Rep. Meijer's Trip To Kabul Is Met By Intense Backlash

Detroit MI

25 August, 2021

1:27 PM

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MICHIGAN—Republican Rep. Peter Meijer is one of two U.S. Congressmen that's receiving intense backlash from U.S. Officials for flying an unannounced trip into Kabul airport to witness the withdrawal of Americans and Afghans from Afghanistan. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. joined Meijer on the trip to provide "oversight on the evacuation." "Witnessing our young Marines and soldiers at the gates, navigating a confluence of humanity as raw and visceral as the world has ever seen, was indescribable," the two representatives said in a joint statement. Today with @RepMeijer I visited Kabul airport to conduct oversight on the evacuation. Witnessing our young Marines and soldiers at the gates, navigating a confluence of humanity as raw and visceral as the world has ever seen, was indescribable. pic.twitter.com/bWGQh1iw2c— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) August" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/sethmoulto... 25, 2021 In addition, both congressmen have recently blasted the Biden administration in a series of tweets for what they see as a chaotic and unorganized withdrawal of the U.S. Military from Afghanistan and have called for an extension to to the Aug. 31 deadline the Biden administration implemented. "Extend the 8/31 deadline and get our people out," Meijer recently tweeted. "We can't change the past, but we still have time to make this last part right." Likewise, Moulton recently tweeted he decided to fly to Kabul, "Wanting, like most veterans, to push the president to extend" the withdrawal deadline. Although Meijer, himself an Iraqi War veteran is supportive of the Afghanistan withdrawal, he said he wants answers into what he sees as an "institutional failure" and "gravely overestimating the capabilities of the Afghan security forces," The Detroit News reported. "This is what happens when you have intelligence analysis that is shaped to support what politicians want to have happen. And we've seen the consequences of that again and again," he told The Detroit News. "We saw that with Iraq and with ISIS. And it has to stop. It is infuriating to me." Their departure angered Biden administration officials and stunned U.S. Military personnel and the State Department-who already have their hands full tending resources to help with the evacuation efforts in Afghanistan-had to scramble essential resources to provide security and information to the lawmakers, the Associated Press reported. Since both Meijer and Moulton flew on a chartered plane, U.S. Officials complained that those were seats that could have been used in the evacuation efforts of other Americans and Afghans, who are fleeing the country. However, both congressmen fired back in a joint statement stating they flew on an empty plane with plenty of seats available. Their unauthorized and undisclosed trip to Kabul also promoted Speaker of the House Nancy Pelsoi to issue a statement to all other members of Congress advising them not to follow the representatives in traveling to Afghanistan. "Member travel to Afghanistan and the surrounding countries would unnecessarily divert needed resources from the priority mission of safely and expeditiously evacuating Americans and Afghans at risk from Afghanistan," Pelosi said in a news release. Despite the congressmen's criticism over the withdrawal date, President Biden said on Tuesday the United States was still on track to complete the withdrawal efforts by his targeted deadline of Aug. 31. The White House tweeted on Wednesday morning that "from 3 AM ET on 8/24 to 3 AM ET on 8/25, approximately 19,000 people were evacuated from Kabul. 42 US military flights carried approximately 11,200 evacuees and 48 coalition flights carried 7,800 people."