Blinken to Testify About US Withdrawal from Afghanistan
Voice of America
WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to testify Monday before a congressional panel examining the country’s chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of its two-decade war, the longest in U.S. history.
Opposition Republican lawmakers and some Democratic colleagues of President Joe Biden have attacked his handling of the withdrawal of troops, American citizens and thousands of Afghans who worked for U.S. forces as interpreters and advisers during the war. The criticism was especially pronounced after 13 U.S. service members died in a suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport in the waning days of the withdrawal. Islamic State-Khorasan, an Afghan offshoot of the terrorist group operating in the Middle East, claimed responsibility for the attack. Blinken testifies Monday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He appears on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Journalists lay down their equipment as they protest the latest draft revision of the broadcasting law, which they consider a threat to press freedom, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on May 27, 2024. Journalists protest the latest draft revision of the broadcasting law, which they consider a threat to press freedom, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on May 27, 2024.
A Ukrainian serviceman carries a U.S. Stinger air defense missile launcher in a trench on the front line in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, May 28, 2024. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, right, sign bilateral agreements at the Sao Bento Palace, the premier's official residence, in Lisbon, May 28, 2024.
In this screen grab, Kenyan President William Ruto speaks in an exclusive interview with VOA Swahili Service reporter Hubbah Abdi in Washington on Friday, May 24, 2024. In this screen grab, Kenyan President William Ruto speaks in an exclusive interview with VOA Swahili Service reporter Hubbah Abdi in Washington on Friday, May 24, 2024.
A demonstrator argues with police officers during an opposition protest of the foreign influence bill at the Parliamentary building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 28, 2024. The Georgian parliament overrode a presidential veto of the measure, which has sparked wide protests. Demonstrators gather at the Parliamentary building during a protest against the foreign influence bill in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 28, 2024. The Georgian parliament overrode a presidential veto of the legislation.
Villagers move a rock as part of search efforts following a devastating landslide, in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, May 27, 2024. (Juho Valta/UNDP Papua New Guinea via AP) Devastation caused by a landslide is seen in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, May 27, 2024. (Juho Valta/UNDP Papua New Guinea via AP)
A vendor with an umbrella over his head throws water over the bananas on a hot summer day in Varanasi on May 27, 2024. Children run behind a truck spraying water along a street on a hot summer day in New Delhi on May 28, 2024. Roadside food vendor Atma Prakash Singh in New Delhi says standing on the hot road in the sizzling summer is a problem. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) Ice cream vendor Jai Singh in New Delhi says he gets skin rashes due to the sizzling heat. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) People buy air coolers from a roadside vendor on a hot summer afternoon in New Delhi on May 20, 2024, amid the ongoing heatwave.