Congress has just now begun its investigation into whether or not the August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan was a disaster. Spoiler: it was. From allowing the Taliban to seize American equipment, to blaming Donald Trump, and even giving the Taliban a list of Americans to evacuate (yes, really), Biden's failures were countless. And Congress is finally talking about it.

Yesterday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee heard testimony from service members present at the withdrawal, and one of them was Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a Marine Corps. sniper. He believes he identified the suicide bomber who killed 13 Marines outside the Kabul Airport but was not permitted to shoot him before the attack.

Vargas described how, days before the attack, he and his team identified an IED test-run being performed by ISIS or the Taliban. They reported this incident to their chain of command. Days later, they were told to be on the lookout for two vehicle-borne IEDs. In the early morning hours of August 26th, two intel guys confirmed the suicide bomber was in the vicinity of the Kabul Airport. Vargas asked why the suspect wasn't identified sooner, since they had a full description, and was told: "the asset could not be compromised".

Vargas went on to explain how he and his team disseminated information about the suicide bomber to ground forces all day long. Vargas himself spotted the bomber for an hour that day, and communicated that there was an imminent IED threat and requested engagement authority. But he was told not to engage.

They invited their battalion commander to the tower to see what they were seeing. When he got there, they showed him all the evidence and asked if they could shoot. He said, "I don't know."

The suspected suicide bomber then disappeared. Vargas left the tower to help find an Afghan interpreter. Then the explosion happened, blowing off his right arm and left leg. Vargas wept as he detailed the attack and the fallen Marines.

This tragedy is incredibly difficult to swallow because it was so preventable. Why weren't the snipers allowed to take out the suicide bomber? Why were they left to wait until they died? It doesn't make any sense. Unless Joe Biden and co. really are that incompetent. Which I'm not sure I believe.