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Representatives Seth Moulton, a Democrat, and Peter Meijer, a
Republican, both of whom served in the Iraq war before running
for Congress, said in a statement they went to Kabul to gather
information as part of Congress’ oversight role.
"America has a moral obligation to our citizens and loyal
allies, and we must make sure that obligation is being kept,"
they said in a statement released after they left Kabul, having
seen conditions at the airport.
As their visit was made public, Pelosi sent a letter to House
members that did not mention Moulton or Meijer but cautioned
that the Pentagon and State Department had asked lawmakers not
to travel to Afghanistan "during this time of danger."
Pelosi, a Democrat, told reporters a large number of House
members wanted to go to Afghanistan, but she said in the letter
such travel would be unwise.
“Member travel to Afghanistan and the surrounding countries
would unnecessarily divert needed resources from the priority
mission of safely and expeditiously evacuating America and
Afghans at risk from Afghanistan,” she said.
Moulton and Meijer said they left Kabul on a plane with empty
seats and they sat in crew-only seats "to ensure that nobody who
needed a seat would lose one because of our presence."
The lawmakers said before the visit they wanted President Joe
Biden to extend his Aug. 31 deadline for the evacuation to
conclude and U.S. troops to leave the country.
“After talking with commanders on the ground and seeing the
situation here, it is obvious that because we started the
evacuation so late, that no matter what we do, we won’t get
everyone out on time, even by September 11,” they said.
Biden has come under fire for not starting the evacuation sooner
and for the chaotic scenes at Kabul's airport, where Americans
and vulnerable Afghans are being airlifted out of the country
after the Taliban takeover.
The president said on Tuesday that U.S. forces had now helped
evacuate 70,700 people since Aug. 14. He added the United States
is on pace to finish evacuations from Afghanistan by Aug. 31 but
that reaching that goal was dependent on continued cooperation
from the Taliban.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell, Patricia Zengerle and Eric Beech;
Editing by Heather Timmons, Peter Cooney and Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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