WASHINGTON • Republican U.S. lawmakers tried on Wednesday to pick apart President Joe Biden’s defense of his withdrawal from Afghanistan as they attacked his judgment and honesty during a second day of contentious congressional hearings with Pentagon leaders.

Democrat Biden has faced the biggest crisis of his presidency over the war in Afghanistan, which he argued needed to be brought to a close after 20 years of stalemated fighting that had cost American lives, drained resources and distracted from greater strategic priorities.

Republicans have accused him of lying about military commanders’ recommendations to keep 2,500 troops in the country, playing down warnings of the risks of a Taliban victory, and exaggerating America’s ability to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for militant groups like al-Qaida.

“I fear the president may be delusional,” said Mike Rogers, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, calling the withdrawal an “unmitigated disaster.”

“It will go down in history as one of the greatest failures of American leadership,” Rogers said.

Under Biden’s Republican predecessor Donald Trump, the U.S. made a deal with the Islamist militant group to withdraw all American forces, leaving Biden with the tough choice of pulling out completely or abandoning the deal and embracing a period of renewed hostilities with the Taliban. Biden’s approval ratings have been damaged by last month’s spectacular collapse of the two-decade war effort, which ended in a chaotic withdrawal that left U.S. troops dead and American citizens behind.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Gem. Mark Milley on Wednesday.

U.S. Representative Adam Smith (D-WA), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, speaks during committee’s hearing on “Ending the U.S. Military Mission in Afghanistan” in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, U.S., September 29, 2021. Rod Lamkey/Pool via REUTERS

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