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Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal editorial board published an article highlighting the House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority’s report on our investigation into the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

 

The Long Shadow of Biden’s Afghan Withdrawal Debacle
By The Editorial Board 
September 9th, 2024

“A House committee has released a report on the Biden Administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, and the press is dismissing the effort as partisan. But credit to GOP Rep. Michael McCaul for adding to public knowledge about a debacle whose consequences continue to harm U.S. security and bear on the stakes in November’s election.

“The House Foreign Affairs Committee report is a 350-page indictment of President Biden’s choices at every point, a portrait of a Commander in Chief “determined to withdraw.” A litany of military advisers counseled that the Afghan government would collapse if the U.S. removed the small complement of 2,500 troops in country.

…

“The President’s refusal to maintain 2,500 troops meant the U.S. abandoned Bagram Air Base with its secure runway. That meant the evacuation had to be conducted in a panic from Kabul’s civilian airport, with security assistance from the Taliban. That nightmare resulted in 13 dead American service members from a suicide bomber. The report says “at least four Afghan civilians, including children,” fell to their deaths clinging to departing U.S. planes. The White House hailed the evacuation as if it were a Dunkirk-style triumph, when it was really a chaotic humiliation.

…

“The press is wrong to consider this old news because the U.S. is still living with the damaging consequences. The report says the Taliban is even now holding seven American citizens, and the fate of Afghan women is horrific. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is again becoming a haven for the jihadists of ISIS-K and al Qaeda. The Islamic State attacks on Moscow and Iran could be preludes to an attack on U.S. targets. The Biden Administration “has not conducted a single strike against ISIS-K since 2021,” the report says.

“More broadly, the Afghan withdrawal marked the end of credible American deterrence during the Biden Presidency. You can draw a straight line from the withdrawal to Vladimir Putin’s decision to roll into Ukraine, or why the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen aren’t afraid to fire missiles at commercial ships in the Red Sea.

“Vice President Kamala Harris has trumpeted that she was the last person in the room when Mr. Biden decided to withdraw. What did she tell him? Mr. Trump or the moderators at Tuesday’s debate should ask Ms. Harris whether she still stands by Mr. Biden’s decision.

“The most important duty of the next President is restoring U.S. deterrence to prevent a larger war. If Ms. Harris defends Biden’s withdrawal, then we’ll know she doesn’t understand the dangerous world we live in.”

Read the full article here. 

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