\n<\/p>\n
The Biden administration has yet to account for the effects of the suicide bombing at an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 26, 2021 that killed 13 U.S. soldiers and is still taking a toll on those left behind, family members and experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/p>\n
Dakota Halverson, 29, committed<\/a> suicide on Aug. 9 at Ingalls Park across from a permanent memorial for the fallen soldiers in Norco, California, where he used to play with his brother, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, who died<\/a> in the blast. Their mother, Shana Chappell, said<\/a> the \u201cripple effect\u201d of President Joe Biden\u2019s botched withdrawal<\/a> and subsequent unwillingness to take responsibility for mistakes contributed to Halverson\u2019s decision to take his own life. (RELATED: \u2018You Don\u2019t Even Care\u2019: Mother Of Slain Marine Blasts Biden For Not Mentioning 13 Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDakota was so proud of Kareem, that he was a Marine, and bragged to everybody about his brother being a Marine and why he was deployed,\u201d Chappell told the DCNF. \u201cSo when Dakota found out that his brother was dead, it took a toll on him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing the heartbreak of the Afghanistan surrender continues every day for American soldiers and their families,\u201d Carrie Filipetti, Vandenberg Coalition executive director and a former policy adviser for terrorism and Middle East affairs, told the DCNF.<\/p>\n Chappell and Halverson sought to remain strong for the Marines, friends of Nikoui\u2019s, who visited Chappell\u2019s house every weekend and grew close to Halverson, Chappell told the DCNF. Underneath, however, Halverson was wrestling with the loss of his brother and the Biden administration\u2019s culpability in the bombing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen his brother was deployed, he talked about how this administration better not get his brother killed \u2014 and then this administration got his brother killed,\u201d said Chappell.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not think that [Halverson] would take his life because he missed his brother so much that he just wanted to be with him.\u201d<\/p>\n A lone member of the terrorist organization ISIS-K reportedly perpetrated the explosion that killed nearly 200 people and injured twice that many, marking<\/a> the third-deadliest day for U.S. soldiers in 20 years of the Afghanistan War.<\/p>\n Top Department of Defense (DOD) officials reportedly instructed inferiors worldwide to prepare for an imminent \u201cmass casualty event,\u201d along with intelligence that ISIS-K might attempt to carry out a \u201ccomplex attack,\u201d the day before the bomb went off at Abbey Gate, Politico reported<\/a>. While commanders on the ground decided to close the gate, Americans opted to leave it open longer to accommodate the British military\u2019s accelerated withdrawal from a nearby hotel.<\/p>\n \u201cOur children were treated like they were disposable and replaceable,\u201d said Chappell.<\/p>\n The Biden administration \u201ccould have at least just acknowledged it \u2026 that they were at least sorry these kids died,\u201d Shaelynn Chappell, Halverson and Nikoui\u2019s older sister, told the DCNF. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem like they care. They got kids killed.\u201d<\/p>\n Shana Chappell and her husband, Steve Nikoui, called<\/a> in January for the Biden administration to take responsibility for its role in the tragedy, but Chappell told the DCNF that there has been \u201czero\u201d accountability.<\/p>\n Biden called the 13 \u201cheroes\u201d in a speech on Aug. 31, 2021, saying \u201cwe owe them and their families a debt of gratitude we can never repay but we should never, ever, ever forget.\u201d However, Chappell said that since her encounter with Biden at Dover Air Force Base days prior for the dignified transfer of her son, she has not heard from the president.<\/p>\n Findings from a Department of Defense investigation<\/a> of the attack, laid out in a 2,000-page report, found that it was not a \u201ccomplex attack\u201d and no gunfire was present. Witnesses who reported hearing gunfire and sustaining bullet wounds disputed<\/a> the DOD\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n When asked for comment about accountability measures the DOD is pursuing and how it would respond to the news of Halverson\u2019s death, the DOD referred the DCNF to a press release<\/a> about the report.<\/p>\n The Afghanistan War Commission<\/a>, authorized in the 2023 annual defense bill, will conduct<\/a> a comprehensive review of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan from June 2001 to August 2021. However, the commission is not required to submit its final report until three years after its first meeting.<\/p>\n The State Department referred the DCNF to an Aug. 15 briefing, where State Department spokesman Ned Price discussed the status of the after-action report, when asked the same questions presented to the DOD. While the full report will remain classified, Price said the department\u2019s \u201chope and expectation\u201d is that officials will release elements of the report to the public soon.<\/p>\n Filipetti said the administration should release Afghanistan after-action reports to the public to provide closure to the families of Americans who lost their lives in Afghanistan. The Biden administration \u201cneeds to be clear and up-front to servicemembers and their families about the responsibility that falls at the feet of this administration,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n The 13 service members that we lost were heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our highest American ideals and while saving the lives of others. Our sacred obligation to the families of these heroes will last forever. pic.twitter.com\/lPx4a4ebS7<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 President Biden (@POTUS) August 29, 2021<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Accountability would not only serve the families of those who lost their lives, but the thousands of post-9\/11 Afghanistan War veterans, many of whom must learn<\/a> to cope with severe mental distress, experts told the DCNF.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Biden administration has caused moral injury and psychically damaged a generation of warriors who volunteered to serve their country and keep Americans safe from another 9\/11. These thousands of warriors need and deserve accountability and a true reckoning of last year\u2019s decisions and actions,\u201d Simone Ledeen, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, told the DCNF.<\/p>\n The White House did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \t!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? \tfbq(‘init’, ‘1660572110829759’);\n
\n\tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
\n\tn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
\n\tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
\n\tdocument,’script’,’https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js’);<\/p>\n
\n\tfbq(‘set’,’agent’,’tmgoogletagmanager’, ‘1660572110829759’);
\n\tfbq(‘track’, “PageView”);<\/p>\n