A new report in The Washington Free Beacon outlines, in excruciating detail, how an ISIS terror attack that killed at least 183 people — including 13 U.S. service members — during the Biden administration‘s withdrawal from Afghanistan might’ve been prevented.
According to gripping testimony on Capitol Hill, given by one of the soldiers who was there.
Snipers positioned near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 26, 2021, had a window of opportunity to kill a suspected suicide bomber as he approached one of the crowded airport gates with an explosive belt.
Instead, they were not given the authority to take the shot that could’ve saved hundreds of lives.
Despite having plenty of intel and enough time to act.
Adam Kredo, of The Washington Free Beacon, has more:
Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps who was dispatched to Kabul during the Biden administration’s bungled evacuation, on Wednesday told lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee that his sniper team was stopped from taking out the suspected terrorist bomber. Vargas-Andrews also recounted how the Biden State Department turned Afghans away from the airport, “condemning them to death” at the Taliban’s hands. The Aug. 26 bombing left 13 U.S. military members dead and Vargas-Andrews severely wounded.
Vargas-Andrews’s sniper team was provided with detailed information about the suspected bomber, including what he looked like. “I asked the intel guys why he wasn’t apprehended sooner since we had a full description,” the military veteran testified before the Foreign Affairs Committee during its first public hearing on the bungled withdrawal operation. “I was told the asset could not be compromised.”
Soon after, Vargas-Andrews and his team spotted the bomber but were told to stand down by a commander in charge. “We reassured him of the ease of fire on the suicide bomber,” Vargas-Andrews said. “Pointedly, we asked him for engagement authority and permission. We asked him if we could shoot. Our battalion commander said, and I quote, ‘I don’t know.’”
“Plain and simple, we were ignored,” Vargas-Andrews testified. “Our expertise was disregarded. No one was held accountable for our safety.” [emphasis added]
Soon afterward, the bomber detonated his explosive belt. The shockwave threw Vargas-Andrews 12 feet through the air. The power of the blast claimed two of his limbs and multiple internal organs.
So far, he’s had 44 surgeries.