Miller-Meeks Statement on Attacks at Kabul Airport

Press Release

Today, August 26th, 2021, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) released the following statement after reports of American soldiers being killed outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan:

"My heart is broken at the loss of our servicemembers in Afghanistan. I am praying for the safety of everyone in the immediate area and that we can get them all out of Afghanistan quickly and safely.

This Administration has mishandled the withdrawal since the beginning. For months, I worked with a bipartisan group of members pushing President Biden to begin immediately evacuating American soldiers and citizens, as well as our Afghan partners. We were stonewalled. This withdrawal has been an operational and possible intelligence failure at every step.It is important to separate our need to bring troops home or "end a war" from how this withdrawal was executed. We should not have advertised our withdrawal strategy to the entire world just to fit an arbitrary and symbolic timeline.

I want to tell every single American who served and worked in Afghanistan that their service and sacrifices are acknowledged, appreciated, and we are forever in their debt. Even during this withdrawal, our military has performed in exemplary fashion. They have kept our country safe for the last twenty years through their brave actions. Now we must do right by them and work to get every single American out of Afghanistan before there are more lives lost."

Source