Last Monday, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa hosted some of the family members of the 13 US service members that were killed in the suicide bombing at Abbey Gate near Kabul’s airport in August 2021.
In heart-wrenching testimony, the families recounted their experiences in seeking answers and accountability from the Biden administration for the bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan and, more specifically, its failure to prevent a suicide bomber from killing US service members.
The families described how they felt misled and betrayed by the Biden administration and called on President Biden and administration officials to take responsibility for the failures.
One Gold Star mom, Cheryl Rex, whose son Marine Lance Corporal Dylan Merola was killed in the Abbey Gate bombing, recounted her brief meeting with President Biden when her son’s casket arrived at Dover.
Despite the grief of the day, the president managed to repeat the lie that his son Beau died in Iraq.
According to Rex, the president told her that he and Jill knew how she felt because their son Beau also returned home in a flag-draped casket.
But Beau Biden did not return home in a flag-draped casket. He was already home having died of cancer in Bethesda, Maryland six years after returning from Iraq.
Rex expressed her frustration and rage that the president would lie to her when she was grieving for her son. She pointed out that, unlike her son, Beau Biden died surrounded by his family.
Darin Hoover, the father of Marine Staff Sgt. Darin T. Cooper, called out top administration officials by name, including Gen. Mark Milley, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and demanded they “resign immediately.”
Hoover also told President Biden to “be a grown-ass man” and admit his role in the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.
When asked to respond to last Monday’s Gold Star forum, the Pentagon refused to address the concerns of the families, only expressing its “deepest condolences” to the families of those killed in the Abbey Gate bombing and expressing gratitude for their “service, sacrifice, and committed efforts” during the Afghanistan withdrawal, Fox News reported.
