Senator Hawley Demands Afghanistan Accountability: “Who Has Been Shown the Door?” as Army Report Shows White House Was Warned for Months

On 2/10/2022, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri delivered a forceful Senate floor speech demanding accountability for the Afghanistan withdrawal, citing the Army’s after-action report showing the White House was warned for months that the government was collapsing and civilians needed evacuation — warnings that were ignored. Hawley connected the Afghanistan failure to the emerging Ukraine crisis, saying the administration had “bumbled to the brink of another foreign policy crisis” after greenlighting Nord Stream 2 and denying Ukraine military aid.

”Warned Over and Over and Over Again”

Hawley laid out the timeline revealed in the Army report and Washington Post investigation. “The White House was told over and over and over again and did nothing,” Hawley said. “In fact, worse than that — rejected the counsel of military commanders on the ground saying that the situation was urgent, saying that civilians needed to be evacuated, saying that there needed to be other steps taken.”

He cited the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, who had warned “as early as March” that “the security situation in Afghanistan was dire and collapse could come quickly” once the United States withdrew. “He said it in March. By July our troops are gone. In August the administration still hasn’t started planning,” Hawley said.

”The Writing Was on the Wall”

Hawley quoted directly from sworn testimony in the Army investigation. “One service member who was in Kabul told investigators — and I’m quoting now — ‘The writing was on the wall. The country and its government were actively collapsing. And we should not have waited to start evacuations until every provincial capital had fallen except for Kabul,’” Hawley said. “And yet that’s exactly what the administration did.”

He described how the top military commander in Kabul tried to convince the ambassador on the ground to recognize the security threat. “As one military official told investigators, the embassy needed to position for withdrawal. And yet they weren’t doing it,” Hawley said.

NSC “Not Seriously Planning” as Late as August

Hawley cited Marine Corps Brigadier General Farrell Sullivan’s assessment. “As late as August the 6th, the National Security Council was, and I’m quoting him now, ‘not seriously planning for an evacuation,’” Hawley said.

“The State Department hadn’t even put a team together that was responsible for informing individuals, including American citizens, that they were eligible for evacuation, or started collecting the information they would need to put those Americans on flights,” Hawley added.

Once the government collapsed, it was “a mad rush to the exits once the administration realized that in fact the government was collapsing, realized they hadn’t done the preparation they needed to do, realized that hundreds if not thousands of American civilians were” at risk.

”No Accountability”

Hawley delivered the central question of his speech. “What accountability has there been in this time? Who has been relieved of duty? Who has been shown the door? What have we learned?” he asked.

“The answer is, there’s been no accountability. No one has been relieved of duty. No one has been shown the door,” Hawley said. “And now this administration has bumbled to the brink of another foreign policy crisis that they have helped create, having denied Ukraine military aid, having stuffed dollars in Vladimir Putin’s pockets by greenlighting the Nord Stream 2 energy pipeline.”

Learning from Press Reports, Not Hearings

Hawley expressed frustration that the information came from leaked documents rather than congressional oversight. “Did we learn it in an oversight hearing before this body? Did we learn it in sworn testimony given in public? No,” Hawley said. “We learned it because the Washington Post obtained what were previously confidential, unpublished reports from within Central Command.”

He vowed to force accountability. “I will come to this floor and insist on regular order, insist this body do its job, and vote on defense department nominees until we get accountability, until there are public hearings,” Hawley said.

“I wasn’t alive for Vietnam, but I am not willing to participate in the kind of cover-up that happened for years in the Vietnam War,” he added.

Key Takeaways

The Army report showed the White House was warned for months — beginning in March — that Afghanistan’s government would collapse, but the NSC was “not seriously planning for an evacuation” as late as August 6.
No one was fired, relieved of duty, or held accountable for the withdrawal failures; Biden rejected the Army’s findings entirely.
Hawley connected Afghanistan to the Ukraine crisis, saying the administration had “bumbled to the brink of another foreign policy crisis” after greenlighting Nord Stream 2.
A service member told investigators “the writing was on the wall” and the administration “should not have waited until every provincial capital had fallen.”
Hawley vowed to hold up defense nominees until the Senate conducted public oversight hearings.

Transcript Highlights

The following is transcribed from the video audio (unverified — AI-generated from audio).

The White House was told over and over and over again and did nothing. Worse than that — rejected the counsel of military commanders.
The writing was on the wall. The country and its government were actively collapsing. We should not have waited.
As late as August the 6th, the National Security Council was not seriously planning for an evacuation.
Who has been relieved of duty? Who has been shown the door? The answer is, there’s been no accountability.
I wasn’t alive for Vietnam, but I am not willing to participate in the kind of cover-up that happened for years.
This administration has bumbled to the brink of another foreign policy crisis, having stuffed dollars in Putin’s pockets by greenlighting Nord Stream 2.

Full transcript: 1098 words transcribed via Whisper AI.