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Capitol Hill reacts to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan falling


Sunday morning, news broke that the United States Embassy in Afghanistan had been evacuated, and the American flag had been lowered from the embassy. It was upsetting news for many on Capitol Hill. 

Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) served in the United States Air Force in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Following the news of the embassy evacuation, he issued a statement saying in part, “This is the result of a shortsighted, weak, and utter failure of both the previous White House and the current Administration. The naïve Trump Administration legitimized the Taliban by having ‘talks’ with them about peace and openly negotiating with terrorists, while the Biden Administration tried to fulfill a campaign promise without any semblance of a plan or forethought into how this would play out.”

Rep. Kinzinger wasn’t the only person on Capitol Hill focusing on past administrations. In a series of tweets, Aaron Fritscher, the communications director for Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), wrote, “It is a statement of fact that American journalists have referred to the current President having had a “mission accomplished” moment more times than they have referred by name to the president who said those words and who launched the invasion of Afghanistan two decades ago.”

Both sides of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also weighed in on the situation. The Democrats focused their tweet on safe evacuations.

The Ranking members of the committee instead focused on how this development could be remembered in history.

Both parties had similar talking points on the Sunday shows as well.

House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) went on Face the Nation Sunday, saying, “It seems like many in President Biden’s intelligence community got this devastatingly wrong. And I think a lot of questions will be asked later about why just weeks ago they were saying something completely different than what we’re seeing today on the ground in Afghanistan.”

On NBC’s Meet the Press, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had given Afghanistan the tools it needed to succeed. Speaking with Chuck Todd, Blinken said, “We invested, the international community invested, over 20 years, billions of dollars in these forces. 300 thousand of them, with an air force, something the Taliban didn’t have, with the most modern sophisticated equipment. Unfortunately, tragically they have not been able to defend the country and I think that explains why this has moved as quickly as it has moved.”

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Annie Andersen: The emergency evacuation of the US embassy in Kabul surprised many. 

Over the weekend this became a hot online political issue with both sides pointing fingers at each other. 

Military Veteran and Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger issued a statement saying in part 

“This is the result of a shortsighted, weak, and utter failure of both the previous White House and the current Administration. The naïve Trump Administration legitimized the Taliban by having ‘talks’ with them about peace and openly negotiating with terrorists, while the Biden Administration tried to fulfill a campaign promise without any semblance of a plan or forethought into how this would play out.”

The senate foreign relations committee ALSO WEIGHED In on twitter – Dems focusing on evacuations and republicans blaming the white house.

HERE IS HOUSE MINORITY WHIP STEVE SCALISE ON FACE THE NATION.

Rep. Steve Scalise: <<”It seems like many in President Biden’s intelligence community got this devastatingly wrong. And I think a lot of questions will be asked later about why just weeks ago they were saying something completely different than what we’re seeing today on the ground in Afghanistan.”>>

Annie Andersen: ON MEET THE PRESS SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN PLACed THE BLAME ELSEWHERE. 

Sen. Antony Blinken <<”we invested, the international community invested, over 20 years, billions of dollars in these forces. 300 thousand of them, with an air force, something the Taliban didn’t have, with the most modern sophisticated equipment. Unfortunately, tragically they have not been able to defend the country and I think that explains why this has moved as quickly as it has moved.”>>

Annie Andersen: What do you think about what’s happening?

Let us know in the comments below.