Disturbing testimony highlighted exactly how complete the breakdown in military command was during the “Saigon-like” withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. U.S. Minister of State Antony “Blinky” Blinken had a rough week but the network media is doing their best to cover it all up. Remember that suicide bomber who went kaboom in Kabul? It could have been prevented.
Foreign Affairs testimony
On Wednesday, March 8, the House Foreign Affairs Committee invited witnesses to provide testimony about “their experiences during the disastrous evacuation from Afghanistan.” They were also there to examine the Biden regime’s “stunning failure of leadership.” When Sargent Tyler Vargas-Andrews took the stand, he had an amazing story to tell.
He and his team were ready, set and able to prevent a major disaster but nobody would take charge and give the order. Network media is barely reporting the hearing was held, they won’t mention a single word about what he said. Thankfully, the committee has been putting out bulletins with all the dirty details the Deep State doesn’t want you to see.
The explosive testimony kicked off when panel chairman Michael McCaul asked Sargent Vargas-Andrews to recount his experiences. Once the witness was settled, McCaul began by noting, “you described the scene as chaotic, that the State Department was not prepared, that we completely shut down processing every evening and into the morning – leaving you and your colleagues with a ‘nightmare‘ you called it. Could you describe that?”
U.S. Marine Corps sniper Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews tells Congress he was denied permission to shoot the suicide bomber in Afghanistan that killed 13 service members:
"Plain and simple, we were ignored. Our expertise was disregarded. No one was held accountable for our safety." pic.twitter.com/mEJHQPRCW5
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 9, 2023
He sure could. “Yes, I can Chairman.” He was stationed at “Abbey Gate” and explains “it was like this at other gates as well.”
His unit was tasked with “processing” locals. That meant searching them for weapons and explosives. “Seven of us and our sniper team, we would go down and if we weren’t on the gun or catching a few winks, we would be down processing nationals and civilians and ya know, talking with everyone down there.” They would pass along the chatter they picked up.
His testimony confirmed that Blinky had them close up shop at 5 and clock out. The unit would “halt processing Afghans, to stop searching them.” That made things harder. “We kinda had to keep control of the crowd that was left over in the evening throughout, I would say sundown to sun up. There was no plan in place throughout the evening and the State Department would not take Afghans that we processed or searched, so eventually we just stopped throughout the evening.”
Events of August 26
The testimony really started to heat up when Vargas-Andrews got to describe the chaos and the bloodshed that ensued on August 26. It started with a “be on the lookout” report which circulated “identifying two individuals as a potential IED threat at the Abbey Gate.”
The Sargent confirmed the bulletin and added “routinely we send two or three guys back to collect intel from our intel assets over in the joint operations command. That morning, around 2:00am we were passed that a suicide bomber was in the vicinity and in the surrounding neighborhoods, potentially moving towards the gate.” The alert was specific. “We were told that he was wearing a brown man dress, a black vest, he would look clean-shaven and would be younger, with an older man traveling as his companion.” It was accurate. “And we saw just that on the 26th around 12:30 p.m. in the afternoon.”
As McCaul pointed out, “and in fact, you said you passed along the communications network that there was a potential threat, an IED attack imminent, and [in] your words, ‘this was as serious as it gets.’” That “is correct. We had eyes on these two individuals that fit this exact description we were given from our intel assets and we had pictures, we had them clear as day to be able to see through our scope with ease of fire on both individuals.”
Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews lost his right arm and left leg in the explosion. pic.twitter.com/P9vm7XxTmD
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) March 8, 2023
He explained in his testimony their “high-powered optics with quality lenses on our cameras to take clear-cut pictures of everything we see.” By the book, “the psychological operations came to the tower and confirmed that the suspect met the suicide bomber description.” McCaul was following closely. “So you had him, and then you show this evidence and you asked your commander if you could shoot?”
“We did, Chairman. Both myself and my team leader asked for engagement authority and he responded with he did not have that authority, so we asked who did and he told us he did not know and would go find out.” He’s still waiting to find out. According to what he had to say in sworn testimony, “In that time, in the time of talking with him and keeping eyes on this individual over the course of 30 minutes, the two individuals both disappeared into the crowd of thousands.” Apparently, there were no rules of engagement on the ground.
“We were told to pass our command if we saw any suspicious activity or hostile intent, and that’s exactly what we did. We were not returned with an answer.” Nobody has been held accountable to this day. McCaul summarized by observing, “and as a result, we have 13 dead servicemen, women, we have 170 Afghans killed, and 45, including yourself sir, injured.” Vargas-Andrews answered simply, “that is correct.“
