KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — “We could have stopped it. We were ignored.”

According to Congressman Tim Burchett, that statement was the testimony of a Marine Corps sniper today who says that he could have prevented an August 2021 suicide bombing that killed 13 Americans — including a Tennessee soldier — at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Burchett, who was at the Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing, said despite having a man matching the description of the bomber in their sights… no one approved of taking him out.

A few minutes later, a bomb went off killing 13 Americans, injuring 45 more and killing more than 150 Afghans.

One of those who died was Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss of Corryton, Tenn.

Burchett shared with WATE his reaction to hearing that the fatal bombing could have been prevented. He hopes to get others, especially those who were in charge that day, to testify as well.

“Shock. And literally at the point of nausea that this could have been prevented and we didn’t allow it to be prevented,” Burchett said. “I said ‘Mr. Chairman … we need to call in these people in the military and state department and find out why they did not do anything.’ Why they didn’t stop this guy.”

The hearing looked into what transpired during and after the fall of Kabul, and how the Biden administration’s evacuation plan left behind millions in military equipment and ammunition.