Two members of Congress made an unauthorized whirlwind trip to Kabul early Tuesday, leaving less than 24 hours later on a flight used for evacuating U.S. citizens and vulnerable Afghans.
The rogue visit by Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) served as a distraction for military and civilian staffers attempting to carry out frenzied rescue efforts, according to Washington Post sources. The cloak-and-dagger trip infuriated officials at the Pentagon and the State Department, where diplomats, military officers and civil servants are working around-the-clock shifts in Washington and at the Kabul airport to evacuate thousands of people from the country every day.
“It’s as moronic as it is selfish,” said a senior administration official. “They’re taking seats away from Americans and at-risk Afghans — while putting our diplomats and service members at greater risk — so they can have a moment in front of the cameras.”
U.S. officials in Kabul are racing to rush U.S. citizens and allies out of the country in a dire security environment. The threat of a terrorist attack on the airport by the Islamic State is “real” and “acute,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned. U.S. officials in Afghanistan are also under pressure to meet President Biden’s stated Aug. 31 deadline to accommodate tens of thousands of Americans, Afghans and others seeking to leave. The Taliban has vowed to impose “consequences” if U.S. operations extend beyond that date.
Officials expressed disgust at having to divert resources and accommodate grandstanding members of Congress while racing to get evacuees out of the country. “It’s one of the most irresponsible things I’ve heard a lawmaker do,” said one diplomat. “It absolutely deserves admonishment.”
The two lawmakers began their journey to Kabul via a commercial flight to the United Arab Emirates, paying for the tickets using their own funds. From there they figured out a way onto an empty military flight going into Kabul. They landed at Hamid Karzai International Airport around 4 a.m. Washington time, according to a person familiar with their travel. It was unclear how the pair had initially planned to get out of the country.
Moulton spokesperson Tim Biba said the lawmakers pledged to leave only on a plane with at least three empty seats — their way of ensuring that the flight they took out had extra capacity. When they boarded to return home about 2:30 a.m. Kabul time, he said, they sat in seats designated for crew members.
In a statement, Moulton and Meijer cited their military experience when explaining why they chose to make the trip. “America has a moral obligation to our citizens and loyal allies, and we wanted to make sure that obligation is being kept,” they said. “As members of Congress we have a duty to provide oversight on the executive branch. There is no place in the world right now where oversight matters more. We conducted this visit in secret to minimize the risk to the people on the ground.”
What a bunch of crap-- they conducted the trip in secret to avoid public rebuke and the possibility that the Administration would shut down their silly stunt. Whatever the real goal of the trip was, it's now been overshadowed by outrage over their recklessness.
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