Rep. Michael McCaul said Sunday that President Biden’s decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan will be “stain on this president and his presidency.”
Mr. McCaul, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the administration underestimated the strength of the Taliban and “totally blew this one.”
“I think it’s an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions,” the Texas Republican said on CNN “State of the Union.” “This is going to be a stain on this president and his presidency — and I think he’s going to have blood on his hands for what they did.”
The United States started withdrawing troops in May and the Taliban offensive started soon after.
Things intensified in recent days as the Taliban started seizing cities and advanced on Kabul. It has sparked a frenetic evacuation of diplomats and civilians from the war-torn nation decades after the American military pushed the Taliban from power.
Mr. Biden and his senior officials on Sunday defended their actions, while pinning some of the blame on former President Trump for cutting a deal with the Taliban last year.
Mr. McCaul said the fallout was similar to what happened after former President Obama pulled troops out of Iraq.
“I think history is repeating itself,” he said. “Remember, it was Obama and the vice president, at that time, Biden, who decided to withdraw completely out of Iraq, and look what happened. ISIS reared its ugly head.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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