Biden Admin Blocks Bipartisan Lawmakers From Accessing Afghan Evacuee Holding Site

excalibur

Diamond Member
Mar 19, 2015
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The outrage is pouring in from the MSM. Well, no, not actually.



The Biden administration on Thursday blocked a bipartisan delegation of House lawmakers from entering and inspecting a U.S.-run military facility near Doha, Qatar, where thousands of Afghan evacuees are being stationed prior to their possible relocation to America, according to a GOP lawmaker who participated in the visit.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), who was part of a delegation that included House Foreign Affairs Committee members, told the Washington Free Beacon that lawmakers were barred from entering Camp As Sayliyah, an American-controlled compound where thousands of Afghan refugees are still being held since being airlifted to safety.

Issa's office spent weeks petitioning the Department of Defense for access to these Afghan refugees on behalf of the delegation, but the lawmakers were denied access to the U.S.-controlled site when they arrived Thursday at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha for a scheduled briefing on the American evacuation effort. Camp As Sayliyah is about 40 minutes away from Al Udeid, a joint American-Qatari airbase that serves as headquarters for U.S. Central Command.

U.S. military officials stationed at the base "never let us meet with the 2,300 remaining America-bound refugees, maybe some of whom are American citizens and others who are green card holders," Issa said from Doha in a telephone interview. "We think the number one classified piece that they were protecting is called embarrassment. Many of these people have stories of the difficulty getting out, the lack of cooperation or help by the State Department, and now they find themselves being artificially held longer in some cases. We think it's just that they don't want people telling their stories."

More than two months after the Biden administration left the country, Issa and lawmakers from both parties have largely been stymied in their efforts to investigate the botched U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan, which left scores of Americans stranded and even more Afghan allies at risk of being killed by the Taliban. Issa said the U.S. military's refusal to permit lawmakers from carrying out their oversight duties is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to keep the American public in the dark about exactly what unfolded in the war-torn country.

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