Blinken defense of Afghan policy clouded by al-Qaida warning

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has endured a second day of harsh bipartisan criticism of the Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal. As he testified on Tuesday, a new intelligence estimate warned that al-Qaida could begin to threaten the U.S. from Afghanistan within one or two years. Democrats and Republicans alike on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee assailed the administration’s preparation for and handling of the pullout. Even lawmakers sympathetic to President Joe Biden’s decision to end America’s longest-running war expressed concern about the large number of Americans, green card holders and at-risk Afghans left behind in last month’s chaotic evacuation from Kabul.