OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A gold star father who lost his Marine son in the final days of the war in Afghanistan in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal ripped President Joe Biden on the anniversary of the tragic incident.
Mark Schmitz, whose son, Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, was killed in the Kabul airport attack in 2021, blamed Biden during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “The Story” with Martha MacCallum after the current president attempted to lay the blame at the feet of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
“The advisers were telling Biden not to do what he was going to do. He flat-out ignored it, simply for, I believe, that September 11 original date that he wanted to have as the deadline and moved it up to the 31st,” Schmitz said. “And then turns around and has the audacity to blame Trump for everything.”
Eleven Marines, two U.S. Army soldiers, and a Navy Corpsman were killed Aug. 26, 2021, along with around 150 Afghans when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest outside the international airport on Kabul. At the time, critics shredded Biden for putting U.S. troops in a nearly impossible situation as they were both inundated with Afghans attempting to flee the incoming Taliban troops while trying to provide security for their own personnel.
“Today, Jill and I remember and mourn these 13 brave American service members and the more than 100 innocent Afghan civilians who were killed in the horrific terrorist attack at Abbey Gate,” a press release quoting Biden and first lady Jill Biden stated. “Many more were injured and will carry the impacts of their wounds and the horrors of that day for the rest of their lives.”
“We will forever honor the memory of the 13 service members,” the press release noted further. “We can never repay the incredible sacrifice of any of the 2,461 U.S. service members who lost their lives … in Afghanistan or the 20,744 who were wounded.”
Biden remarkably called the operation a “success,” but Schmitz rejected that.
“There were so many incredible mistakes made during this entire situation, starting with Bagram. The fact that I sat there and listened to Biden boast about this being a success, the only [thing] he said right there was the bravery of our men and women that were over there, they were tasked with something completely impossible,” he told MacCallum.
“The advisers were telling Biden not to do what he was going to do. He flat-out ignored it, simply for, I believe that September 11 original date that he wanted to have as the deadline and moved it up to the 31st. And then turns around and has the audacity to blame Trump for everything,’ he said.
“It’s just — it’s disgusting. There’s been absolutely no one who’s taken responsibility for any of the bad decisions that were made. And that starts at the very top and goes all the way down the list,” he added.
Others who lost loved ones in the attack were equally dismissive of Biden’s remarks and critical of his ‘success’ comment.
“The administration failed us,” Paula Knauss Selph, the mother of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Christian Knauss who was killed in the attack, according to NewsNation.
“Words are not enough. Action, such as what my son and others were doing on the field, is what we expect in Congress and this executive administration,” she noted further.
“Our leaders, including the Secretary of Defense and our Commander in Chief, called this evacuation a success as if there should be a celebration,” said Christy Shamblin, the mother-in-law of U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was also killed in the attack.
“It is like a knife in the heart for our families,” she said.
“I would say he needs to resign,” said Carol Briseno, the mother of Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, who was killed, The Daily Caller reported.
