13 US service members honored in House for their sacrifice in the Abbey Gate bombing during Afghanistan withdrawal.
Johnson expresses regret to families of 13 deceased service members: 'Our sincerest apologies'
The Gold Medal ceremony for the 13 U.S. service members killed at Abbey Gate during the Afghanistan withdrawal will be hosted by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
The Gold Medal, Congress' highest honor, will be presented posthumously to the 13 fallen Americans who were killed during the August 2021 ISIS-K suicide bombing at the Kabul Airport by Johnson.
The military's 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal was criticized in a 350-page report by Rep. Mike McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which was released two days before Tuesday's ceremony. The report highlighted areas of serious mismanagement and left roughly 170 Afghans dead.
The Republican-led report highlights President Biden's past callous foreign policy positions, including his urgency to withdraw from the Vietnam War as a senator and his recent decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, which the report characterizes as a "pattern of abandoning strategic partners."
The report contradicted Biden's claim that his hands were constrained by the Doha agreement with the Taliban, which set a deadline for U.S. withdrawal in the summer of 2021, and it exposed how state officials lacked a strategy for evacuating Americans and allies while there were still troops present to safeguard them.
On the third anniversary of the attack, Trump honored the families of the 13 fallen U.S. service members at Arlington National Cemetery.
Despite not being present, Biden and Vice President Harris issued statements but did not publicly identify the 13 fallen.
The eight families who invited Trump to visit their homes in Afghanistan accused Harris of playing politics with the visit. They also criticized the Biden-Harris administration for the pullout that resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members three years ago.
The vice president condemned Trump's team for capturing images and videos during a wreath-laying ceremony. The Army stated that an Arlington National Cemetery official was "suddenly pushed aside" while ensuring that Trump's team was "informed of federal laws, Army guidelines, and DoD policies, which unequivocally prohibit political activities on cemetery property."
The families of fallen soldiers in Afghanistan criticized Harris for her criticism of Trump's visit to pay tribute to the deceased.
This report was contributed to by Morgan Phillips, Nicholas Kalman, and Andrea Vacchiano of Planet Chronicle.
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