State Department Launches Review of Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal

Zachary Stieber
By Zachary Stieber
October 19, 2021Politics
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State Department Launches Review of Biden’s Afghanistan Withdrawal
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken speaks during a closing press conference with the secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at the 60th OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris on Oct. 6, 2021. (Ian Langsdon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

The State Department’s inspector general has initiated a review of how the Biden administration withdrew from Afghanistan.

The watchdog, or the State OIG, told members of Congress that it notified the State Department of several “oversight projects” related to the ending of operations at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, according to a letter obtained and published by Politico.

The OIG is reviewing the Special Immigrant Visa program, which gives visas to Afghans who fit certain criteria; the Afghans admitted as refugees into the United States; the resettlement of both Afghan refugees and visa recipients; and the emergency planning and execution by the Kabul embassy, including how it evacuated U.S. citizens and Afghans.

Due to “the elevated interest in this work by Congress,” acting Inspector General Diana Shaw wrote, the OIG informed committees that have oversight of the State Department of the reviews.

The initiation was confirmed by a spokesperson for Shaw’s agency.

“We can confirm that Acting IG Shaw notified congressional committees of this planned work yesterday in the areas you reference but we do not have additional information to share at this time. The notification to the congressional committees describes the work as reviews, not investigations,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United States withdrew from Afghanistan on Aug. 30, ending a 20-year war there that started in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

President Joe Biden refused to extend the withdrawal deadline, even though over 100 Americans and thousands of Afghans who wanted to leave the country were left behind.

The way the withdrawal was handled drew bipartisan condemnation, though it has been largely defended by top officials in the administration, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

From The Epoch Times

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