(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., passionately articulated the lingering frustration and resentment among Gold Star families as the somber second anniversary of the loss of 13 soldiers in Afghanistan approaches.
The Congressman shed light on the families’ enduring pain and their unrelenting pursuit of accountability in an interview with Fox News on Saturday.
“These families are angry,” Waltz told Fox News host Pete Hegseth during an appearance on Fox and Friends Weekend. “I’ve dealt with the grief of the Gold Star families my entire career sadly with the Green Berets I didn’t bring back, but I’ve never dealt with families that are so angry.”
The GOP representative highlighted a pressing issue that has exacerbated the families’ anguish: the lack of transparency and honesty from both the Department of Defense and the Biden administration.
He reported that families have been denied crucial information, concerning the circumstances of their loved ones’ deaths.
“They feel like they’ve been lied to and misled about exactly how their loved ones died and some of them still don’t have some of the personal effects,” Waltz added. “For example, several were given the phones that their loved ones have back but the sim cards were removed, with showing their last photos and their last moments and then finally they want some accountability.”
Waltz also drew attention to the criticism directed at Biden. Specifically, the Republican said, “As one Gold Star father said: they want the president, they want the secretary of defense, secretary of state to, in his words, ‘Man up,’ admit he made mistakes, say what you’ve learned from them and promise these families it will not happen again to future families down the road.”
Waltz emphasized that the families’ requests are far from unreasonable. “It’s not like we have back in Vietnam where there’s thousands of casualties a week,” Waltz added. “These were 13 and you would think we can get every single one of them exactly right… We should be giving them everything they’re asking for,” he declared.
He further underscored the unsettling circumstances surrounding the soldiers’ deaths. This included the release of a suicide bomber from prison mere weeks before the attack and apparent miscommunication involving a nearby sniper.
In the face of alleged obstructions from both the Pentagon and the State Department, Waltz made a steadfast commitment to continue advocating for accountability on behalf of the Gold Star families. “Come hell or high water, we’re going to get accountability for these families,” he vowed.
Waltz’s comments come three weeks after Gold Star families ripped the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghan withdrawal, going as far as demanding resignations from Biden officials.
“I want justice,” Kelly Barnett, the mother of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover said during a heart-wrenching hearing before Congress on August 7. “I want accountability. Why would they just not say, ‘Oh, we made a mistake, our plan was wrong, I’m so sorry.’ You know, that would have been something.”
Gold Star Mother Kelly Barnett, whose son, Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, was killed during Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal:
“I want justice. I want accountability.” pic.twitter.com/nnau3AJiEN
— GOP (@GOP) August 7, 2023
