Tipsheet

McCaul Seeks Interview With Kabul Commander Who Denied Sniper Request to Take Out Suicide Bomber

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  August 16, 2023 11:45 AM

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) is seeking new information from those who were in charge on the ground in Kabul during the Biden administration's disastrous and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan as the country marks two years since everything collapsed the chaos ensued. Specifically, McCaul is seeking testimony from a commander who, according to previous testimony, chose not to issue clearance to neutralize a target believed to be the suicide bomber who killed more than one dozen Americans at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA).

As Townhall reported in March, Tyler Vargas-Andrews — a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps who was in Kabul as the Biden administration's haphazard withdrawal took place — testified to Congress that he and other Marines saw a suspicious individual they believe was the ISIS-K suicide bomber who eventually detonated a device that killed 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans outside HKIA. 

Vargas-Andrews, a sniper, said he asked for engagement authority to neutralize the suspicious individual but didn't receive it, ending up himself wounded in the blast that followed the denial of clearance to take out the presumed bomber.

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Tuesday — the second anniversary of Kabul's fall to the Taliban that set in motion the chaos which culminated in the deadly suicide bombing — McCaul summarized Vargas-Andrews' testimony:

On March 8, 2023, the House Foreign Affairs Committee heard powerful testimony from former Marine Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a sniper gravely wounded in that terrorist attack. In that hearing, he testified that his sniper team believed they identified the suicide bomber responsible for the attack earlier that day, prior to the attack taking place. But, according to Sergeant Vargas- Andrews, they were unable to eliminate the threat due to their leadership’s uncertainty as to who held authority to approve action.

Sergeant Vargas-Andrews testified, “[t]o this day, we believe he was the suicide bomber. We made everyone on the ground aware. Operations had briefly halted, but, then, started again. Plain and simple, we were ignored. Our expertise was disregarded. No one was held accountable for our safety.”

McCaul also noted that, "[a]t least one day prior to the bombing, intelligence indicated ISIS-K was orchestrating 'an imminent 'mass casualty event'' in Afghanistan, and that Kabul airport was at risk," information that was "provided to Sergeant Vargas-Andrews and his team" early on the morning of the attack along with "a description of the bomber, identifying him and noting his presence in the area." 

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"This implies components of the military and others had more than twelve hours of advanced warning," McCaul explained in his letter. "Additionally, the military’s reliance on the Taliban to provide security at the airport created an environment rife with opportunities for security breakdowns."

McCaul emphasized that it's "essential to carefully examine these events to assess what happened that day and whether the Abbey Gate attack was avoidable," especially because — now two years later — "not a single person within the Biden Administration has been held accountable for the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan."

Pledging not to rest "until we uncover every stone and get to the bottom of how this happened and who is responsible for these failures," McCaul rightly noted America's "service members, veterans, and our Gold Star families – especially those who lost family on August 26th at Abbey Gate – deserve answers."

In this case, that search for the truth means a request from McCaul and the Foreign Affairs Committee for "a transcribed interview of Sergeant Vargas-Andrews' commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Brad Whited, USMC." McCaul reminded Secretary Austin that Whited has already "discussed his experience during the Afghanistan withdrawal, including the Abbey Gate attack" in a recent documentary. "As such, we expect the Department of Defense will assist in facilitating his appearance before this Committee," McCaul said.

McCaul set a August 25 deadline for Austin and the Pentagon to arrange for the interview to take place no later than September 22.