[000:00:00;00] ah, i'll just 0. when you, when i i day off to international don is more than a $1000000000.00. the telephone promises all of it will go to afghans who need ah, again, kim, fidel, this is there live from doha. also coming up facing pressure to set

a timeframe for elections. guineas can lead is open talks with political parties and religious leaders of a report from lebanon valley, where the syrians who fed war thinking deeper into death and despair. and britain began the world's largest trial of a blood test that can detect 50 types of cancer before symptoms appear. ah, the telephone says it's committed to getting every sense of emergency aid promised by donors to the afghans who needed. the united nations drummed out more than a $1000000000.00 in pledges on monday. it was the 1st time level conference all have gone on since the tele balance in the groups. takeover has compounded fears of economic collapse and famine. we assure the international community that we're pleased to hear about the pledge committed to afghanistan at the same time we

promise on our part the all the relief reached those who deserve it. it's our responsibility to handle all the really fade to all of counties across the country . the us actually a face is about to testify before the senate foreign relations committee about america's times. chaotic withdrawal from august on it comes a day off, the anthony blinking was grilled by members of the house of representatives. he defended the binding administration against allegations that it deserted us, citizens and afghans alike. we abandon americans behind enemy lines. we left behind the interpreters who you mister secretary, and the president both promise to protect. i can summarize this in one word. the trail and president biden took office in january. he inherited an agreement that his previous esser had reached with the taliban to remove all remade forces

from afghanistan. by may. first of this year. guineas military chief, some meeting political and religious leaders to discuss a transitional government following last week's crew. the african union and regional blog echo was suspended guinea of the special forces seized on september 5th. soldiers arrested president alpha con, then dissolve the government and its new constitution. the military leaders have promised to form a government of national union to oversee a political transition. amid interest has more from outside parliament and con creek. it's, i wait and see game here on the streets of cannot korean other parts of guinea. people expected foster developments, a quick government military government in place, probably working with civilians to charge a course. a transitional course, but 10 days after nothing is happening, but the military is also isn't in a type support. they keeping president alpha who they deposed 10 days ago in detention. they haven't released him despite caused by international community on

international institutions like the united nations african union. because i'm a community of west african states, they haven't released him. this is a man who still has a significant number of followers in this country, so powerful you can say because they need it was president. on the other hand, people who posted the room in fact one looking for changes now for them. this is a very, very confusing situation. they want to see results. they want to see immediate action on poverty, on unemployment security, on issues of national interest. but what they're getting now is a slow pace of development in this country. and the earliest they form a government and come up with a transition program that will ease international concerns. and that will give us a direction as to how or where the military government here is leading russian president vladimir putin. this self isolating after members of his in a circle, tested positive for covered 19th. is that the council a trip to just on this week?

the criminal says he's in good health. person has been fully vaccination with the russian made job v. but they earlier president person hosted sandita bashar al assad in moscow. it's 1st time i've met since early last year. they discussed how the forces will gain control of serious laughter, rebel health areas, person who intervene to support also in the war and 2015 also criticized foreign powers who continue to back the opposition. glover, problem, which is assumed to the main problem in my view, is that the foreign military forces and without the permission of the u. n. m, without your sanctioning, are present on some territories of the country which contradicts international law . and that does not give you an opportunity to use maxim efforts for the consolidation of the country and to move on the part of its restore ation as fast as you could if the whole territory of the country was controlled by the legal government. it took them from us to be blank and is now answering finishes

questions about america's exit from of gone on a day after being grilled by members of the house of representatives. let's listen in this in the streets, calling for freedom in the face of violence and threats. repression of the afghan people is happening in real time. in the world must bear witness and hold the taliban countable. let me turn to the focus of today's hearing. mister secretary, the execution of the us withdraw was clearly and fatally flawed. this committee expects to receive a full explanation of the administration's decision on afghanistan since coming into office last january. there has to be accountability. we will have other hearings to develop a set of lessons learned over the course of the war to understand the many mistakes made over the course of 20 years. that the version of attention and resources when the bush administration decided to invade iraq,

