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Miller accuses House Republicans of subpoenaing Blinken over Afghanistan when he’s away
He said the State Department told the committee weeks in advance about Blinken´s schedule, so “it very much does not appear that they´re acting in good faith.”
US State Department lashed out Thursday at House Republicans over a subpoena for testimony about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, accusing them of repeatedly calling for hearings on days they knew Secretary of State Antony Blinken was unavailable to appear.
Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was trying to accommodate Blinken, who faces the threat of being held in contempt of Congress if he doesn't appear, the Associated Press reported.
The Texas Republican had first set a hearing for Thursday, while Blinken was in Egypt and France. He then changed the date to Tuesday, when Blinken will be at the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders in New York and attending President Joe Biden's speech at the time of the hearing.
"They have unilaterally selected a date when we have told them in advance that he will be not in Washington, D.C., because he will be elsewhere carrying out important meetings to advance the foreign policy interests of the United States," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
He said the State Department told the committee weeks in advance about Blinken´s schedule, so "it very much does not appear that they´re acting in good faith."
McCaul said the department was being "disingenuous" because it had declined repeated requests to pick a date in September for Blinken to testify. "If we are forced to hold Secretary Blinken in contempt of Congress, he has no one to blame but himself," the Republican committee chairman said Thursday in a statement.
The subpoena for Blinken´s testimony is the latest in a series of moves by McCaul and other House Republicans over the past 18 months to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they have called a "stunning failure of leadership" after Islamic Emirate forces seized the Afghan capital far more rapidly than U.S. intelligence had foreseen as American forces pulled out.
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly brought up the disastrous exit from Afghanistan in the campaign, trying to link it to Democratic rival Kamala Harris. Several watchdog reviews and a more than 18-month investigation by House Republicans have failed to pinpoint an instance where the vice president had a particular impact on decision-making on the withdrawal.
Blinken has testified about Afghanistan 14 times, including four times before McCaul's committee.
Miller said Blinken was willing to testify again if a mutually convenient time could be arranged but noted that Congress will be in recess from the end of next week until after the November election.
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IEA will not trample on Islamic values to appease others, deputy PM says
He also stressed that the Islamic Emirate does not interfere in the internal affairs of any country, nor does it allow other countries to interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.
Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy of the prime minister, has said that the Islamic Emirate wants to have good relations with all countries, but it will not compromise on the principles of Islam and trample on Islamic values to appease others.
In a meeting with officials and students of Kabul University at Sapidar Palace, Kabir said that the Islamic Emirate has worked for Afghanistan to shine in the political and economic sectors and currently it has 40 missions in different countries and engagement with the world is moving in a positive direction.
He also stressed that the Islamic Emirate does not interfere in the internal affairs of any country, nor does it allow other countries to interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.
In the meeting, Kabul University officials provided information about the new master's program called "Afghanistan Studies.”
Expressing his satisfaction with the start of the program, Kabir urged the students to invite Afghan cadres living abroad to return home.
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UN extends mandate of Afghanistan human rights envoy for another year
The resolution also called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to reverse its decision to ban entry of the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan.
The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday adopted by consensus a European Union-led resolution renewing the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan for a period of one year.
The resolution urges the Islamic Emirate to “reverse its policies and practices that restrict the enjoyment of human rights by people in Afghanistan, including by repealing the recent “Law on propagation of virtue and prevention of vice.”
It said that the law “institutionalizes a system of discrimination and oppression against women and girls that may amount to crimes against humanity.”
The resolution also called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to reverse its decision to ban entry of the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan.
It requested the envoy to prepare a report on access to justice and protection for women and girls and the impact of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination thereon, and to present it to the Council at its fifty-ninth session.
“I will independently and impartially carry out the strengthened mandate, engage to make a difference for Afghans, and document and report on violations,” UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennet, said on X.
Human Rights Watch in a statement, said despite consistent appeals from human rights groups, including HRW, the resolution does not establish a mechanism to advance accountability for “grave human rights abuses” that have been committed in the country.
