They thought a little secret trip to Kabul under the guise of providing “oversight” would make them more popular with the voters back home. It didn’t. Two no-name congressmen decided they could claim their 15 minutes of fame with a publicity stunt and it blew up like a suicide bomber. The Pentagon is hopping mad too.
More chaos in Kabul
The military in Afghanistan has enough on their plate dealing with Antony Blinken’s Saigon style evacuation effort. The last thing they needed was two congressmen running around loose and distracting their security teams. On Wednesday, August 25, the Department of Defense went on the offensive.
The Pentagon ripped into Republican lawmaker Peter Meijer of Michigan and Democrat Seth Moulton of Massachusetts for the “unannounced trip they made Tuesday to Afghanistan.”
The lame lawmakers intended to “survey the evacuation effort in Kabul.” What they really did was divert “resources that would’ve otherwise gone towards the evacuation mission.” According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, “there wasn’t a need to flex and alter the day’s flow.”
The interlopers may be Iraq veterans but they “certainly took time away from what we had been planning to do that day.”
Kirby notes the command team was not pleased with having to babysit two VIP’s in their war zone. It would have been nice if the lawmakers gave them a heads up on their plans ahead of time. Somebody could have beat some sense into them before they wasted everyone’s time in Kabul.
The brass were not happy with “the need to provide protection to Meijer and Moulton.” Kirby added that “the Pentagon was ‘not aware’ of their visit ahead of time but that the two have since left the country.” They were thrown out so hard they bounced.
Pelosi not happy
As soon as they were safe and sound back on American soil, the two rogue renegades couldn’t wait to release a statement about their adventure. They proudly describe their “secret” flight to Kabul.
Somebody needs to provide “oversight” of the evacuation, they claimed. Nancy Pelosi got word of the stunt and came unglued. She immediatley dictated off a letter “to House members discouraging such trips.”
The Palace Minister of Defense was livid too. Pentagon spokesman Kirby was sure to note that Lloyd Austin “would’ve appreciated the opportunity to have a conversation” with the visiting distractions ahead of time “about their plans to visit Afghanistan.”
Pelosi dragged Kevin McCarthy into it. He got buttonholed by reporters on the issue at Wednesday’s security briefing. Yeah, he admits, “the trip was a bad idea and unsanctioned by leadership.” He does understand their “frustration” though. Getting in the way won’t get Americans out of Kabul though.
Texas Republican Michael McCaul was also quick to jump on the censure bandwagon. He called the stunt “a distraction.” One that was “ill-advised” because they “are diverting necessary resources.” After the hammer came down, both lawmakers stood up to defend their actions.
“We conducted this visit in secret, speaking about it only after our departure, to minimize the risk and disruption to the people on the ground, and because we were there to gather information, not to grandstand.” The voters don’t quite see it that way. At least, on the way back home, they “they took a flight with empty seats to ‘ensure that nobody who needed a seat would lose one because of our presence.'” How thoughtful. Kevin McCarthy also warned his team, to stay out of Kabul. Any “members that might go, I explained to them that I don’t think they should.”