despite its irrelevance to the $911.00 attacks. but double dealing by pakistan and providing a safe haven to the taliban and the list goes on. we need to understand why successive administration made so many of the same mistakes repeatedly, perhaps most urgently. we need to understand why the afghan government and military collapse so precipitously. this rapid collapse laid bare upon the mental fact that successive administrations lied to the congress over the years about the durability of african military and governing institutions. and we need to understand why the chaos of last august is due in large part to the february 2020 surrender deal negotiated by president trump. a deal that was clearly built on a set of lies a deal that led to the release of 5000 harden taliban fighters, boosting the militant group on the battlefield. this summer. we know now that the

taliban had no intention of pursuing a political path and peace deal with the afghan government. had no intention of pursuing a democratic path. had no intention of breaking ties without kayden. and it clearly had no intention of allowing women to have their rightful seat at the table and to participate fully in society to demand the taliban. abide by its commitments. now expect a different result, i think is somewhat absurd. the taliban rules, afghanistan, so we will have to deal with it in some form. but let's not kid ourselves. there is no such thing as a reformed taliban. this group is woefully stuck in the 14th century, with no will to come out. their concept of political representation and legitimacy is based squarely on the use of violent force and intimidation. the administration says that we should judge the taliban by their actions, and i agree. and their actions since taking over afghanistan had been pretty

horrifying. beating women actress murdering ethnic and religious minorities such as the has are separating classrooms by gender, shutting down local, medium, refuse to break with all cater appointing, the head of a foreign terrorist organization as designated by our government from the economy network to lead the ministry of interior and the list goes on. with this in mind, the united states in the united nations should maintain existing sanctions on the taliban. the u. s. should reimpose those sanctions that were waived during the negotiations process. and the u. s. should consider a new measures to impose higher costs on the group and its leaders, while ensuring that life saving humanitarian aid is able to assist those most vulnerable to hunger disease and disaster. nor should any country be in a rush to unilaterally recognize this regime at a minimum,

the following criteria must be met before. recognition is even consider absolutely appreciation of the taliban, of all cross border terrorism, including all data and associated groups. equality of rights for girls and women, protection of minority ethnic and religious groups, commitment to democratic elections, indenting, all, narcotics related activity. so yes, the taliban now run afghanistan. but that does not mean we ever accept their behavior. i supported the decision to eventually withdraw our military from afghanistan. i have long maintained, however, that how the united states left mattered doing the right thing in the wrong way can end up being the wrong thing. and to get this right, the biden administration needed to answer 2 fundamental questions. first, would the withdrawal leave a durable political arrangement in its wake. second with us and our allies maintain

an ability to collect intelligence, conduct counter terrorism operations in a region still rife with groups including isis. k seeking to do is ha, i believe the u. s. clearly fell short on the 1st measure. and time will tell him the 2nd, but the prospects don't look promising. so let me start with some framing questions about the biden administrations have dentist and decision making. first, upon coming into office, how did the by that ministration assess the impact on the ground of president trump's floor deal with the taliban? the administration attempt to negotiate better terms with the taliban upon coming into office. second, the president's april withdrawal announcements set in motion any explicit contingency planning. in the event that the taliban rapidly took over the country, what was the plan to evacuate? all americans was the plan to evacuate. s i b 's, p ones, p twos, and other at risk groups was

a plan to evacuate staff and those are affiliated with radio, free europe, radio, liberty, voice of america, the national endowment for democracy and other u. s. funded organizations. president trump, with steven miller, intentionally blocked s i b 's from being process, which i think is a barbaric and cruel decision which likely resulted in death for some u. s. partners. how did the by the administration specifically accelerate processing as 5 years upon coming into office? and 3rd, what was the plan to avoid ordeal with a refugee and humanitarian crisis? i expect you will address some of these issues in your opening remarks. let me applaud the efforts of the personnel on the ground from the department of state and defense who worked under her rick circumstances their actions in evacuating over 820000 individuals were nothing short of her. org and these personnel deserve answers. the american public deserves answers and the afghan people certainly

