Eight cCongressmen with military ties have signed a letter sent to the heads of the departments of State Department and Department of Defense expressing concern pointedly questioning responsibility for about the hasty departure of a Marine embassy security guard detachment from Yemen's capital this week, and accompanying reports that weapons and vehicles left behind were seized by Shiite rebels.
The State Department made the call to close the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa and evacuate personnel was made by the State Department Feb. 10 amid deteriorating security conditions that had been deteriorating since last fall, when following an overrun by Houthi rebels with Iran ties swept into the capital and plunged it into chaos and violence. last fall. Officials said the Marines guarding the embassy destroyed larger weapons according to protocol before departure and smashed their personal weapons with sledgehammers just before boarding flights out of the country. Reports from airport officials indicated that rebels seized 25 U.S. vehicles, some with weapons inside, as the embassy staff departed, though it's not clear where the weapons originated.
Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., a retired Marine officer, wrote the Feb. 13 letter questioning the evacuation. The letter , which was signed by seven fellow Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee and . It included five detailed questions about the evacuation operation:
, asking for the following information:
- What assets were available to DoD personnel in lieu of the commercial aircraft reportedly used to depart Yemen
- Why military assets were not used for transport out of country to avoid destroying equipment
- Who gave final approval for the Marines to destroy their weapons, and whether DoD or State had operational control of the Marines them during the evacuation
- What advance planning had taken place for a potential evacuation, and whether DoD had approved the final evacuation plan
- If it was standing policy for DoD personnel to leave weapons and equipment behind during evacuation of an embassy in a permissive environment
"We are concerned State Department and Department of Defense leadership failed to coordinate an orderly military evacuation of embassy personnel in Yemen and, in haste, ordered our Marines to engage in an 'approved destruction plan' of weapons and equipment that is beyond comprehension," the lawmakers wrote, noting that U.S. Embassy evacuations from Tripoli and Juba, South Sudan last year had been successfully carried out executed using U.S. military aircraft.
The other signees to the letter were Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Rep. Paul Cook, R-Calif.; Rep. Robert Wittman, R-Va.; Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala.; Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss.; Rep. Richard Nugent, R-Fla.; and Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C.
A Defense Department spokesman said a response to the letter would be provided to the congressmen. State Department officials did not immediately have a comment.
