Marine Sniper Testifies That Leaders Ignored Warnings of Suspected Suicide Bomber Before Kabul Attack

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 08: U.S. Marine Corps. Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the U.S. Capitol on March 08, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Committee held the hearing to examine the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the emergency evacuation from Kabul. Vargas-Andrews was severely wounded while defending an attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport while U.S. forces withdrew. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Stories of suffering, courage, and the ongoing search for justice echoed in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber on March 8, as those who were on the front lines of the August 2021 U.S. departure from Afghanistan spoke out.

Emotional testimony in the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing underscored a bitter truth: Many who served in Afghanistan feel they and their local Afghan allies have been abandoned, fueling a pervasive sense of despair.