The State Department’s inspector general is reportedly launching a “series of investigations” into the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to Politico.
In an Oct. 15 memo from Secretary of State Antony Blinken that was obtained by Politico, Blinken said that the investigations will focus on “the State Department’s Special Immigrant Visa program; Afghans processed for refugee admission into the U.S.; resettlement of those refugees and visa recipients; and the emergency evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul ‘to include evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan nationals.’”
Diana Shaw, the State Department’s acting inspector general, wrote a letter on Monday informing multiple congressional committees of the investigation.
“Given the elevated interest in this work by Congress and the unique circumstances requiring coordination across the Inspector General community, I wanted to notify our committees of jurisdiction of this important work,” Shaw wrote.
State Office of Inspector General spokesperson Ryan Holden downplayed the investigations, insisting that they were actually just “reviews.”
“State OIG notified its committees of jurisdiction today of planned projects in the areas you mention,” Holden said. “This work will be conducted in coordination with other members of the IG community. However, it is inaccurate to say that these projects are investigations. We indicated to Congress that these projects will be reviews.”
According to Politico, the inspector general will investigate “a review of [Department of Defense’s] screening process for displaced Afghans; and an audit of [Department of Defense] support for the relocation of Afghan nationals.”
There will also be an investigation of the Biden administration’s response to the retaliatory drone strike after an ISIS-K terrorist killed 13 U.S. servicemembers in a suicide bombing at Bagram airport in Afghanistan.
The Biden administration’s retaliatory drone strike was on a suspected ISIS member. However, according to a report from the New York Times, the man targeted was actually “Zemari Ahmadi, a longtime worker for a U.S. aid group.”
In the attack, the Biden administration ended up killing 10 civilians, including 7 children, – and zero terrorists. The Biden administration initially claimed that there were no civilian casualties.
