Impeaching Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III is a feel-good move, for sure. But is it wise? There is no question about the culpability of Austin and the entire Biden national security team in the monumental debacle that was the US withdrawal from Afghanistan two years ago. For the loved ones of the brave service members guarding the Abbey Gate at the Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) who lost their lives protecting refugees fleeing the Taliban, the tragedy is personal and never-ending.
“If the Biden national security team thought the ham-handed withdrawal from Afghanistan would fade into history, they should think again,” Liberty Nation reported. Despite a series of House of Representatives committee hearings, there was little satisfaction as to what exactly happened, when deadly decisions were made, and who the individuals responsible were. What prompts the enthusiasm for impeaching one of the key leaders in orchestrating the mess resulting in the deaths of 11 US Marines, one Sailor, and one soldier is the galling fact the Biden administration has held no one accountable at that time or since.
Lloyd Austin in Impeachment Crosshairs
Patience among legislators is always in short supply, and the scarce willingness to let the committee process take its course is over for Congressman Corey Mills (R-FL). On Friday, August 25, Representative Mills “presented articles of impeachment” for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In a press release from his office, Mills reasoned:
“When we had the chance, our leadership blew it. Sergeant Major Vargas-Andrews had the bomber in his sight, and in my view, it was a failure of leadership that he was not given the OK to take him down. This is not about politics; this is about accountability. That is why I drafted articles of impeachment to hold Secretary Lloyd Austin accountable for his dereliction of duty. Americans deserve accountability for this, and more importantly, the 13 Gold Star families deserve to know who is responsible.”
The fact that the suicide bomber was in the sniper sights of Marine Corps Sergeant Major Vargas-Andrews, who could have eliminated the threat and saved US service members and Afghan lives, came to light in testimony. LN recounted the Marine sniper’s story, explaining there were “persistent attempts to convey to his superiors that he and his sniper team had identified and confirmed the description of a suicide bomber in the crowd in front of Abby Gate but could not get the authority to engage the terrorist.” The obvious conclusion is that leadership failed or was non-existent. Ultimately, the magnitude of this command-and-control goat rope leads to the top. Mills has targeted the Defense Secretary as the top of the uniformed military chain of command.
Though Austin is the focus of Mills’ ire, many others had a hand in the chaos at Kabul airport. The US Embassy in Kabul could not sort through the tens of thousands of Afghan asylum seekers with a more efficient and expedited special visa process. Legislators have been unable to get to the root cause of the problem because the State Department has been stonewalling requests for information. “House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) is also investigating the withdrawal. However, he has faced numerous delays, clashing with Secretary of State Antony Blinken over retrieving the necessary documents and information,” Brad Dress, writing for The Hill, told readers.
Failing to be transparent in its policies and decision-making and obstructing congressional and official inspector general inquiries appears typical of Foggy Bottom’s behavior. As Liberty Nation explained, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko revealed to a congressional committee, “the State Department and US Agency for International Development have been complicit in standing in the way of SIGAR carrying out its oversight responsibilities. The obstruction has been ‘unprecedented’ over the past 12 years.”
Where’s the Benefit of Impeaching Lloyd Austin?
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
However, the question is how beneficial or constructive it is to single out one cabinet official for impeachment over the fatally mismanaged Afghanistan retreat. The process may shed light on the level of guilt assignable to Austin, but at what cost? Furthermore, in the end, will it be successful with a Senate in bed with the Biden administration? If pressed, you can anticipate Secretary Austin would plead the Nuremberg Defense, “I was only following orders,” of President Biden, or as the press secretary Jen Psaki at the time announced the “ultimate decision-maker.”
The impeachment process would bring most of the work of the House of Representatives, if not to a halt certainly to a slowdown, and eat up a large amount of resources. Serious work is being done by the Republican-led Congress – for example, looking into the threat China represents, not to mention getting defense authorization and appropriations bills passed to avoid a government shutdown. It might be good for the American taxpayer to watch an impeachment process to hold at least one Biden national security team member accountable for what history will record as the worst US military and foreign policy calamity. But would the juice be worth the squeeze?
