In an interview with the Item, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) commended the U.S. Marine Corps for continuing the evacuation after Thursday’s terrorist attack — which claimed the lives of 13 U.S. military members — and talked about the key things he and U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI) learned during their secret trip to Kabul two days prior.
“It was very quick, in and out, completely in secret,” said Moulton about Tuesday’s trip.
Moulton rejected the accusations that their trip had wasted any military resources. He and Meijer paid out-of-pocket for seats on a commercial plane to the United Arab Emirates. From there, they took a military flight to Kabul, spent several hours on the ground and waited for a military flight with empty seats to fly out of Kabul to Kuwait. Moulton said he paid for a commercial flight home through Qatar, as well.
For Moulton, too many lives ― both American and Afghan ― were on the line in this tumultuous evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies which started on Aug. 14. Like many others, Moulton’s team received 2,000 requests for help, and he was not getting answers from the administration, the Salem Democrat said. Talking on the phone, Moulton and Meijer came to the conclusion that a trip to Kabul was the step they had to take.
Although the two congressmen didn’t secure official permission from the departments of Defense or State for the trip, they each consulted various policy experts and people on the ground in Kabul, who understood the situation there first-hand. Everyone they spoke with advised them to go, said Moulton.
“We learned several key things that we could only understand from being there,” Moulton said.
The first was that, as much as the two lawmakers wanted to extend the evacuation deadline, it is simply not useful at this point, given the state of the U.S.’ relationship with the Taliban. Thus, the trip prompted Moulton to agree with President Joe Biden’s plan to withdraw on time on Aug. 31.
“The only problem is we need to actually have a plan for how we do the second part,” said Moulton about the evacuation of the remaining people after the withdrawal deadline. “We are going to have to use all the leverage here to get them (the Taliban) to agree to that. There are simply no other alternatives, given where we are today.”
Second, the Afghan evacuees in Qatar are close to facing a humanitarian crisis. The warehouses they were put in are reportedly filled to bursting, according to Moulton’s account, and American troops helping there have very little to work with.
In addition, Moulton and Meijer realized that the American troops conducting the evacuation in Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport were carrying the biggest burden. They are getting an avalanche of personal requests and emails from the members of Congress and the administration besides working with crowds of people in distress, the congressmen reported.
Moulton said he is ready to share all of these observations with Congress. Since they came back stateside, Moulton and Meijer have been contacted by various colleagues wanting to hear their views and recommendations, because they were the only people on the ground, said Moulton. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, he has already shared his findings with committee Chairman Adam Smith.
One thing Moulton made very clear in his interview with The Item was that he didn’t care about repercussions for his political career or the negative reaction his trip garnered ― either from Washington or on Twitter.
“I cannot emphasize enough how little I care,” said Moulton. “It is not about politics. It is about saving lives.”
The response to the arrival of the two congressmen in Kabul, from troops and diplomats, was overwhelmingly one of gratitude, emphasized Moulton.
“(The) most extraordinary thing is that the Marines are back out there as we speak, evacuating more Afghans,” said Moulton regarding the suicide bombing attack outside of the Kabul airport on Thursday, which claimed the lives of more than 170 civilians and 13 U.S. military members. “They want to continue the mission despite the incredible danger they face.”
When asked what he wanted to say to his constituents, Moulton responded, “We’re gonna do what’s right.”
