Today in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) questioned Marine Corps General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., Commander of U.S. Central Command, on Central Command’s 2,000-page investigative report into the explosion at Abbey Gate and related events.
Senator Hawley asked Gen. McKenzie specifically about the report’s findings that the Administration ignored warnings about the Afghan government’s rapid collapse and delayed planning for evacuating Americans until it was too late.
Senator Hawley said, “I wish this committee would show some interest in it [the report]. My staff and I have been through all of it that is publicly available. It is astounding frankly. So thank you for ordering it. Thank you for what you were able to uncover.
“I again call on this committee to have hearings on this report which is now in the public domain, much of it. And that, frankly, contains shocking information about this administration’s total failure to plan for the collapse of the Afghan Security Forces despite being warned about it for months upon months, and to withdraw American civilians in time before the tragedy at Abbey Gate which led to the death of 13 American service members.”