On the third anniversary of the Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 American service members and 170 Afghans during President Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, Vice President Kamala Harris put out a statement praising Biden’s “courageous” decision to withdraw and insisted he made no mistakes worth mentioning.
Harris, who took over as 2024 presidential candidate after the ailing Biden was forced out of the race by Democrat Party leaders, claimed she “mourns and honors” the 13 fallen Americans every day, but took zero responsibility for the string of disastrous errors and lapses in judgment that got them killed.
Instead, after some boilerplate language praising the “extraordinary skill, discipline, and dedication” of the murdered U.S. service members, she praised Biden for his chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan:
As I have said, President Biden made the courageous and right decision to end America’s longest war. Over the past three years, our Administration has demonstrated we can still eliminate terrorists, including the leaders of al-Qaeda and ISIS, without troops deployed into combat zones. I will never hesitate to take whatever action necessary to counter terrorist threats and protect the American people and the homeland.
Harris has previously boasted she was the “last person in the room” when the decision to launch the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was made.
Biden’s office also released a statement on the third anniversary of the Kabul bombing that took no responsibility for the withdrawal disaster. As with the Harris statement, Biden’s staffers merely repeated the names of the fallen service members, and insisted the pullout from Afghanistan has not hindered U.S. counter-terrorist activity in the region.
Biden himself vanished from public view on the Kabul bombing anniversary. According to the White House, he has embarked on what amounts to a 13-day vacation from office. The White House gave no indication of who will make executive decisions in his absence.
Contrary to Biden and Harris’ claims, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Gen. Erik Kurilla said in 2023 that the botched withdrawal created a “reduction in collection, analytical resources, and Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance assets” that has “challenged” U.S. efforts against al-Qaeda and ISIS.
“While we can see the broad contours of attack planning, we lack the granularity to see the complete threat picture,” Kurilla said.
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Biden and Harris have also failed to take responsibility for a panicked response to the Kabul bombing that killed an innocent Afghan aid worker and his family. The Pentagon described the botched retaliatory strike as a “tragic mistake.” No one in the Biden administration or the Pentagon has ever been held responsible for killing the innocent family.
In April 2024, CNN uncovered evidence long withheld from the public by the Biden-Harris administration that cast serious doubt on official accounts of the Kabul bombing. This evidence suggested there was far more gunfire during the airport attack and dozens of the victims may have been killed by U.S. Marines, rather than the bombing.
National security officials have confirmed the Kabul bomber was an ISIS-K terrorist named Abdul Rehman al-Loghri, who was released from the Bagram air force base after Biden and Harris inexplicably abandoned the vital facility in July 2021.
“President Biden’s disastrous handling of our withdrawal from Afghanistan led to a series of events that culminated with the tragic loss of life on August 26th outside of the Kabul airport. Thirteen Americans, including one of my constituents, were killed because of the poor judgment and execution of our troop withdrawal,” Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) said in September 2021.
The mastermind of the Kabul bombing was eventually brought to justice – but not by the Biden-Harris administration. The Taliban killed the unnamed ISIS-K leader in April 2023.
Radio Free Europe (RFE) observed on Monday that Afghan civilians are still struggling with the trauma from 170 deaths in a brutal attack claimed by the Islamic State-Khorasan group (ISIS-K). The Kabul airport was packed with terrified people attempting to flee the Taliban takeover when the ISIS-K suicide bomber struck.
“Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, which threw me to the ground. There was shouting, and people began running everywhere. I remember the blood and dust around me before I fell unconscious,” recalled a former university student named Samsor.
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Samsor was left in a coma by the blast, which fractured his spine in four places and punctured his throat with shrapnel. The bombing ended his effort to obtain a degree in English literature. Three years later, he can barely walk, and his family survives on remittances from a brother who works in Iran. He said the family sold off all of its assets to pay for his medical treatment.
“I hope that Allah will punish those responsible for devastating my life and the lives of so many others,” he said.
The third annual 13 Souls Memorial Run/Walk/Ride was held in Simi Valley, California on Saturday to honor the U.S. service members killed in the Kabul bombing. The event began with a memorial ceremony and an aircraft flyover.
“They gave so much, you know, not just the people that died, but those families gave up a child. So we’re here to honor and respect them – that’s the most important part,” said event organizer Jeff Von Molt.