US legislators vow bipartisan probe into Afghanistan withdrawal

Many have questioned why the Taliban’s swift takeover appeared to catch US officials by surprise.

Democratic-led congressional committees are promising to press President Joe Biden’s administration on what went wrong as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, as the United States continues to scramble to evacuate its citizens and thousands of Afghans who helped the US during the 20-year long war. Members of both parties have expressed anger over how the withdrawal played out and several upcoming hearings are likely to plunge Biden’s national security team into a bipartisan cross-examination, unlike anything they have faced since taking office. Senator Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has said legislators will investigate what he described as the “Biden administration’s flawed execution of the US withdrawal”.