deserve answers. so let me close with 3 points. first of all, communication from the administration has been frequent throughout this crisis. information from state, the pentagon and the white house has often been vague or contradictory. this was obviously a fluid and difficult situation. frustration among many members was high and this has to improve. and to put this in context, remember frustration came on top of years of stonewalling by the trump administration and it's refusing to engage the senate on the taliban negotiations. is one of the examples why, why i've been trying to pursue on the case act to understand what are the written agreements that come between an administration and others. maybe if we had seen all the elements of it, we would have been poisoned a better position. second, i'm very disappointed the secretary austin declined our request to testify today of full accounting of the u. s. response to this crisis is not complete without the pentagon,

especially when it comes to understanding the complete collapse of the u. s. trained and funded african military is decision not to appear before the committee will affect my personal judgment on department of defense nominees. i expect the secretary will avail himself to the committee in the near future. and if he does not, i may consider the use of committee subpoena power to compel him and others over the course of these last 20 years to testify. 3rd, i implore the administration to remain focused on afghanistan. it's critically important that the will bear witness and take action when possible in response to taliban abuses. your visit mister secretary, to cut her in germany's sent the right message and i strongly urge sustained attention to afghanistan in the months and years to come. i also urge the administration strengthened to resolve an effort to secure the relocation of our civil society partners. now i grave risk who are left behind and afghans. they

include heroic individuals working for organizations on the front lines of us efforts to strengthen democracy and human rights, including the rights of afghan women and girls. finally, i know that senator young is not with us today. his home in indiana, attending the funeral at marine corporate lambert or sanchez, corporal sanchez was among those killed in the horrendous terror attack on august 26 of the couple airport. i'd like to suggest that we have a moment of silence and pay our respects to all those brave americans service members who are killed or injured on that day. and that we also honor the thousands of americans service members. afghan soldiers and civilians are casualties of this 20 year war to join me in a moment of silence. thank you, but now let me turn to distinguish ranking numbers for richard is opening comments

. thanks very much, miss chairman, the secretary blinking. good morning and welcome back to our committee. you're doing the right thing, testifying here today, and i thank you, carver, like the chairman. i am disappointed. some of your colleagues have declined to testify, particularly secretary austin. there's, there's questions to we really need to have answered and it's disheartening that they declined to test by the debacle in africa in afghan to stay in is an inter agency failure. and the fact that you are the only one stepping up is to start. i agree with the chairman at this was the that withdraw was a dismal failure. one of the things we need to get to the bottom too is who's responsible for this, who made the decisions? there's real questions right now is to who's making the decisions. we know for a fact that the president noted states is somewhat disadvantaged

here in someone's common shop. he can't even speak without someone in the white house, censoring it, or, or signing off on it is recently as yesterday in mid sentence, he was cut off by someone in the white house who makes the decision that the president united states is not speaking correctly. so i'd like to know who this person is. this is a, a proper care act if you would, and we need to know who's in charge and who's making these decisions. and the only way we're going to get that is when we have people like you come in and nance answer questions. and when we get the question, i'm going to have more questions for you in that regard. well, i supported a responsible end to the war in afghanistan. no american thinks we should have left this way. america cannot in war simply by walking away. it is naive to assume our enemies will lay down their arms, leave us alone in suddenly in trying human rights. if we go home. indeed, there is a fierce battle of ideas and emissions on the world stage,

and the u. s. cannot remain neutral. however, president biden presented american people with a false choice and a half ganna stand. and the russian embarrassing retreat is a stain on america's credibility that will have patients for years to come. the other options you could've protected our national security interest allowed for more measured reduction in force and preserved american credibility. i feel this administration is trying to blame the prior administration and are contrary to some that have said that the, the prior administration started in citizen responsible. that's simply not true. the, the prior administration, when they took steps towards withdrawing from afghanistan, entered into an agreement that had very, very specific conditions. i was privy to those. so i have personal knowledge in this, in february 2020 agreement was contingent, contingent upon the taliban reducing violence, meeting counterterrorism commitments, and engaging in,

