Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Monday called on Pentagon and State Department officials to testify on Afghanistan policy next week.
In a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s subcommittee on national security said that their departments have ignored for more than a year invitations to send witnesses or responded “with delay, obfuscation and excuses” for not providing them.
They said they would subpoena witnesses for the September 9 hearing if the departments failed to confirm their participation by Wednesday.
“The subcommittee will have no other choice but to receive testimony through compulsory process,” they wrote.
The United States and the Taliban signed a peace deal with on February 29, based on which US forces would withdraw from Afghanistan by May next year, conditions permitting. US troop level dropped to 8.600 by this June and Trump administration plans to bring it down to around 4,000 by November election.
The Democrats expressed concern the reduction is politically motivated.
They cited US military and UN reports that said the Taliban have not severed links with al Qaeda as the Feb. 29 accord required. They also noted that the US military commander General Kenneth McKenzie said on June 10 that conditions for a full U.S. withdrawal had not been met.
