Why Representatives Seth Moulton and Peter Meijer Secretly Visited Kabul

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WASHINGTON – Representatives Seth Moulton, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Peter Meijer, Republican of Michigan, stunned Washington when secretly flew to Kabul Tuesday as part of an unauthorized mission to assist in the evacuation of Americans and Afghans.

The lawmakers – Iraq war veterans who became two of the most vocal critics of the Biden administration’s withdrawal – took a commercial flight to the United Arab Emirates, where they boarded a military plane to destination of the Afghan capital. They spoke with State Department officials and US commanders and troops on the ground, and saw crowds of Afghans at the gates outside. Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The unauthorized trip infuriated administration officials who were already annoyed by outspoken criticism from lawmakers and drew bipartisan reprimands from President Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader. Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said the trip “certainly took a long time compared to what we had planned to do that day.”

In an interview, Mr Moulton and Mr Meijer defended their decision to travel in a dangerous and unpredictable situation and said they left with important information.

They said the trip had changed their minds about Mr Biden’s August 31 deadline for a full withdrawal, which they had previously urged the administration to extend. Since there is little chance that all U.S. and Afghan allies can be evacuated in the next two weeks, they said, a quick departure is the only way the United States can ensure that the Taliban will cooperate to finally bring those who remain to safety. .

Mr Moulton and Mr Meijer spoke to the New York Times on Wednesday about what they saw in Kabul. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

To begin with, how did you two finally decide to take this trip?

Sir. Meijer: As the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated much faster than many of us anticipated, we realized that we weren’t going to get the whole administration story. Much of the information we received from them was out of date, inaccurate or irrelevant.

Seth and I were talking and we realized that I don’t know what we could do other than try to get there to understand and help communicate, especially with a lot of our colleagues who are struggling to take out US citizens or special visa applicants.

On our first call after the fall of Kabul, frankly, when one of the main briefers couldn’t even tell us – claiming it was classified – where the president [Ashraf] Ghani was, when it had been widely reported in local and international media for hours. For me, it was a bit of a tipping point, that they would use any argument to prevent us from understanding what the real contours of the conflict were.

You said you tried to minimize disruption to people on the ground. But do you really think that the fact that two members of Congress showed up unexpectedly during a perilous time in Kabul did not distract and divert resources from the current mission?

Sir. Meijer: We planned to not need any support from any government entity.

We had hoped – and succeeded – to speak briefly with a number of leaders in the field, but we also wanted to speak to people who were not in the top management positions, to get that sense of the truth about the field. ground.

Mr. Moulton: In fact, we apologized to people for showing up unexpectedly, and several people said, “This is great because we didn’t have to do anything to prepare for it.”

We said, “We don’t want to deprive you of resources. So we were assigned people to take us to the door, who were told not to do anything because their job is overnight. And so we did it during the day, and at night we sat in a desk at the headquarters, so as not to be a burden.

Ultimately, the impact of our visit on current operations, I believe, will be pale compared to the impact of the visit.

Explain to me what you saw when you first arrived at the airport.

Sir. Meijer: There were, I think, almost 20,000 people waiting for one or two flights before we arrived. When we were there, the Air Force and other ground personnel had so effectively moved these people to intermediate assembly points that there were people there, but by no means was there. an overwhelming number awaiting flights. It was probably in the few hundred.

Mr. Moulton: It is one of the most complicated operations the US military has conducted in decades. It’s such a shame because the administration didn’t follow our advice for months and started the evacuation earlier. But within days, the Marines and soldiers in Kabul went from utter chaos to an orderly evacuation – or at least as orderly as you can hope for in this truly insane environment.

What take-away points do you want to share with your fellow Congressmen and the general public?

Mr. Moulton: Almost every Congressional veteran wants to extend the August 31 deadline, including us, and our opinion on that has changed on the ground because we started the evacuations so late. There is no way to get everyone out, even by September 11th. So we have to have a working relationship with the Taliban after we leave. And the only way to do that is to leave before August 31st.

Sir. Meijer: It is absolutely bizarre and disconcerting that we are in this position. Going from having the Taliban as the adversary we seek to kill to relying on them for security, coordinating to make sure things go smoothly. It is a complicated situation that is impossible to understand if you are not on the ground and yet critical in saving the lives of tens of thousands of people.

There are tireless diplomatic officials there who have worked tirelessly to clear the backlog, to work on the necessary clearances to land to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Mr. Moulton: In fact, one of the key things we learned from our visit was that the working group prioritizing all [special immigrant visa] candidates are inundated with requests from members of Congress. It was never communicated to us, but it is something that we are now communicating to our colleagues.

Have you discussed with the commanders on the ground what can be done to help the Americans and our Afghan allies who are not in Kabul get to the airport?

Sir. Meijer: Commanders in the field have assembled a range of options. I don’t want to go into details. But the important thing to communicate is how these forces will move heaven and earth to rescue stranded American citizens. And there are American citizens stranded, despite what the White House press secretary would like to say. They have developed action plans for this.

Mr. Moulton: But the other thing to emphasize is that at the end of the day we don’t have time to bring everyone together. This is why our continued relationship with the Taliban is so important.

Sir. Meijer: At these doors, that’s where it’s right incredibly chaotic, incredibly heartbreaking – to see individuals with this level of desperation begging for help.

I think people should know that there is no scenario that causes a soldier or a Marine to pick up someone in a wheelchair and push them away because they don’t meet the paperwork criteria. I think we’re both incredibly worried.

Mr. Moulton: It is the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. I have never been more proud to be an American than after seeing the soldiers and the Marines. They navigate the conflicts of humanity.

Sir. Meijer: But they’re going to need help afterwards.

Mr. Moulton: I have never spoken to more officials – from the Salty Marines to the most seasoned State Department officials – who have come to tears when describing their work.

Eric schmitt contributed reports.

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