substantive talks with the african government. these were all very important. and most importantly, most importantly, it was tower gret, telegraph to the taliban. the failure to meet their commitments would be met with great, great circumstances for them. the taliban failed to meet any of these commitments. and yet, yet, this administration turned the country over to them. president biden chose to withdraw from afghanistan without conditions, and without prudent planning. and obviously, without most important telegraphing to the taliban that they would enforce the conditions to tell her bennett agreed to it didn't happen. it was a strategic unforced air. and he did this against the advice the commanders on the ground. one of the most embarrassing things i thought was the strike that was made . and obviously we can't talk about what we know from an intelligent standpoint. but the kinetic strike that was made after the taliban entered the country. this,

this de minimis strike had dire consequences for civilians, but not to tell them. these are, these are facts. and presidents withdrawal lead to a taliban and offensive to toppled dramatic. democratically elected government slammed the door and any chance for a panel final peace agreement reversed the harder rights of african women and minorities and will result in a safe haven for terrorists. many of whom wish to attack united states the by the ministration left the afghan. a stand in total disarray and single handedly created the humanitarian crisis with thousands of re refugees and internally displaced africans in need of immediate emergency assistance. secretary blanca new characterize the act, evacuation as an extraordinary effort. you've counted over 124000 evacuation. however, we abandon the people we prioritized for departure. the department's efforts were played by the lack of basic planning, a failure to identify americans of failure to energize the s i. v process months in

advance, ignoring repeated congressional congressional offers to help. and a failure to recognize the taliban for what it is, a terrorist organization. the numbers are telling you, evacuated 6040 americans and say only a couple of 100 remain. your own department told this committee in july that there were 10 to 15000 americans and they have gas and there's a huge difference between 6015000. what happened to these other americans? the situation with a special immigrant piece of equations is even more disturbing. not counting the f i these that arrived before couples fall. you will that you waited 705 of roughly 20000 principal s i the applicants. what happen to these people? this committee reached out to the department in april, may and june to help expedite s i d processing. whereas that additional thought we asked what additional authorities, resources you needed for months we received contradict, or responses,

or no responses at all. i'll take a minute here to defend the state department, one of the biggest problems to help in processes i b. s. i. these was the enormous di, you're the permanent defense to provide the records needed to validate the afghans who bravely helped our forces. the fact that the d o d didn't keep accurate records is responsible and the slap in the face to those who fought alongside us. obviously we want to talk to secretary austin about this. despite the enormous efforts of our troops and diplomats on the ground, the preventable tragedy that unfolded the airport in trouble was a disaster of leadership and of the administration's own making. not only were you one able to ensure that americans had access to the report, many were turned away repeatedly after braving tellerman checkpoints. but americans outside of combo had absolutely no chance and back you ation green card holders and s i b should have been prioritized for access to the airport as well. but there was no mechanism to get inside. it was an informal network of americans that helped get

americans and afghans are around the bureaucratic wall. the administration set up at the airport. it should not have come to the administration is paying itself on the back for disability ration is like an arsonist taking credit for saving people from the burning building. he just said on fire, we know the u. s. military and our department can do so much more than they did if only their political bosses had gotten out of the way. now we have an untold number of americans, us contractors in f. i be still an afghan esteem, despite reap repeated assurances. you will get the mock you've been unable to do. so plaintive stranded in northern afghanistan or voice of american employees and female, asking students on scholarships have been abandoned in r s i be. applicants are in hiding as taliban death. squads hunt them out. you said you would have mechanisms for continued tobacco ations after 31 august. where's your plan? i have not seen it. i don't know that i've talked to anyone who seen it. what i have seen as a rebuke from our european allies, they begged us for help,

but where we were not helping our own citizens, how could we help them? instead we had to rely on the generosity of partners like counter. well, we have all heard and read in the united states is no longer reliable outline. and frankly, the way this evacuation evacuation was conducted. i cannot blame them for years despite st. strains in our relations with europe, another allies, everyone you knew, the united states was de competent and capable partner. they trusted us to be the steady hand at the wheel. that they, that could navigate out of any difficult situation. that competence has been shattered. now, across the globe, allies doubt are resolved and our competitors, like china and russia, see weakness and think they can exploit this situation. the by the ministration alone is responsible for this deborah debacle and its consequences going forward. the challenge has become even harder to resolve us actions must rebuild our credibility and read it,

