The final days of President Biden's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan were chaotic, deadly, and a disgrace. The ISIS-K suicide bombing attack on Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) that killed 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans seeking to flee the Taliban takeover was a disastrous conclusion to one of Biden's earliest crises.
The events leading up to and immediately following the Abbey Gate attack have been repeatedly scrutinized and investigated. Yet, the official Biden administration conclusion about the attack has again been called into question. Lawmakers, whose oversight efforts of the Afghan withdrawal have not been welcomed by the administration, are now rightfully demanding answers.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), lawmakers explain they are "deeply concerned about the apparent discrepancy between newly-reported video footage of the Abbey Gate attack...and the conclusions of two U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) investigations into the bombing."
Today, CHM @RepMcCaul, @michaelgwaltz, and several HFAC GOP members sent a letter to @SecDef requesting more information on investigations into the deadly Abbey Gate attack. The letter was sent after new footage revealed discrepancies from @CENTCOM's previous conclusions.
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) May 8, 2024
Citing a report from CNN last month that included footage from a Marine's helmet camera that "recorded multiple bursts of gunfire immediately after the suicide bomber attack...with further gunfire in the minutes following the attack as well," lawmakers note that the existence of such footage "appears to directly contradict CENTCOM's official results."
The letter from McCaul and Waltz — joined by Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Brian Mast (R-FL), Cory Mills (R-FL), Rich McCormick (R-GA), Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Keith Self (R-TX) — notes that there has "always been a great deal of confusion over the amount of small arms fire heard at Abbey Gate during the attack. Some service members reported 'a mass volume' of gunfire, while others asserted that they were under fire from various locations, including a rooftop and a water tower," the letter recounts.
In February 2022, the lawmakers also remind, CENTCOM Abbey Gate Investigation team member Col. C.J. Douglas told the media that there was "nearly simultaneous gunfire from three separate points, traveling across the frontage of service members operating within a confined space...[which] caused an echo, which created the illusion of a firefight."
"It is unclear what generated this CENTCOM data point of near-simultaneous gunfire," the letter continues, "which appears to be directly contradicted by the video footage obtained by CNN, which shows 11 episodes of gunfire over nearly four minutes."
The House Foreign Affairs Committee was notified by CENTCOM that "neither the Investigation Team nor the Supplemental Review Team had seen the complete video prior to its publication by CNN," according to the lawmakers. Still, CENTCOM said the footage "did not contradict the findings of the Abbey Gate investigation."
Lawmakers, however, aren't satisfied with the Biden administration's attempts to brush the video and its implications aside.
"[N]early three years later we still have the same questions that the very U.S. service members captured in the CNN video had, including who was firing the rounds and whether it was the Taliban or another hostile force," their letter to Austin emphasizes.
"We therefore ask you to clarify the volume, incidence, and sources of gunfire at the scene. Why, also, was the Afghan doctor referenced in the CNN article not interviewed, nor any other Afghan?" query the lawmakers.
"Lastly, why do journalists have this video footage and the Department does not? Is there any more footage in the Department’s possession that has not yet been made public? If so, please release such footage immediately and confirm that no more video recordings exist of which the Department is aware," the letter asks.
"As Memorial Day approaches, we owe it to our fallen service members that their last sacrifices are not swept under the rug or celebrated as a success," lawmakers admonish. "The truth must come out. We urge you in the strongest possible terms to account for the discrepancy between the results of the CENTCOM investigation and this new reporting."