(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified before Congress on the Biden administration's chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal in a long-awaited hearing that was originally scheduled for September. Though he claimed that "no one" in the Biden State Department anticipated the Afghan government's swift collapse, a group of diplomats warned Blinken of that very prospect roughly one month before the Taliban captured Kabul.

"Even the U.S. government’s most pessimistic assessments did not anticipate that the Afghan government and security forces would collapse so rapidly in the face of Taliban advances," Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

Twenty-six diplomats, however, sent Blinken a dissent cable in mid-July 2021—one month before the fall of Kabul and six weeks before a suicide bombing attack killed 13 American servicemembers—warning of Afghanistan's rapid deterioration. Asked why he ignored that cable, Blinken responded, "Very simply because no one anticipated the government and Afghan forces would collapse as quickly as they did."

Blinken's appearance comes nearly two months after the Biden official was set to testify before the House committee in late September. But Blinken failed to attend the hearing, defying a subpoena in the process, and only agreed to testify after the November presidential election. Blinken also missed a May deadline to turn over withdrawal-related internal documents, which were requested under subpoena.

Blinken’s appearance staved off a contempt proceeding in Congress that passed through the House Foreign Affairs Committee, setting the stage for a full vote in the GOP-controlled House. Instead, Blinken agreed to testify before traveling to the Middle East for discussions on Syria.

During several hours of testimony, Blinken faced pointed questions about his agency’s failure to prepare for the Taliban’s resurgence and the hurried U.S. evacuation effort that left thousands of Americans stranded in the country under terrorist rule. Blinken blamed the failure on American military leaders and the U.S. intelligence community, which he said failed to predict the Afghan government’s imminent collapse.

"We anticipated in every intelligence assessment that Kabul would remain in the hands of the government, in the hands of the Afghan armed forces through the balance of the year," Blinken said. "This unfolded more quickly than we anticipated, including in the intelligence community."

As the secretary began his hotly anticipated testimony, anti-Israel protesters disrupted the proceedings, screaming that "bloody Blinken" is a "liar" and "slimebag" for his support of Israel’s war against Iran-backed terror groups. Anti-Israel group CodePink took credit for the interruption.

"BUTCHER OF GAZA"

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is disrupted this morning during his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. pic.twitter.com/QdgVRytSKs

— CODEPINK (@codepink) December 11, 2024

When the hearing resumed, Blinken admitted that his State Department abandoned weapons, sensitive documents, and classified information to the Taliban when officials fled the U.S. embassy compound in Kabul amid the chaotic withdrawal.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), the committee’s outgoing chairman, described "desperate attempts" by American personnel "to burn documents on the rooftops and in the embassy while helicopters took off the embassy’s roof." Details of this dramatic scene were only revealed when McCaul’s committee released an in-depth report about the withdrawal in September.

Blinken referred to the events as normal.

"We have in place at every embassy including in Afghanistan, a process by which sensitive documents are destroyed in the event of an evacuation and shutting down the embassy."

Efforts to destroy documents began in early August 2021, as the situation deteriorated, and concluded on August 14th, "a day before Kabul fell," Blinken said.

The House committee’s report, however, indicated that the Taliban did access at least some classified information, which helped it identify and hunt down nearly 500 former Afghan government officials.

A separate State Department inspector general’s report on the agency’s handling of the Afghanistan debacle determined Foggy Bottom has "been unwilling and unable to learn from its mistakes," according to McCaul.

Blinken also claimed that since the 2021 evacuation, "many of the most pessimistic predictions" about Afghanistan’s future "have been thoroughly disproven." The country, he said, is not a haven for terrorists, and al Qaeda, once a dominant force, has not regrouped.

Evidence provided in the House report contradicts that assessment. It indicates that Taliban-led Afghanistan is "a hotbed of terrorist activities." The U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonprofit think tank that Congress established in 1984, has also raised concerns that Afghanistan is a "terrorist haven once again."

In the wake of the Biden administration's withdrawal, those terrorists enjoyed billions of dollars worth of weaponry the United States left behind. Blinken said the administration could not secure that weaponry before leaving, saying "certainly there would have been casualties" had it tried.

"There is no doubt some number of weapons or equipment, yes, is being used by the regime," Blinken said. "It is very regrettable that equipment was left behind, but I think it's a reality of 20 years, trillions of dollars worth of equipment."

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