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Representatives Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Peter Meijer, a Republican from Michigan, said in a joint statement Tuesday that they had traveled to Kabul “to oversee the evacuation mission of the Americans and our allies.” and that the trip had been conducted in secret “to minimize risk and disruption to those on the ground.”
“As members of Congress, we have a duty to monitor the executive,” said Moulton and Meijer, two military veterans who served in the Middle East. The couple said they traveled to Afghanistan “in a plane with empty seats, sitting in reserved crew seats to ensure that no one who needed a seat loses one. because of our presence “.
But the trip, apparently a typical Congressional fact-finding mission, caught the House leadership and the House armed services committee by surprise, according to a senior official in the Democratic leadership, as well as the White House, according to a report. source close to the file.
A US official called the visit an “unnecessary distraction,” telling CNN on Tuesday that the Defense Department had also not been given advance notice that members of Congress would be visiting Afghanistan.
The visit came as U.S. officials scrambled to ramp up the pace of evacuation flights, and the unexpected arrival of U.S. politicians in the midst of a war zone would have taken scarce resources and personnel away from the evacuation mission, especially in the midst of a persistent terrorist threat. ISIS-K and other groups seeking to target US and coalition forces.
“I am writing to reiterate that the Defense and State Departments have asked members not to travel to Afghanistan and the region during this time of danger,” wrote the California Democrat. “Ensuring the safe and rapid evacuation of those at risk requires the full focus and attention of US military and diplomatic teams on the ground in Afghanistan.
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