Monday marks the third anniversary of the deaths of 13 U.S. service members in the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, and one congressman predicts the current administration won’t do enough to honor their sacrifice.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) told DailyMail.com he doesn’t expect to “hear a peep” from Vice President Kamala Harris and said President Joe Biden is likely to send an official statement from the White House.
But that’s not enough, said the first Green Beret to serve in Congress.
Republicans are furious with Biden and Harris over the chaotic, deadly and botched withdrawal from Afghanistan after a 20-year war and blame them for the deaths of 13 American soldiers.
“I don’t think you’re going to hear a peep from them this whole week, and that’s a shame,” Waltz speculated when asked what he thinks Biden and Harris will do to mark the third anniversary.
President Joe Biden looked at his watch as he and first lady Jill Biden received the caskets of 13 U.S. service members who lost their lives in the botched troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
“It’s a real snub,” the congressman continued. “At best, a statement will be released on Monday.”
“But he still hasn’t named all of them, he still hasn’t given the families the answers they deserve.”
But Waltz makes it clear that Harris is also to blame.
The vice president and 2024 Democratic nominee has repeatedly said she and Biden are satisfied with his decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan and are happy with how it was carried out.
He has also said in interviews that he was the last person in the room with Biden before they decided to pull the trigger on withdrawal and took equal responsibility for the decision as the sitting president.
The withdrawal from Afghanistan resulted in a chaotic and deadly scene as people rushed to be evacuated at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. An explosion at Abbey Gate killed 13 US soldiers on August 26, 2021
An explosion in the chaos of the withdrawal killed 13 US servicemen (pictured above)
The 13 soldiers who died during the withdrawal are:
Lance Corporal David L. Espinoza, 20, from Rio Bravo, Texas
Sergeant Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California
Staff Sergeant Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah
Staff Sergeant Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee
Corporal Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, California
First Class Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California
Lance Corporal Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming
First Corporal Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California
Corporal Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska
Sergeant Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts
Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana
Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri
Navy Medic Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio
All were serving in the Marine Corps except Soviak, who served in the Navy, and Knauss, who was in the Army.
Waltz says the least they can do for the families of the fallen is to allow them to be in a room with the decision-makers that day so they can get answers to every single question about that day.
Rep. Mike Waltz, the first Green Beret to serve in Congress, told DailyMail.com he doesn’t expect to “hear a peep” from the Biden-Harris administration honoring fallen service members.
“I mean, if it were me, you know, locking the generals and the diplomats and everyone involved in the room with these families until they run out of questions, they’re owed that,” he said of what he’d like to see from Biden and Harris.
“What’s so damning and so insulting to them is hearing (Biden) describe it as a success and seeing zero accountability,” Waltz lamented in his interview with DailyMail.com in Chicago, Illinois, on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Democratic Convention.
“In fact, the woman in charge of coordinating the evacuation is going to be promoted. She has been nominated to be ambassador to Iraq,” he mocked.
“So not only is there no accountability, but they’re promoting those responsible. It’s just outrageous.”