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US Army veterans as well as active-service members on Wednesday gave a powerful and emotional testimony before Congress, dubbing the haphazard retreat of the forces by the US government a 'catastrophe'. The Republicans have initiated the hearings to examine the handling of the Afghanistan 'pull-out' by the Biden administration. 

Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, one of the first to testify could be seen crying as he said the American troops were unprepared for the pull-out, especially after the Taliban took over the capital city of Kabul. Vargas-Andrews was tasked with protecting the Kabul airport when two suicide bombers set themselves off, killing over 170 Afghans and 13 US servicemen and women.

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"Plain and simple, we were ignored. My body was overwhelmed from the trauma of the blast. My abdomen had been ripped open. Every inch of my exposed body took ball bearings and shrapnel," said the former US Marine. 

"There was an inexcusable lack of accountability and negligence. I see the faces of all of those we could not save, those we left behind," he added. 

Read more: Afghanistan: Where did US go wrong in fight against Taliban?

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Other soldiers also spoke about the mental and physical toll the withdrawal had on them and their peers. Retired Lt Col David Scott Mann took the stand after Vargas-Andrews and informed the panel that one of his friends that served in Afghanistan could not cope with the trauma and took his own life. 

"He just couldn't find his way out of the darkness of that moral injury."

The veteran called out America for building a reputation where it left allies in the lurch in the face of decimation and destruction. 

“America is building a nasty reputation for multi-generational systemic abandonment of our allies where we leave a smouldering human refuse from the Montagnards of Vietnam to the Kurds in Syria,

Wednesday was the first of what is expected to be a series of hearings to expose the Biden administration by the GOP. The US intelligence failed to anticipate the timeline of the Taliban taking over Kabul which resulted in the chaotic situation. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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