Leaked email White House official dismisses complaints from veterans in leaked email
The White House was recently embarrassed after an email that dismissed complaints leveled by veterans was accidentally leaked.
According to Fox News, it received the communication this week from John Kirby, who serves as communications adviser to the White House National Security Council.
Kirby said that there was "obviously no use in responding" to criticism
While the message seems to have been intended only for White House staffers, Kirby appears to have mistakenly selected the "reply all" option and thus inadvertently sent a copy to Fox News as well.
Kirby: 'No use in responding' to a 'handful of vets' on Biden's botched Afghan withdrawal https://t.co/3fFUtZgBnC
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 11, 2024
The email concerned a comment request which the network had sent regarding comments made by Florida Republican Rep. Cory Mills and other military veterans about President Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago.
"Obviously no use in responding," Kirby wrote on Wednesday. He added that criticism only came from "a handful of vets" who are "all of one stripe."
Mills: Biden's failure in Afghanistan "welcomed aggression from adversaries"
For his part, Mills told Fox News that the Biden administration's incompetence "cost the lives of 13 American service members and severely damaged our credibility with allies."
He further alleged that the humiliating retreat "welcomed aggression from adversaries and showed weakness geopolitically."
Mills' remarks were made after the release of a report by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul last Sunday which disputed the president's claim that he had no option but to pull out given an agreement former President Donald Trump had previously entered into with the Taliban.
While it conceded that the Doha agreement established a 2021 withdrawal deadline, the report argued that Taliban forces had already voided the deal by repeatedly violating its conditions.
Damning report found no plan to evacuate U.S. citizens or Afghan allies
The report also pointed to vociferous disagreement voiced by American allies over the manner in which Biden wished to exit the war-torn nation.
In particular, the British Chief of the Defense staff had warned that "withdrawal under these circumstances would be perceived as a strategic victory for the Taliban."
What's more, the report slammed the White House for having no viable plan to properly evacuate American citizens and foreign nationals.
An estimated 1,000 U.S. citizens were left stranded in Afghanistan following the chaotic withdrawal while roughly 90% of Afghan interpreters and other staff were also abandoned.