Blinken AGAIN blames Americans stranded in Afghanistan for not leaving earlier as the top diplomat attends Senate Afghanistan hearing in person after being criticized for appearing via video during House hearing

 Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday to answer for President Joe Biden's chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal. 

But notably absent was Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was also invited to appear.

In his opening remarks on Monday, committee chair Sen. Bob Menendez said he was 'very disappointed' Austin declined to testify Tuesday.

'A full accounting of the US response to this crisis is not complete without the Pentagon. Especially when it comes to understanding the complete collapse of the U.S. Trained and funded Afghan military,' Menendez said.

He warned Austin's decision would affect his 'personal judgement' on nominees to other Pentagon positions. 

The New Jersey senator threatened to subpoena the Defense chief if he didn't testify willingly.

'I expect the secretary will avail himself to the committee in the near future and if he does not, I may consider use of committee subpoena power to compel him and others over the course of the last 20 years to testify,' he said. 

Ranking member Sen. Jim Risch shared Menendez's sentiment, calling Austin's refusal 'disheartening.' 

'The debacle in Afghanistan is an interagency failure and the fact that you're the only one stepping up is disheartening,' Risch told Blinken.  

During the hearing Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney asked if the Taliban still held their 'sympathy and collaboration' for terrorist groups like al Qaeda, amid fears Afghanistan would becoming a breeding ground for such cells. 

Blinken said the militant groups' relationship 'has not been severed.' 

'And it is a very open question as to whether their views an the relationship has changed in any kind of definitive way,' he explained.

But he appeared to issue a thinly veiled threat to the militants, whose previous regime was toppled by American forces in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks. 

'They do know that the last time they harbored Al Qaeda and it engaged in an outwardly direct attack on our homeland, certain things followed which I believe they would have an interest in not seeing repeated,' Blinken said.

He added, 'And ISIS K is a different thing because the Taliban and ISIS-K are sworn enemies.' 

But Blinken's confirmation of the Taliban and al Qaeda's active ties comes just days after al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri appeared in a video commemorating 20 years after 9/11 - shattering the belief that he died months prior.

In his opening statement Blinken again blamed US citizens for getting stranded in Afghanistan, repeating that the State Department sent '19 specific messages' to Americans there, urging them to leave.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on September 14

He added the department offered 'financial assistance to pay for plane tickets.' 

'Despite this efforts, at the time of the evacuation began, there were still thousands of Americans in Afghanistan - almost all of whom were evacuated by August 31,' the Biden official said. 

But after the US wrapped its military withdrawal at the end of August, Blinken revealed that at least 100 Americans had been left behind.

On Tuesday Blinken said a 'diplomatic mission' was still in place working to get those people out.

He revealed the US was working with Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to facilitate Americans 'crossing into their countries' as the evacuation continues.

'We would have consular officials surged in the necessary places to handle people coming out in that fashion,' he added.

He made similar comments earlier in September during a press briefing on that same 'diplomatic mission.'

'For many months, going back to March, we issued 19 different notices to those registered with he embassy, as I said encouraging them and then urging them to leave Afghanistan,' he said on September 3.  

During a grilling from ranking member Sen. Jim Risch Blinken confirmed reports that the Biden administration was warned in mid-July that Kabul would rapidly fall to the Taliban. 

'I certainly received this cable and in mid-July. I read it. I responded to it. I factored its contents into my thinking,' Blinken answered.

He denied that the cable warned how quickly the Afghan government and military would collapse though he conceded it expressed 'real concerns' over the government's durability after the US departure. 

Blinken added that one 'very good recommendation' Biden officials took into consideration was to continue efforts expediting the evacuation of special immigrant visa applicants 

'That is the problem with us not having access to the cable. We were told by others it was significantly different than what you are saying,' Risch replied. 

Florida Senator Marco Rubio also grilled Blinken on what the government knew and when it knew it.

'We have every reason to believe and to plan for the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and the Afghan military,' Rubio said.  

'This is not an argument in favor of staying. I think that ship has sailed. We're not debating the withdrawal. What I'm arguing is we have a terrible status quo and the Afghan government after billions of dollars and was not self-sustaining. And we should begin to know as we draw down, that we'll see the potential for a collapse, and that is what all of the pieces pointed to as well.'

Blinken said a Taliban takeover after the US left was a 'worst case scenario' in February and upgraded to a possibility 'by the end of the year' in July.

'Nothing that I saw, that I saw, that we saw suggested that this government and security force would collapse in a matter of 11 days. And you're right that I think we need to look back at all of this,' he said. 

Romney piled on Rubio's questioning, telling Blinken that Kabul falling to the Taliban 'was a significant probability that should have been planned for.' 

On Tuesday Blinken also urged the Senate to quickly confirm President Biden's State Department nominees involved in national security, citing the ever-present risk of attacks.

'It is essential that we accelerate the process for national security appointments since a catastrophic attack could occur with little or no notice,' Blinken told the committee.

Senator Bob Menendez, the committee's Democratic chairman, asked the Senate on Monday to confirm four of some 80 State Department nominees now pending before the Senate, many of them being blocked by Republican Senator Ted Cruz. 

Blinken sat before lawmakers after he was criticized by one Republican representative on Monday for testifying via video during his hearing before the House.  

Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania asked Blinken if he 'couldn't be bothered to come down here and see Congress?' on Monday.

'All right, that's great,' he added.

Blinken replied that his understanding was the House was not in session.

'I'm right here, Mr. Secretary, so is the chairman and ranking member,' Perry interrupted. 'We're here!'