The Biden administration under the federal statute was barred from reducing troops in Afghanistan to less than 2,000 without first briefing Congress about the expected impact on U.S. counterterrorism operations and the risk to American personnel.
However, Biden waived the mandate, arguing that providing this information to Congress could undermine "the national security interests of the United States," according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The administration reportedly assured Congress for months that U.S.-trained Afghan forces could forestall a Taliban takeover when U.S. troops left. However, the Taliban overran the Afghan National Army and took control of Kabul on Aug. 15, as the last troops were leaving, resulting in the chaotic and deadly evacuation of U.S. personnel and allies.
National security experts and Republican lawmakers told the Washington Free Beacon that the waiver blocked Congress and the public from reviewing the administration's internal national security assessments prior to the withdrawal.
"If we had answers to these questions we might not be in the horrible debacle we're in now," said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "I think the fact that they used the national security waiver to refuse to answer these questions in the light of day tells me their answers could not have stood up to scrutiny."
(Excerpt) Read more at justthenews.com .
This is the problem, as reported in a Prague newspaper:
Trump would have been impeached and convicted under similar circumstances.
However, Biden waived the mandate, arguing that providing this information to Congress could undermine "the national security interests of the United States," according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The administration reportedly assured Congress for months that U.S.-trained Afghan forces could forestall a Taliban takeover when U.S. troops left. However, the Taliban overran the Afghan National Army and took control of Kabul on Aug. 15, as the last troops were leaving, resulting in the chaotic and deadly evacuation of U.S. personnel and allies.
National security experts and Republican lawmakers told the Washington Free Beacon that the waiver blocked Congress and the public from reviewing the administration's internal national security assessments prior to the withdrawal.
"If we had answers to these questions we might not be in the horrible debacle we're in now," said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "I think the fact that they used the national security waiver to refuse to answer these questions in the light of day tells me their answers could not have stood up to scrutiny."
(Excerpt) Read more at justthenews.com .
This is the problem, as reported in a Prague newspaper:
Trump would have been impeached and convicted under similar circumstances.