A Republican congressman tried to organize a rescue mission in Afghanistan to extract U.S. citizens left behind by the Biden administration, and threatened U.S. diplomats who refused to help him in the effort, he reported. Tuesday the Washington Post.
The effort of Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) Defied the warnings of U.S. officials, as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Okla.). -California), for not trying to travel to the region.
The Washington Post reported that Mullin attempted to reach the U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan on Monday as final evacuation flights took off from Kabul International Airport. The lawmaker said he wanted to fly to Tajikistan from Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, and that he needed help transporting a large amount of money he planned to use to hire a helicopter to carry an American woman and her four children outside Afghanistan. .
After embassy officials refused to help, Mullin allegedly threatened both the ambassador, John Mark Pommersheim, and embassy staff at some point, demanding to know the names of the officials he was talking to. The nature of Mullin’s threats was not immediately clear.
The Washington Post also reported that Mullin traveled to Greece last week and asked permission from the Pentagon to continue on to Kabul, which was denied.
Congress leadership warned lawmakers to leave for Afghanistan after representatives Seth Moulton (Massachusetts) and Peter Meijer (Massachusetts) paid an unexpected visit on Aug. 24 to observe the evacuation operation in Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai International Airport. The presence of Moulton and Meijer, both combat veterans, angered White House officials, the State Department and the Pentagon, who argued that vital resources had been diverted to care for congressmen.
“It simply came to our notice then. We don’t want the members to go, “Pelosi said last Wednesday, adding later:” We gave the floor to the chairmen of the committee that there will be no planes for this or that for the people who go to the region. “We put an end to any thought that someone was there right away.”
McCarthy agreed, telling reporters that same day, “Any member I’ve heard could go, I told them I don’t think they should. I think it creates a bigger risk. You have enough Americans out there.” They could be hostages [by the Taliban], would make an issue [holding] member of Congress. I think it would take the military away from doing its job of getting as many Americans out as we can. “
Two days after Moulton and Meijer visited the airport, a ISIS-K suicide bomber struck at the airport’s Abbey Gate and killed 13 members of the U.S. service and at least 169 Afghans.
Mullin, 44, was first elected to Congress in 2012. He issued a statement Monday saying the conclusion of the Afghan withdrawal was “a sad day for our country.”
“Americans have been blocked in Afghanistan by the Biden Administration and are now letting themselves be defended from terrorists who dominate the country,” he said. “One of the mottos of our military is to ‘leave no one behind.’ But today is exactly what President Biden did. “The complete and absolute failure of the service and sacrifice of the members of the service and their families was not in vain, and will never be forgotten.”
Although the Washington Post reported that Mullin’s exact whereabouts were unknown, Congresswoman Meredith Blanford’s spokeswoman said Tuesday afternoon that “he has been and is totally safe. He and the Second District Office of “Oklahoma will continue to do everything in our power to bring home all the Americans in the war zone that President Biden left in. The safety of the American people will always be his top priority.
“We have no further comments at this time.”
