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Austin, Texas – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul issued the below statement following receipt of two reports from the State Department’s inspector general (IG), which further confirm the chairman’s investigative finding that U.S. Embassy Kabul abandoned and failed to secure significant amounts of sensitive security assets, including firearms and other lethal weapons, during the chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan. The IG reports also found the department has been unwilling and unable to learn from those mistakes. 

“These reports by the State Department’s own inspector general confirm my investigation’s findings of willful blindness and dangerous negligence by key State Department officials at Embassy Kabul. They left valuable lethal assets available to the Taliban, who can use those same weapons in their oppression of the Afghan people, support for terrorist groups, and hostilities against the United States. In a world where Americans and our interests abroad are increasingly threatened by our adversaries, the State Department’s persistent refusal to address systemic issues is unacceptable. I will continue working to keep the United States safe and will not relent in pursuing the transparency and accountability Americans deserve.”

Background:

The State Department’s Inspector General recently released two reports: (1) Management Assistance Report: The Department Would Benefit From a Formal, Systematic Methodology To Capture and Utilize Lessons Learned Following Post Evacuations (U); and (2) Audit of the Disposition of Sensitive Security Assets at U.S. Embassies Kabul, Afghanistan, and Kyiv, Ukraine (SBU).

According to the IG reports, U.S. Embassy Kabul abandoned 26% of its special protective equipment holdings and 63% of its total armored vehicle fleet in Afghanistan, with many of those abandoned assets intact for use by the Taliban.

These findings are consistent with Chairman McCaul’s September 9 report, which — through public hearings, transcribed interviews, and document discovery — revealed how the State Department’s willful blindness to the deteriorating situation during the Afghanistan withdrawal resulted in a failure to plan for a Taliban takeover of the country and the deadly Abbey Gate ISIS-K terrorist attack killing 13 U.S. servicemembers and over 170 Afghan civilians.

Click here to read the chairman’s full report.

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