reestablished it turns us will need more proactive policies on counterterrorism and security around the globe to discourage our competitors over the weekend. we marked the 20th anniversary of september. the 11th, but we have yet to receive details about how the administrations so called over the horizon counter terrorism plan will succeed. the taliban stake over, destroyed the basis of that strategy. and despite repeated requests from the all, we have yet to receive a single piece of information about the administration's revise counterterrorism plan. me want to tell her, been, continues this relationship with us and the new interior minister has a 10000000 dollar us bounty on his head for killing americans. any hope that the taliban will protect american security is a fatally flawed assumption. you must redouble efforts with afghanistan's neighbors to reach c t agreements and preserve disappearing intelligence networks. additionally, any country that offered support to the taliban and the reason offensive should risk a strategic downgrade in their relationship with the united states. we also must

understand pakistan's role in this entire matter. as the chairman has alluded to, this is a difficult but important situate. i also remain concerned that the administration is russian to normalize ties with the taliban government. this must not occur without extensive congressional consultations. your notification that you intended to restart, foreign assistance is deeply, deeply concerning a spec. there's other members of this committee that are going to speak to to that, that's going to be heavy left for you. on the security front, united states been over $80000000000.00 on an afghan security forces. many of these funds bypass the oversight of the state department. in this committee, we now see the consequences of a department of defense that operates security cooperation on its own. the taliban is now one of the best armed terrorist organizations on the planet. we have sent repeated requests for the administration plan to address for captured equipment. we have yet to receive any response. as secretary,

i would hope you would demand that all d o d assistance programs. once again require state department concurrence enclose . i'd like to speak directly to our diplomats. our men and women in uniform are gold star. families are humanitarian workers in our veterans. on behalf of the american people, i'd like to see thank you. the ineptitude of this administration does not tarnish your service. what you did mattered, you stood, you served normally. you stood on the wall and prevented a terrorist tax against the states for over 20 years. at enormous cost to you and your families, america will always be indebted to you. thank you. thank you. center ration. there's a secretary secretary has agreed to stay with us to each member has an opportunity to answer their questions as such. and because of the nature of the subject matter,

i've agreed the secretary has an extended opening statement that was the secretary recognize this chairman. thank you very much. right members, thank you very much. and to all numbers, i appreciate the opportunity to be with all of you today to discuss our policy on our ghana stand, including where we are, how we got here, and where we're going in the weeks and months ahead. for 20 years, congress was conducted oversight. and provided funding for the mission and i can stand and i know from my own time as a staff member here in this room for then sen, biding, just how invaluable a partner congress is. as i said, when i was nominated, i believe strongly in congress, traditional role as a partner in foreign policy making. i'm committed to working with you on the path forward and began to stand and to advance the interest of the american people. on this 20th anniversary of 911, as we honor nearly 3000 men,

women and children lost their lives. we are reminded of why we went to afghanistan in the 1st place to bring justice to those who attacked us and to ensure it would never happen again. we achieve those objectives. a long time ago, a sound good lauren was killed in 2011. okay, this capabilities were degraded significantly including its ability to plan and conduct external operations. after 20 years, 2461 american life lost 20000 injuries. 2 trillion dollars spent. it was time to end america as long as work. president biden to golf from january, inherited an agreement that is free to reach with the taliban to remove all remaining us forces from afghanistan by may 1st to this year. as part of that agreement, previous administration press, the afghan government released 5000 taliban prisoners, including some top war commanders. meanwhile,

it reduced our own force presence to 2500 troops. in return, the taliban agreed to stop attacking us and partner forces and to refrain from threatening, afghans stands major cities. but the taliban continued is relentless march on remote outpost checkpoints, villages and districts. as well as some of the major roads connecting the cities. by january of 2021, the taliban was in its strongest military position since 911. and we have the smallest number of us forces in afghanistan since 2001. as a result, upon taking office, president biden immediately faced the choice between ending the war or escalating had he not followed through on his b, assessors commitment attacks on our forces and those were allies, would have resumed. and the taliban se nationwide assault on afghanistan's major cities would have commenced that would have required sending substantially more us forces into afghanistan to defend ourselves. and to prevent

a taliban take over taking casualties and with it best, the prospect of restoring