Congressman Fred Upton was briefed this week by the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of State, and Homeland Security officials on the situation in Afghanistan. He tells WSJM News he and a bipartisan group of colleagues had a lot of questions. He believes the August 31 deadline for the United States to get its own citizens and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan is a major problem.
“None of us really see how the mechanics of this are going to work,” Upton said. “The military is doing a splendid job, they’re doing all they can, but the rug’s been pulled out from underneath them by trying to comply with this date that’s just not going to work, which is why we’ve seen the chaos at the Afghan airport of folks who legitimately have the right to get out of there.”
Upton says the officials who briefed members of Congress faced a “fairly hostile” crowd. He describes the meeting as intense with both Republicans and Democrats concerned about what he calls the “debacle that we’ve seen.” He’s interested to learn more about fellow Republican Congressman Peter Meijer’s trip to Afghanistan this week.
