Kelly Barnett is a gold star mother who is still mourning the loss of her son who was killed in the Kabul Airport attack in August 2021. Barnett spoke out on Monday and called out President Joe Biden’s administration by name for their handling of the botched withdrawal in Afghanistan.
Through tears, Barnett said her son died believing the command did not care for him or his fellow troops.
“I was told to my face he died on impact — that’s not true. The only reason I know this is because witnesses told me the truth. I was lied to and basically told to shut up, that that’s the way it was. Not true. He lived for a little while, but not on impact. He was given out his ammo, he tied a tourniquet around his leg,” she said.
Barnett said the families were “told lies, given incomplete reports” and “total disrespect.”
“What kind of disrespect? What kind of hatred for our military? What kind of mess? Confusion, deceit, lost, angry, sad, heartbroken, and disgusted. These are the feelings that the service members felt and are still feeling.”
She continued, “Biden, the Biden administration, Blinken, Milley, Austin…unfortunately there’s more. That’s just the ones that I’m focused on at this moment. Incompetent, cowards, evil. Some are a few of those, some are all of those. I want justice. 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’ve been something.”
When the withdrawal of troops was completed, 13 service members were dead and 18 had been injured in explosions outside Kabul, according to U.S. defense officials. It was clear that the Biden administration had mishandled the removal of troops from the country.
However shameful the administration’s decision was, what was maybe even more disgraceful, was Kelly Barnett receiving an inaccurate report about her son’s death. Lies were told to her face and she was unable to learn the truth about what happened to her son until witnesses told her.
The situation in Kabul was a great tragedy and the families of the fallen soldiers deserved more respect than what they were given. This type of tragedy should never be repeated, and it’s clear that the Biden administration needs to take a hard look at their decision making process in order to ensure the safety of our troops moving forward.