Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as an ending of the country's longest war that freed resources for other conflicts, in testimony in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

The secretary of state's testimony comes months after Republicans issued a scathing report on the Biden administration's handling of the exit from Afghanistan.

Under fire from congressional Republicans about one of the darkest moments of Joe Biden's presidency, Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the administration's handling of the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan,