Biden faces bipartisan criticism over US evacuation in Afghanistan

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The fallout from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has become President Joe Bidens’ biggest foreign policy test to date as Washington erupts in bipartisan anger at what lawmakers on both sides have called a catastrophe. Some have called on the United States to welcome Afghan refugees, while candidates see the situation as a political problem.

Veterans serving in Congress have openly expressed their views following the fall of Kabul to Taliban forces over the weekend. Biden is either ignorant or heartless, or both, wrote Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., A U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, in an op-ed.

Representative Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., An Air Force veteran who has flown missions in Afghanistan, said in a statement that Biden was trying to keep a campaign promise without any semblance of a plan or forethought. on how it would play out. Kinzinger also called on former President Donald Trump to negotiate openly with terrorists.

I am heartbroken and angry about what is happening in Afghanistan, in large part because it was completely preventable, Kinzinger said.

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Who serves in the U.S. Navy Reserve and deployed to Afghanistan from 2014-2015, tweeted that Biden lived up to the worst perceptions about his ability to lead, while the Representative Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, a U.S. Navy veteran who was injured while serving in Afghanistan in 2012, told Fox News that members of the administration must be fired or resign.

Biden has also been criticized by veteran Democrats in Congress.

To say that today is nothing short of a disaster would be dishonest, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., A U.S. Navy veteran, said in a statement. Worse, it was preventable.

Moulton said Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo started the tragedy and the time to debate whether to leave Afghanistan is over, but there is still time to debate how we manage our retirement.

Representative Jason Crow, D-Colo., Who flew two missions in Afghanistan for the US Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, said at a press conference: We should have started this evacuation months ago .

We didn’t need to be in this position; we didn’t need to see those scenes at the Kabul airport with our Afghan friends climbing a C-17, Crow said of images of people surrounding a military cargo plane.

Poor execution

Some members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee stressed the need to protect American allies in the country. Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has called on Biden to make a full commitment to evacuate US partners in Afghanistan, and Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has said the United States must prepare for a crisis of refugees as well as a renewed threat of international terrorism.

Representative Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN State of the Union that the Biden administration completely underestimated the strength of the Taliban and said that he thought the United States might have to return to Afghanistan. one day.

I hope we don’t have to go back, but it will be a threat to the homeland in a matter of time, McCaul said.

Republicans who previously supported Trump’s decision to leave Afghanistan, such as Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, are criticizing Biden not for leaving the country, but for his execution.

Biden ditched Trump’s peace plan and exit strategy and created his own at random, Biggs tweeted. Biden is FULLY responsible for this absolute wreckage.

In an interview with Fox News, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Said reasonable people disagree on whether leaving Afghanistan was a good idea, but that Bidens handled the ‘evacuation in an incompetent manner. Cotton is a US Air Force veteran who served in Afghanistan.

Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, who served in the U.S. Air Force, said the withdrawal was the right policy, but called for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the chairman of the chiefs. Joint Staff General Mark Milley for how he was treated.

Accept refugees

Senator Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., A veteran of the US Army, said the footage from Afghanistan was tragic and incredibly difficult to watch, and that she focused on the evacuation.

For two decades, thousands of brave Afghans have chosen to put themselves and their families at great risk in order to support the mission of our troops in their country, and in return, our nation has pledged that we will ensure the safety of our partners, Duckworth said in a statement. We should not break our word to them at this desperate time of need.

The 16 Republicans who voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act to speed up the immigrant visa program for Afghan partners last month are facing further criticism for their votes. Among those who voted against the bill were Biggs and far-right Republicans like Representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona. Kinzinger tweeted a chart of the 16 Republicans and wrote Outrageous. Take them into account.

A number of Republican governors have signaled their states are open to accepting refugees from Afghanistan, including Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said his state is already planning to host 180 refugees.

Many of these Afghan citizens, our allies, have courageously risked their lives to provide invaluable support for many years to our efforts as interpreters and support staff, and we have a moral obligation to support them, Hogan said. in a video message.

Biden on the defensive

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted in a statement that although many people made strategic missteps throughout the war, Biden was responsible for the monumental collapse of Kabul. McConnell previously called Trump’s decision to cut troops in Afghanistan and Iraq a mistake.

Terrorists and major competitors like China are watching the embarrassment of a birthing superpower, the Kentucky Republican said. The strategic, humanitarian and moral consequences of this self-inflicted wound will hurt our country and distract from other challenges for years to come.

Biden said in a press conference on Monday that he strongly supports his decision and that there is never a good time to withdraw US forces.

The Trump administration struck a deal with the Taliban last year to withdraw from Afghanistan, and public opinion on the war has been divided. A Gallup poll released in July found that 47% of Americans think the war was a mistake and 46% think it wasn’t.

In statements posted on his website, Trump said the Taliban takeover destroyed confidence in US power and influence.

It’s not that we left Afghanistan, Trump said. This is the grossly incompetent way of our departure!

The nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan spanned four presidential administrations, starting with former President George W. Bush, and is estimated to cost $ 2.261 billion. In April 2021, more than 170,000 people are estimated to have died in the war, including 2,442 US servicemen and 3,846 US contractors, according to the Brown University Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs Costs of War Project.

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