Secretary of State Antony Blinken personally apologized Wednesday to the families of the 13 U.S. troops killed in a suicide bombing during the final days of the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, saying he wished the Biden team had done better.
Testifying to Congress, he defended the administration’s thinking on the withdrawal, saying there was no choice but to pull out troops on the schedule President Trump began and President Biden inherited.
Mr. Trump has countered that argument, saying he never would have withdrawn the military before everyone else, as the Biden team did.
Mr. Blinken said the deaths of the 13 troops were a tragedy.
“I deeply regret that we did not do more and could not do more to protect them,” he told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
He then turned to relatives of Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee, who died on Aug. 26 three years ago from wounds suffered in the suicide bombing. Her family was in the audience for the hearing.
“I wish that Nicole was here with us today. I’m deeply sorry she is not,” the secretary said.
The 13 died from the suicide attack at the airport where the U.S. was conducting the evacuation. Some 170 Afghans were also killed.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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