U.S. Marine Gives Heart-Wrenching Testimony on ‘Catastrophe’ of Afghanistan Withdrawal: ‘Inexcusable Negligence’
Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews called the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan a “catastrophe” in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Vargas-Andrews was injured in the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members on August 26, 2021, amidst the U.S.’s ongoing evacuation from the country. On Wednesday, he described his experience on that day:
Then a flash and a massive wave of pressure, I’m thrown 12 feet onto the ground when instantly I knew what happened. I opened my eyes to Marines dead or unconscious lying around me.
He paused and quietly sobbed before continuing:
A crowd of hundreds immediately vanished in front of me and my body was catastrophically wounded with 100 to 150 ball bearings now in it. Almost immediately, we started taking fire from the neighborhood and I saw how injured I was with my right arm completely shredded and unusable. I saw my lower abdomen soaked in blood. I crawled backwards roughly 7 feet because I thought I was still in harm’s way. My body was overwhelmed by the trauma of the blast. My abdomen had been ripped open, every inch of my exposed body except for my face took ball bearings and shrapnel. I tried to get up but could not. Laying there for a few minutes I started to lose consciousness when I heard Chaz, my team leader, screaming my name as he ran to me.
After going on to describe his fellow Marines’ efforts to save him, Vargas-Andrews implored the committee to “please ask me about getting shot at the tower and Abbey Gate and how no one wanted my report post-blast. Even the NCIS [Navy Criminal Investigative Service] and FBI failed to interview me.”
“Our military members and veterans deserve our best because that is what we give to America. The withdrawal [from Afghanistan] was a catastrophe in my opinion. And there was an inexcusable lack of accountability and negligence,” he continued. “The 11 Marines, 1 sailor, and 1 soldier that were murdered that day have not been answered for.”
Vargas-Andrews characterized the withdrawal effort as plagued by inefficiencies that endangered U.S. forces on scene.
“The troops on the ground had to tirelessly work to control the crowds, day and night,” he said. “The Department of State staff at HKIA [the Kabul airport] would completely shut down processing Afghans every evening and into the morning, leaving ground forces with a nightmare.”
He also testified that he had observed the suicide bomber responsible for those deaths and requested permission to engage him shortly before the attack, but was denied it.
President Joe Biden announced his intention to pull all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan by September 11, 2021 in April of the same year. In between those dates, the Taliban — an extremist group ousted from power by the U.S. in 2001 — made massive gains throughout the country, causing Biden to push the evacuation date up to August 31.
The capital city fell to the Taliban on August 15, further complicating matters and making it more difficult for the U.S. to evacuate its service members, citizens, and allies on the ground. Biden’s decision to withdraw followed the Trump administration’s negotiation of of the Doha Agreement with the Taliban, which called for a full U.S. withdrawal by May 2021.
Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.
