Mitt Romney: Biden and Trump responsible for the situation in Afghanistan

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Utah Senator Mitt Romney blamed the Biden and Trump administrations for the current situation in Afghanistan, warning that the decision to withdraw our military … puts us further at risk.

It is the result of very ineffective decisions, terrible decisions made by the previous administration and the current administration, the Utah Republican told Jake Tapper on CNN State of the Union on Sunday.

This was not to happen. It was preventable.

Romney highlighted former President Donald Trump’s decision to negotiate directly with the Taliban. The roughly 5,000 released prisoners, he said, included members of the Taliban and possibly ISIS-K, the group that claimed responsibility for Thursday’s suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. servicemen and women. at least 170 Afghan civilians.

I mean, we don’t know if any of them were involved in the attack that took place, he said. These are the decisions that led to what you are seeing.

One of the dead is the Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, a native of Utah who was honored Sunday night at a vigil at the Utah Capitol. Romney has said that Hoover will be remembered as an American hero, there is no doubt about it.

Romney then cited the Biden administration’s decision to shut down Bagram Air Base, once the largest US military base in Afghanistan before it was taken over by the Taliban, as the reason for the rushed circumstance with terrorists blowing us in. the neck.

The senator called the decision to leave the Americans and our Afghan friends behind a moral stain.

Romney went on to say he would be in favor of keeping several thousand troops in Afghanistan for as long as needed to keep us safe, pointing to the post-war US military presence in Germany, Japan and South Korea.

There’s a political slogan of endless wars. But that doesn’t translate into serious political decisions, and the real policy is this: you cannot, as a party, end a war. It takes two parties to end a war. The Taliban and the radical and violent jihadists around the world, they have not stopped fighting. They will continue to fight us. The war is not over, we just weren’t there.

Maintaining a small presence in places where there is hostility towards the United States and its allies ensures that hostility does not come to America, he said.

We must not forget what the radical jihadists did on September 11. We were in Afghanistan to prevent another tragedy on American soil, but now we are retreating amid mounting threats. Maintaining a small presence in places of hostility helps ensure that hostility does not come to America. pic.twitter.com/ljq3Tn9gVg

Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) August 29, 2021

Romney then said that we owe or owe a debt of gratitude to many Afghan civilians who assisted the United States in the decades-long war, many of whom may soon seek asylum in the United States.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox has made it clear that the Beehive State is ready to welcome refugees from Afghanistan, especially those who have valiantly aided our troops over the past 20 years.

Catholic Community Services, one of the two main refugee resettlement agencies in Utah, is preparing for the arrival of Afghan civilians in the coming weeks.

The Utah Republican isn’t sure how his GOP colleagues would vote on whether or not to accept Afghan refugees, but thinks they recognize that we have a moral responsibility and, in keeping with our national character, they welcome to our country people seeking asylum and those in particular who fought alongside our troops.

The prospect is important, he said, noting that the number of refugees who will likely be resettled is surpassed almost every month at the US-Mexico border.

I am very happy that people coming to our country can contribute to America and believe in the principles on which this country was founded, he said.

Some Republicans are not as open to the idea of ​​resettling Afghan refugees. Montana Representative Matt Rosendale tweeted that the administration should focus on evacuating Americans from Afghanistan before prioritizing unchecked refugees, while Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert said she was concerned about information … of Afghans using fraudulent US passports.

I am deeply concerned about the administration’s lack of control over who actually enters the country from Afghanistan.

There are reports today of Afghans using fraudulent US passports and not being biometrically screened at Kabul airport.

Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) August 25, 2021

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