Families of some of the 13 troops killed in Kabul almost two years ago said they're frustrated by the Biden Administration and Pentagon leadership that no one has been held accountable for the botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
The families spoke at a forum organized by Rep. Darrell Issa at the Escondido City Hall.
Kelly Barnett's son, Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, was killed in the suicide bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport where Afghans gathered daily hoping to get flights out of the country. She said that from the moment Hoover's unit got to the airport, he told her things were chaotic.
"His words were 'Chaos. No communication. Lack of leadership.'" Barnett told the packed council chamber. "He said he never seen anything like it."
Barnett said military officials weren't truthful with her family when they told her how her son died.
"We were told lies," she said. "Incomplete reports, incorrect reports — total disrespect."
Issa said it was important for people to hear directly from the families.
"Today is about the members of the Army, the Navy (and) Marine Corps who deployed (and) went into harm’s way — many of them at the last minute — to help with the evacuation."
In the summer of 2021, ahead of the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops, a resurgent Taliban began seizing large portions of the country and advancing toward Kabul, Afghanistan's capital.
Military leaders quickly deployed a large contingent of troops — mostly Marines from the Camp Pendleton-based 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines — to Kabul's airport where days before harrowing scenes of Afghans clinging to and falling from U.S. military aircraft were broadcast.
On Aug. 26, 2021, at one of the congested gates into the airport, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb that killed almost 200 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.
Many who spoke Monday levied criticism at President Joe Biden, taking issue with his assertion days after the bombing that the evacuation was a "success."
Steve Nikoui, father of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, who was killed in the blast, said the president failed to take the threats to troops seriously.
"My son needed a commander-in-chief that cared solely about his life," Nikoui said.
Barnett said she is frustrated by what she considers a lack of accountability from those involved with the evacuation.
"I want justice," she said. "I want accountability. Why would they just not say ‘oh, we made a mistake, our plan was wrong, I’m so sorry?'"
According to a Pentagon after-action report, Biden Administration officials were indecisive and failed to react as the Taliban gained ground that summer.
A similar report from the State Department in June said both the Trump and Biden administrations failed to plan for worse-case scenarios ahead of the withdrawal.
