Mitch McConnell believes the current situation in Afghanistan is worse than during the Vietnam withdrawal
U.S. President Joe Biden’s executive order on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan was “one of the worst foreign policy decisions in American history. This opinion was expressed by Mitch McConnell, the leader of Republicans in the US Senate, speaking on the air of Fox News TV channel on Sunday.
“We are withdrawing from Afghanistan, and in the two days that remain, our military will do everything it can to carry out this terrible decision. This is one of the worst foreign policy decisions in American history”, – the senator said.
In his view, the current situation in Afghanistan is worse than during the withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam in 1975.
“After we left Saigon, there were no terrorists in Vietnam who were planning terrorist attacks in the US. As for Afghanistan, we leave the country with the same problems that we undertook to solve 20 years ago, and I fear that the war on terrorists will continue”, – McConnell explained.
“The terrorists in Afghanistan have not gone anywhere, they are still there”, – the Senate Republican minority leader continued. – “They’ve stepped up, they’re emboldened by the fact that they were able to bring America to its knees in Afghanistan.” McConnell suggested leaving a small contingent of U.S. troops in the country that would have continued to support the Afghan army against radical Islamists.
After Biden announced in April that the withdrawal from Afghanistan would begin, the Taliban (banned in the Russian Federation) launched an offensive against government forces and entered Kabul without a fight on August 15. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and left the country. Many nations continue to evacuate their citizens, including diplomats, from Kabul airport, as well as Afghans seeking to flee the country. According to the White House, 114,400 people have been airlifted out of there since August 14.
Terrorists from the Islamic State group (banned in the Russian Federation) bombed near the Kabul airport on August 26. More than 200 people were killed, including 13 American servicemen. As Biden stressed, the US, despite these terrorist attacks and the threat of more, is committed to completing the evacuation by August 31 as planned. White House press secretary Jen Psaki clarified that Washington will continue to coordinate with the Taliban to ensure that people can be removed from Afghanistan beyond August 31.