Leading Democrat Calls Afghan Withdrawal ‘Fatally Flawed’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (AP)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (AP)
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Leading Democrat Calls Afghan Withdrawal ‘Fatally Flawed’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (AP)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (AP)

Senators from President Joe Biden’s own Democratic Party took the administration to task Tuesday over the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which a top lawmaker called “fatally flawed.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken heard criticism across party lines as he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a day after a stronger partisan divide when he appeared before the House of Representatives.

Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and normally a Biden ally, recounted the beating of a reporter by the victorious Taliban and said, “The repression of the Afghan people is happening in real time.”

“Mr. Secretary, the execution of the US withdrawal was clearly and fatally flawed,” Menendez said.

“This committee expects to receive a full explanation of this administration’s decisions on Afghanistan since coming into office last January. There has to be accountability.”

Menendez, a fierce critic of Blinken’s predecessor Mike Pompeo, was also scathing over the previous administration’s signing of an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw US troops and end America’s longest war.

“The chaos of (this) August is due in large part to the February 2020 surrender deal negotiated by Donald Trump, a deal that was clearly built on a set of lies,” Menendez said.

Senator Ben Cardin, another Democrat, also blamed Trump for pushing for the release of Taliban prisoners and reducing troops under the accord.

But he said that Trump’s actions did not “negate” that the Biden administration had information on the strength of the Afghan government and military which crumbled as US troops were still leaving.

“I think many of us are interested in knowing how intelligence got that so wrong,” Cardin said.

Blinken staunchly defended Biden’s decision to pull troops after 20 years, saying he did not believe in sending another generation of US troops into harm’s way.

Under questioning, he said that the intelligence community said in February that the Taliban could capture Kabul “within a year or two” in a worst-case scenario.

But July, an updated assessment said “it was more likely than not that the Taliban would take over by the end of the year.”

“Nothing,” Blinken said, “suggested that this government and security forces would collapse in a matter of 11 days.”



Dutch Summon Israeli Ambassador, Impose Travel Ban on Ministers 

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (C) attends a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (C) attends a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
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Dutch Summon Israeli Ambassador, Impose Travel Ban on Ministers 

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (C) attends a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (C) attends a plenary session to vote on a bill for applying Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank territory, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 23 July 2025. (EPA)

The Netherlands will ban two far-right Israeli ministers from entering the country, in the latest European response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Gaza, the country's foreign minister said. 

The ban and other measures were announced in a letter Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp sent to lawmakers late Monday evening, declaring “The war in Gaza must stop.” 

The ban targets hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, key partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. 

The pair are champions of the Israeli settlement movement who support continuing the war in Gaza, facilitating what they call the voluntary emigration of its Palestinian population and the building of Jewish settlements there. 

Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway imposed financial sanctions on the two men last month. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar delivered a formal reprimand to the ambassador of the Netherlands in response to the criticism. 

Saar said in a post on X that the Dutch government “chose to convert a long-standing friendship with Israel into open hostility towards it, precisely during its difficult time, probably out of political interests”. 

Later on Tuesday, leaders will meet in Brussels to discuss a European Union response, including evaluating a trade agreement between the bloc and Israel. The Netherlands wants part of that agreement to be suspended. 

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich remained defiant. In a statement on social media, Smotrich said European leaders were surrendering to “the lies of radical Islam” and that Jews may not be able to live safely in Europe in the future. 

Ben-Gvir said he will “continue to act” and said that in Europe “a Jewish minister from Israel is unwanted, terrorists are free, and Jews are boycotted.” 

Pressure has been mounting on the Dutch government, which is gearing up for elections in October, to change course on Israeli policy. Last week, thousands demonstrated at train stations across the country, carrying pots and pans to signify the food shortage in Gaza. 

The government will also summon the Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands to urge Netanyahu to change course and “immediately take measures that lead to a substantial and rapid improvement in the humanitarian situation throughout the Gaza Strip,” Veldkamp wrote. 

After international pressure, Israel over the weekend announced humanitarian pauses, airdrops and other measures meant to allow more aid to Palestinians in Gaza. But people there say little or nothing has changed on the ground. The UN has described it as a one-week scale-up of aid, and Israel has not said how long these latest measures would last. 

Israel asserts that Hamas is the reason aid isn’t reaching Palestinians in Gaza and accuses its fighters of siphoning off aid to support its rule in the territory. The UN denies that looting of aid is systematic and says it lessens or ends entirely when enough aid is allowed to enter Gaza. 

Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, are currently wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The men are accused of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid, and of intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Member states of the ICC are obliged to arrest the men if they arrive on their territory.