A Year After Biden’s Chaotic Exit From Afghanistan, America’s Security Is At Risk, Our Enemies Are Emboldened, And Allies Openly Doubt Biden’s Reliability

BIDEN’S DISASTROUS EXIT FROM AFGHANISTAN PUT AMERICAN SECURITY AND SAFETY LAST

• One year ago, on August 30, Biden declared an end to the war in Afghanistan after he ordered the last U.S. planes to depart Kabul.
  • Those planes left hundreds of Americans and allies behind enemy lines despite Biden’s promise to get them out before his withdrawal was over.
• Since Biden’s botched exit, the Taliban have spent the past year showing off their U.S. taxpayer funded military equipment, killing America’s Afghan allies, and providing a safe haven to Al Qaeda.
  • Biden’s withdrawal emboldened radical Islamic terrorists and sent a message to America’s enemies that under Biden the U.S. is willing to abandon its allies.

THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION MISLED AMERICANS ABOUT THE DANGER IN AFGHANISTAN

• The Biden administration promised Americans he would end the war “responsibly, deliberately, and safely” with decisions based upon “what’s in the [U.S.] best national security interests,” but that was simply another broken promise.
  • Biden was warned of the risks of his withdrawal plan, but chose to commit to an arbitrary withdrawal date that led to chaos, confusion, and the death of 13 brave American heroes.
• The White House ignored and then downplayed intelligence reports that the Taliban was growing in strength leading up to the withdrawal.
• In July 2021, the Biden administration quietly abandoning Bagram Air Base in the middle of the night without telling the Afghan military.
  • One of the prisoners who escaped from Bagram was the Kabul airport bomber who killed 13 U.S. service members.

BIDEN GIFTED THE TALIBAN BILLIONS IN U.S. MILITARY EQUIPMENT AND WEAPONS

• Biden left behind billions in U.S. military equipment and weapons that quickly fell into the hands of the Taliban.
• Because of the botched withdrawal, the Taliban seized helicopters, Humvees, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), drones, and even “anti-aircraft guns, armored tanks, and artillery.”
• The Taliban promptly held a military parade showing off all their new military equipment paid for with U.S. taxpayer dollars.
  • Photos during the withdrawal showed the Taliban clutching U.S.-made guns and riding around in U.S. armored vehicles.

BIDEN LET THE TALIBAN TURN AFGHANISTAN BACK INTO A SAFE HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS

• The Biden administration said it was committed to “preventing Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups,” but failed to do that.
• For months, Biden refused to acknowledge reports of Al Qaeda’s growing presence in Afghanistan.
  • Even days before the withdrawal, U.S. defense officials warned that the Taliban takeover would give Al Qaeda a safe haven and allow them to rebuild, but Biden pushed ahead.
• Biden justified his rushed exit by saying, “What interest do we have in Afghanistan at this point with al Qaeda gone?”
  • White House officials quickly walked back that statement, and this year Biden Spokesman John Kirby admitted, “when we left Afghanistan, we knew there was a small presence of al Qaeda already in the country.”
• A year later, Kirby confirmed Al Qaeda is now “actively” using Afghanistan as a “safe haven” to “plot and plan attacks against American interests and the American homeland.”
  • Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was hiding in Afghanistan when he was killed by U.S. forces in July.
• Former Obama Defense Secretary Leon Panetta: “There’s no question that they’re [the Taliban] providing a safe haven for terrorists.”

BIDEN’S WITHDRAWAL PUT U.S. SECURITY AT RISK

• One year later the Biden administration claims America is in a “stronger position as a country because of the President’s decision,” but reality says otherwise.
• Recent Defense Department estimates state that in the aftermath of Biden’s withdrawal, both Al Qaeda and ISIS-K are growing in strength and could pose a significant threat beyond Afghanistan.
• Retired General Frank McKenzie, who served as Commander of the U.S. Central Command, noted that Biden’s withdrawal has limited America’s ability to provide warnings of violent extremist organizations threats from Afghanistan
  • McKenzie: “I do not believe we are safer as a result of our withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
• Experts doubt that Biden’s “over-the-horizon” counterterrorism measures can protect the U.S. against future attacks.
  • Experts have said that U.S. counterterrorism partners on the ground in Afghanistan have collapsed and been replaced by the Taliban.
• After the chaotic withdrawal, U.S.-trained Afghan special forces were forced to flee to Iran which poses severe security risks as they could divulge sensitive U.S. intelligence to Tehran.
• Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently warned the U.S. is more likely to face a 9/11-type attack because Biden’s withdrawal put the Taliban in “full control.”

AMERICA’S ALLIES NOW DOUBT AMERICA BECAUSE OF BIDEN’S WITHDRAWAL

• America’s partners slammed Biden for his actions in Afghanistan.
  • U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson: “Nobody wants Afghanistan, once again, to be a breeding ground for terror … It’s fair to say the U.S. decision to pull out has accelerated things.”
  • Former British Cabinet Member Rory Stewart: Biden “hasn’t just humiliated America’s Afghan allies … He’s humiliated his Western allies.”
  • German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier: The images from the Kabul airport were “shameful for the political West.”
• Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said Biden had “accept[ed] a historic failure” and suggested it showed the U.S. is not actually committed to Israel’s security.
  • Nasrallah: “Those watching most closely and drawing conclusions from this are the Israelis.”
• As Taliban killings within Afghanistan skyrocket since Biden’s withdrawal, it is estimated that thousands of abandoned Afghans who worked for the U.S. are living in fear.

AMERICA’S ENEMIES WERE EMBOLDENED BY BIDEN’S AFGHANISTAN FAILURE

• The consequences of Biden’s Afghanistan failure are only growing more intense a year later as America’s enemies have become stronger from Biden’s weakness as an ally.
• China and Russia, whose relationship has only grown since Biden took office, have exploited Biden’s failures in Afghanistan.
  • Russia took advantage of Biden’s incompetence by starting a war in Ukraine, and China has been inching closer to a military invasion of Taiwan.
  • Taiwan has had to increase its military spending to protect itself from growing Chinese threats thanks to Biden’s continued weakness as an ally.
• Other dangerous regimes have only been emboldened to test the limits of their aggressive actions with Biden.
  • While Biden has been hellbent on rejoining the disastrous Iran Nuclear Deal, Iran has been reportedly involved in an assassination plot against two former U.S. officials on American soil as well as a recent stabbing of author Salman Rushdie, whose book is banned in Iran.
  • Recently, three U.S. service members were injured after an Iran-backed group in Syria conducted a series of strikes in the region.
• Biden’s disastrous withdrawal was an inspiration to terrorist groups
  • Al Qaeda issued a statement after the Taliban took Kabul calling it a “prelude” to other jihadi victories.
  • ISIS-K has recruited thousands of members, almost doubling in size, since conducting its attack on American service members in Kabul, and reports estimate the group could carry out terrorist attacks on U.S. soil or against its allies within a year.