The daddy of a U.S. Marine killed throughout the terrorist assault on the Kabul airport in Afghanistan two years in the past tore into President Biden on Capitol Hill Tuesday, saying he’s a “shame to this nation” who has “extra American blood” on his fingers “than any president in U.S. historical past.”
Mark Schmitz, the daddy of Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, who was one of many 13 U.S. service members who had been killed in a bomb blast on Aug. 26, 2021, throughout the army evacuation on the Kabul airport, participated in a roundtable dialogue with different Gold Star members of the family earlier than the Home International Affairs Committee.
“Not a single individual has been held accountable,” Schmitz mentioned. “Our so-called chief can not seem to even utter their names in public, not even as soon as.
Mark Schmitz, the daddy of Marine Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, (L), and President Biden (R) (Fox Information)
GOLD STAR FAMILIES SLAM BIDEN ADMIN OVER CHAOTIC AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL AS MILLEY VOWS ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’
“You’re a shame to this nation,” the emotional father continued. “You haven’t any enterprise having final command over our army, and I remorse not saying that to your face after I had the chance in Dover. I felt it extra necessary to chew my tongue, however I additionally had extra necessary issues on my thoughts at the moment, like receiving my son’s lifeless physique stateside.”
“Whereas I stood there on the tarmac watching you examine your watch over and over, all I wished to do was shout out, ‘It is 2 —-ing 30, —hole.’ However out of respect of the opposite grieving households, I bit my tongue as soon as once more. Properly, as you may most likely inform by now, I am finished biting my tongue. You, sir, stole their lives, their futures, their goals and have ripped aside 13 households. You can not even man up and admit that.”
US President Joe Biden seems to be down alongside First Girl Jill Biden as they attend the dignified switch of the stays of a fallen service member at Dover Air Drive Base in Dover, Delaware, August, 29, 2021, one of many 13 members of the US army killed in Afghanistan. (Saul Loeb/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
Schmitz added that Biden doubtless has “extra American blood” on his fingers “than any president in U.S. historical past,” and he requested investigations into Biden, Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken “for his or her involvement in deliberately leaving Bagram and all of its property by knowingly aiding identified terrorists, all whereas abandoning U.S. civilians and allied companions.”
“In closing, Mr. Biden, Secretary Austin, Secretary Blinken, if trusting and supporting our army is simply too troublesome for you, then I recommend you pack your s— and revel in your retirement,” he concluded. “As a result of from the place I sit on my perch, the noose round your doubled-down notion that this was a unprecedented success seems to be prefer it’s tightening a bit of bit extra each day.”
The Gold Star households at Tuesday’s listening to have repeatedly criticized the administration for each the decision-making within the Afghanistan withdrawal and what they mentioned was incomplete or incorrect info given to them.
Kelly Barnett, the mom of Marine Corps Workers Sergeant Taylor Hoover, mentioned, “They knew this was going to occur or it was a part of their plan. They had been too busy shaking fingers with the Taliban, cleansing up and ensuring we left it clear and tidy for the Taliban to fret about giving our snipers the OK to make all of it OK.”
Because the listening to was about to start, Gen. Mark Milley — the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers who has acquired sharp criticism for his function within the withdrawal — launched an announcement through which he mentioned the U.S. owes Gold Star households “every little thing.”
U.S. Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers Gen. Mark Milley converse to members of the press after a digital Ukraine Protection Contact Group assembly on the Pentagon on November 16, 2022, in Arlington, Virginia. (Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Picture)
“We owe them transparency, we owe them honesty, we owe them accountability. We owe them the reality about what occurred to their family members,” Milley mentioned in an announcement to Fox Information.
Milley addressed a number of the claims from Gold Star households about incorrect info in his assertion.
“I belief the Military, Navy and Marine Corps did the most effective they might in briefing the households who had family members killed at Abbey Gate. I consider the briefers gave every bit of data that they might. If there was points with that, we have to take no matter corrective motion is critical,” he mentioned. “And our hearts exit to these households.”
He continued: “This can be a private factor for all of us in uniform. We do not like what occurred in Afghanistan. We do not like the end result of Afghanistan. We owe it to the households to maintain them. Their sacrifices weren’t in useless.”
On this June 17, 2021, file picture, Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley speak earlier than a Senate Appropriations Committee listening to on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool by way of AP)
He then mentioned that for many who served within the mission, “the fee in blood was excessive, however each single one in all us who served in Afghanistan ought to maintain our heads excessive.
“Every served with ability, dedication and honor. For twenty years our nation was not attacked from Afghanistan – that was our mission, and every one will be rightly happy with their service,” he continued.
The Pentagon additionally launched an announcement of its personal, expressing “our deepest condolences to the Gold Star Households who misplaced family members throughout the tragic bombing at Abbey Gate.
“We’re eternally grateful for his or her service, sacrifice, and dedicated efforts throughout the evacuation operations. We additionally commend the historic and monumental efforts of all our service women and men who served honorably throughout the withdrawal interval from Afghanistan,” the assertion mentioned.
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It went on to say that US Central Command carried out a “complete, credible and definitive” investigation into the assault.
“As then CENTCOM commander Gen. McKenzie highlighted, ‘The amount of proof collected, the testimony of greater than 100 individuals, the evaluation of specialists, the findings of reality, and the conclusions of the group primarily based upon proof provides a compelling and truthful examination of the occasion.’ U.S. army commanders on the bottom in Afghanistan made the most effective choices and supplied their greatest army recommendation primarily based off what was identified on the time and leaders took applicable motion in response to reported menace streams. From the investigation on the tactical stage, the Abbey Gate assault was not preventable with out degrading the mission to maximise the variety of evacuees, and the leaders on the bottom adopted the correct measures and procedures.”
Fox Information’ Adam Shaw, Jennifer Griffin and Aishah Hasnie contributed to this report.
