Two years ago this week – on August 26, 2021 – the lives of thirteen American families were changed forever. Thirteen US servicemembers (11 Marines, one Army paratrooper, one Navy Corpsman) and 170 Afghan citizens were murdered by a homicide bomber at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
On August 29, 2023, the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a roundtable discussion with the Gold Star families. The testimony from the families was heartbreaking. Anger over the Biden regime’s failed strategy – or lack of strategy – was palpable.
In one instance of raw emotion that seemed to encapsulate the sentiment of most families there and many Americans, Mark Schmitz, Gold Star father of Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, dropped some hard truths as he demanded accountability from Biden to Blinken, Austin to Milley.
WATCH THE ENTIRE HEARING: A Gold Star Families Roundtable: Examining the Abbey Gate Terrorist Attack
Testimony of Mark Schmitz starts at 1:55:50; Transcript begins at 2:00:18
Two years has gone by and where are we?
To be frank, we’re knee deep in bullshit, is where we are. Everyone who held the key position in the military still has that position or has been promoted. John Kirby still sits on his perch, which apparently faces the opposite direction from where all the action was. Blinken continues to delay key evidence by ignoring delaying subpoenas. Not a single general slapped down their stars, which should have happened two years ago when Biden ignored his reliable intelligence. Not a single person has been held accountable.
Our so-called leader can’t seem to even utter their names in public, not even once. Mr. Biden has run his entire political campaign for 50 years as ‘the family man.’ Well, I’ve got news for you, sir. The curtain has been lifting, and that campaign slogan will never work again. We have seen what’s going on in your family, and even worse, we’ve seen how you’ve been treating us as Gold Star families, and there couldn’t be anything more disgusting and cowardly than the way you have treated us.
You are a disgrace to this nation. You have no business having ultimate command over our military, and I regret not saying that to your face when I had the opportunity in Dover.
I felt it more important to bite my tongue. But I also had more important things on my mind at that time, like receiving my son’s lifeless body, stateside. While I stood there on the tarmac, watching you check your watch, over and over again, all I wanted to do was shout out. ‘it’s two-fucking-thirty, asshole.’
But out of respect to the other grieving families I bit my tongue once again. Well, as you could probably tell by now, I’m done biting my tongue. You, sir stole their lives, their futures, their dreams, and have ripped apart 13 families. You cannot even man up and admit that. You, sir, gave us all the title Gold Star family. You, sir discredit honor and integrity.
Two years later there are things I find myself thinking about; Where and what was Biden’s logic, sneaking out of Bagram in the middle of the night before ever getting a single Afghan partner or American civilian out? This is the purest definition of Intel intentional negligence. This is just one of many irresponsible and negligent decisions coming from the White House. In addition, leaving behind billions of dollars our finest military hardware has led to the biggest international free black market, free market, in history. Unfortunately, this will undoubtedly lead to more American military lives lost in the future.
Between what has happened, been happening here domestically, for example the border over the last 2 1/2 years, and all your failed foreign policy decisions, I would venture a guess that you have more American blood on your hands, Mr. Biden, than any president in U.S. history.
While in Florida I was approached by a CIA operative who connected me with several more operatives on a secure phone call. I was told if the Pentagon, DoD, and state or state tries to tell you that they had no idea Afghanistan would collapse so fast after a withdrawal, they are completely and utterly full of shit.
They kept telling me to follow Bagram. So I did, and so I have. Closing Bagram was the sole responsibility of Joe Biden. It was also the lead domino which led to the demise of all of Afghanistan, it’s women, it’s children 170 Afghans, 13 American servicemen and for what?
Intelligence given to Joe demonstrated Bagram, hands down, was the most effective and and secure place to undertake a mass evacuation. But you chose to ignore all of that instead you chose H Kaya. A public airport surrounded by a chain link fence in an urban environment without even a usable air traffic control tower. One thing I do know though, Mr. president, China certainly is enjoying our fortress known as Bagram now.