The Islamic Emirate has meanwhile said that it is committed to ensuring human rights including the rights of women and girls according to Sharia.
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Biden, Netanyahu speak, Israel vows lethal retaliation against Iran
Wednesday’s call was “a positive call, and we appreciate the support of the U.S.,” Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a call on Wednesday amid tensions with Iran, while Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant promised an Israeli strike against Iran will be "lethal, precise and surprising."
The 30-minute call was the first known chat for Biden and Netanyahu since August and coincides with a sharp escalation of Israel's conflict with Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah, but with no sign of an imminent ceasefire to end the conflict with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.
The call was "direct and very productive," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, while acknowledging the two leaders have disagreements and are open about them.
The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel's response to a missile attack last week that Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel's military escalation in Lebanon. The Iranian attack ultimately killed no one in Israel.
After describing Iran's Oct. 1 missile attack as a failure, Gallant said in a video issued by his office after the Biden-Netanyahu call had ended: "Whoever attacks us will be hurt and will pay a price. Our attack will be deadly, precise and above all surprising, they will not understand what happened and how it happened, they will see the results."
Netanyahu has promised that arch-foe Iran will pay for its missile attack, while Tehran has said any retaliation would be met with vast destruction, raising fears of a wider war in the oil-producing region which could draw in the United States.
The United States has said it supports Israel going after Iran-backed targets like Hezbollah and Hamas but has tried, unsuccessfully, to stem rising conflict, to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and to persuade Israel to curb rocket attacks on residential areas that have killed thousands of people.
Relations between Biden and Netanyahu have been tense, strained over the Israeli leader’s handling of the war in Gaza and the conflict with Hezbollah. Israel has said it will pursue its military operations until Israelis are safe.
In "War," a book out next week, journalist Bob Woodward reports that Biden regularly accused Netanyahu of having no strategy, and shouted "Bibi, what the fuck?" at him in July, after Israeli strikes near Beirut and in Iran.
Asked about the book, one U.S. official familiar with the two leaders' past interactions said Biden has used sharp, direct, unfiltered and colorful language both with and about Netanyahu while in office.
Wednesday's call was "a positive call, and we appreciate the support of the U.S.," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters.
"And as we stated earlier, Israel will retaliate for the attack ... We will choose the locations. It will be painful for the Iranian regime," Danon said.
Gallant canceled a Wednesday visit to the Pentagon, the Pentagon said. Gallant said in a statement he had postponed the visit at Netanyahu's request until after the prime minister spoke with Biden.
Tensions have increased in recent weeks as U.S. officials were repeatedly blindsided by Israeli actions, according to a person familiar with the matter. These included Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon that Israel has neither confirmed nor denied carrying out.
Israel has also been slow to share details of its planning for retaliation against Iran's ballistic missile attack, the person said.
Biden said last Friday he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel's shoes, adding he thought Israel had not concluded how to respond to Iran. Last week, he also said he would not support Israel striking Iranian nuclear sites.
Biden has been hit by sharp criticism from international partners as well as members of his own Democratic Party over his inability to use leverage, including the U.S. role as Israel’s chief arms supplier, to curb Netanyahu's attacks.
By extension, Kamala Harris, Biden's vice president and the Democrats' presidential candidate in the Nov. 5 election, has been challenged to defend the administration's policy on the campaign trail. Harris joined the call with Biden and Netanyahu, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Some Arab American voters in Michigan are backing independent candidate Jill Stein, a move that could cost Harris the battleground state and perhaps the White House in a race with Republican former President Donald Trump that opinion polls show to be very tight.
Harris is trailing Trump in Michigan with 47% of voters to his 50%, new Quinnipiac University polling showed on Wednesday. In a Sept. 18 poll, Harris held 50% of the vote and Trump 45%.
Israel and Netanyahu in particular have faced widespread condemnation over the nearly 42,000 Palestinians killed in the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and the deaths of over 2,000 people in Lebanon.
Israel says it is defending itself after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, and from attacks by other militants including Hezbollah who support Hamas.
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