ARLINGTON, Va.—In response to Monday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Afghanistan that largely consisted of partisan attacks and ahead of Tuesday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Afghanistan, Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) Senior Adviser Dan Caldwell issued the following statement on behalf of the organization:
“It was incredibly disappointing to see members of both parties on the House Foreign Affairs Committee use an important hearing on Afghanistan to score political points against the current and previous administrations, instead of asking substantive questions. The American people – particularly those who served in Afghanistan and the families of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice – deserve an effective and thorough examination of the failures of America’s war in Afghanistan, not partisan mudslinging. Congress largely neglected its oversight role during our 20-year entanglement in Afghanistan by failing to update or revise the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, thus handing successive administrations a blank check to wage war without oversight, transparency, or accountability. Members of Congress must correct this mistake by using future hearings to conduct an honest examination of America’s war in Afghanistan and ensuring accountability for the whole 20 years of the war, not just its last 20 days. The American people deserve nothing less.”
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