During the American pullout from Afghanistan, Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who is a Marine sergeant, sobbed as he described seeing 13 American soldiers slain by a suicide bomber.
Vargas-Andrews spoke on his time in Afghanistan in front of the Foreign Affairs House Committee. In August 2021, Vargas-Andrews, who was a Marine sniper at that time, and his group were sent from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan, to supervise the last few weeks of the American pullout.
Vargas-Andrews and the other snipers were assigned to the airport’s Abbey Gate after arriving there in the middle of August. Here, the Marines handled thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing Afghanistan, and had to turn away thousands more, and kept an eye on Taliban and all other terrorist activity just outside of the gate.
“Thousands flocked to Abbey Gate. First and foremost, we were watching for anyone who had a blue passport. Infants were dying, people were dehydrated, suffering from severe malnutrition, and it was extremely hot.” In his prepared testimony, Vargas-Andrews claimed, “Afghans who had been brutalized and tormented by the Taliban swarmed up to us pleading for assistance. Some Afghans who turned their backs on the HKIA attempted suicide by hanging from the razor wire we installed as a deterrence. When compared to the Taliban’s torturing, they believed this was mild. The Taliban regularly killed countless Afghans 155 yards across from our position, day and night.”
According to Vargas-Andrews, the State Dept.’s “unwillingness” to assist with airport operations added to the commotion.
ISIS terrorists practiced using an improvised explosive in a terror strike on August 22. After receiving a description of the alleged terrorist bomber on August 26, Vargas-Andrews’ squad later that day located a man at the Abbey gate who matched the description and he continued “nervously” staring at the Marines posted nearby.
According to Vargas-Andrews, his squad twice requested authorization to kill the alleged terrorist. He was turned down the first time. The commander responded, “I don’t know,” when asked if they had the authorization to kill the suspect the second time after personally visiting the suspect at Abbey Gate.
“Myself and my squad captain sternly questioned, “Well, who does? Since you are responsible for this, sir,” Vargas-Andrews told Congress. The commander said he will investigate in response.
“We never heard from anyone and never got a response. The person eventually vanished,” according to Vargas-Andrews. “We still think he was the suicide bomber, to this day.”
A few hours later, a bomb explosion outside Abbey Gate killed 13 American service members and an estimated 170 Afghans. Vargas-Andrews suffered severe burns, losing his left leg, right arm, left kidney, and portions of his colon and intestines in the explosion. Since then, he’s undergone numerous surgeries.
Vargas-Andrews had to pause numerous times during his recollection of the events on August 26 in order to fight back tears.
“Our best is what we provide to America,” he added, adding that “our military personnel and veterans deserve nothing less. In my perspective, the withdrawal was a calamity, and there was an unacceptable lack of responsibility and carelessness. There has been no explanation for the murders of the eleven Marines, one Soldier, and one Sailor that day.”
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