Congress, and I look forward to putting together a comprehensive, independent, and facts-driven investigation,” stated Browne.
“It is crucial we discover what led to the chaos of the emergency evacuation, and examine the administration’s failed efforts to evacuate all American citizens, green card holders, local allies, and other vulnerable Afghans fearing reprisals from the Taliban,” he noted in a statement.
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) asserted that Congress needs to dig deeper into what Biden has said was unanimous advice from his military leaders to stick with the final withdrawal date of Aug. 31, despite many Americans and thousands of Afghan visa applicants being left behind enemy lines. That abandonment of those people and the fact that 13 American service members were killed in a terrorist attack during the withdrawal has angered lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.
“When the dust settles, I suspect most of the blame will fall on Biden,” declared Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who is a former Marine intelligence officer. “I do think someone needs to be held accountable, but we need to do our due diligence before we determine whether that person is the secretary of state, secretary of defense, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, or the national security adviser.”
But some may wonder whether someone such as Browne will be able to carry out the “due diligence” needed in the investigation in an unbiased manner considering his ties with the leftist CNN media network.
President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are both being grilled on Capitol Hill this week over the catastrophic Afghanistan debacle.
GOP lawmaker wounded in Afghanistan explodes at Blinken: ‘We don’t need to hear lies’ https://t.co/UcjgwlsfeW pic.twitter.com/2OovknUhRe
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) September 14, 2021
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