Members of Tennessee’s GOP delegation said Tuesday that U.S. President Joe Biden has behaved in an untrustworthy manner on the matter of Afghanistan.
Just the News reported Tuesday that Biden, in June, waived an important congressional mandate. That mandate would have forced members of the Pentagon to inform Congress, in depth, about the risks of withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
William Bensur, spokesman for U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02), addressed the matter via email.
“Congressman Burchett doubts Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Washington Democrats would have acted on this military report if it were given to Congress,” Bensur told The Tennessee Star.
“They are not leaders who would hold the Biden administration accountable.”
U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) said via email that Biden and members of his administration have failed to show transparency on the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“It is unsurprising that the Biden administration would not want to reveal internal deliberations which would once again point out the inconsistencies and untruths in the ever changing messaging on their handling of this debacle,” DesJarlais said.
Other members of Tennessee’s GOP delegation on Tuesday did not return requests for comment.
U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) addressed Biden in a video he uploaded to his Facebook page Tuesday.
“The Taliban has broken every single agreement, every aspect of the agreement since January. Whether it was their fighting inside the provinces or the power sharing agreement for the country as a whole completely violated by their attempt to overtake the country. Just recently, they promised to let Americans walk through their checkpoints to get to the airfield,” Green said.
“Myself, my colleagues can report to you call after call from Afghanistan to our offices saying ‘I am an American and I cannot get through the Taliban checkpoint. I have been three, four times and yet President Biden did nothing’. He continued at each point when the Taliban broke the agreement to do nothing. It is a failure of leadership.”
According to Just the News, the Biden administration was barred from reducing troops in Afghanistan to less than 2,000 without first briefing Congress about the ramifications. But, citing national security concerns, Biden waived that mandate.
“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,” Just the News reported.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
