OPINION:
Remember when President Joe Biden went on national television and said the Afghanistan troop withdrawal would be nothing like Saigon? He said, “There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy in the - of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable.”
Well, I agree. It’s not Saigon; it’s much worse. This isn’t Saigon; it’s more comparable to Tehran ‘79, when Americans were taken hostage by the Iranian terrorist regime and American foreign policy held hostage for more than a year. Except instead of more than 50 in Iran, it may be more than 500 or even 5000 Americans that get left behind the enemy lines of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Joe Biden’s incomplete plan in Afghanistan has created Tehran on steroids. That’s the only way to properly phrase what we are seeing on television and reading in newspapers right now.
Afghans are clinging on to U.S. military planes and trying to climb into the wheel wells to escape in the incoming reign of terror. American citizens and diplomats being rescued via helicopter, U.S. Embassy officials burning sensitive information, and Taliban fighters have taken our valuable military assets - guns, vehicles, aircraft, etc. - that were left behind in this hasty withdrawal plan.
Even worse, the Biden Administration has told Congressional staffers that there is no plan to rescue Americans outside Kabul. And that an arbitrary deadline seemingly set by the Taliban of August 31 will leave potentially thousands of Americans behind.
This is appalling and horrific. A withdrawal plan gets all Americans and those who have helped further our interests home safely. This is not a withdrawal plan at all; it did not meet those most basic requirements.
The disaster in Afghanistan was completely avoidable and is infinitely worse for our credibility in the Middle East - and the fault lies one hundred percent with Joe Biden. The Trump administration had set the stage for a conditions-based withdrawal that would have protected the American people and our interests. Mr. Trump’s plan also made clear to the Taliban that they would pay a heavy price for threatening any American.
I said in July, the decision to completely leave Afghanistan to the Taliban on a clear deadline of August 31, 2021, is a decision that makes the world a more dangerous place. It leaves us with no intelligence operation in Afghanistan to eliminate terrorists and protect our interests in the region. Additionally, it failed to protect the Afghan interpreters who worked with our troops, sought to support democracy, and protect American interests.
Furthermore, the Biden Administration’s utter failure in Afghanistan will be devastating for Afghan women and children who will once again face brutal human rights abuses at the hands of the Taliban, as well as the countless brave allies who helped our international coalition secure the nation and who now face the threat of violent reprisals against themselves and their families.
Platitudes and hopes for international partnership won’t save lives and protect the Afghan people and American interests.
The American people and our Afghan allies deserve better. That’s why I am urging Joe Biden to step up and explain what he will do to fix this catastrophe. He must be held accountable. I am also calling on President Biden to pledge to get every American out of Afghanistan regardless of an arbitrary deadline. America decides when to leave; not the Taliban.
His incompetent actions put Americans and our allies who fought with us in grave danger. It is an insult to every soldier who worked to better the region and to those families whose loved ones made the ultimate sacrifice there.
As a mother who worried about her son and all our soldiers who served during wartime, I will continue to press this Administration for transparency and answers.
Joe Biden has to answer for his failure, and the fallout from the Taliban takeover will be a stain on his legacy.
• Congresswoman Ann Wagner represents Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.