John Kirby, the coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, continued to insist during a CNN interview on Thursday that the ISIS-K attack at Abbey Gate could not be prevented despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
The suicide bombing at the gate during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal at Hamid Karzai International Airport resulted in 13 services members killed, dozens of others wounded, and over 100 Afghans being killed. Leading up to the moment of the attack, the Marines at Abbey Gate were warned of a high possibility of a suicide bomber. Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who was severely wounded in the explosion, testified he saw the bomber in the crowd and asked for permission to take him out. He was denied and then lost sight of the bomber.
"I understand you and the president would rather talk about the decision to end the war in Afghanistan. I think a lot of people are concerned about how it happened, the implementation of the withdrawal, and why it seemed so chaotic and why warnings about suicide bombers may not have been heeded, and the rest," CNN host Jake Tapper told Kirby.
"Central Command...did a pretty exhaustive investigation into this, Jake, and they determined that, barring any decision that could've impacted mission success, there wasn't much that could be done to prevent that attack from coming, as tragic as it was," Kirby replied.
"There was a lot of confusion outside the gate, but inside that gate, rules of engagement were clear. Commanders were on the ground," he continued.
In response to Kirby's answer, Jerry Dunleavy, co-author of "Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco," noted "Tyler Vargas-Andrews (who was denied permission to shoot the likely bomber) wasn’t interviewed by CENTCOM!"
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