GOP Rep. Waltz on Pulling Troops from Iraq: ‘We Need to Stay on Offense’

During a Tuesday interview with Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) sounded off on President Joe Biden withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and the combat mission in Iraq coming to an end.

Waltz, a Green Beret, wondered if Biden’s decision “has as much to do with Iran” as it does with Iraq as his administration attempts to get back into the Iran nuclear deal. He emphasized the importance of the United States staying “on offense” to put an end to the terrorist leaders in the Middle East.

“I’m concerned that this has as much to do with Iran as it those do with Iraq,” Waltz stated. “Remember, Biden’s senior negotiators have been in Europe for months now, trying to get back into the Iran deal, talking about all kinds of concessions and lifting sanctions, and one of the things that the Iranian regime has most badly wanted over the last several years is for the United States to completely pull out of Iraq so they can extend their influence through Iraq, all the way to the Mediterranean and of course on Israel’s borders. So, it remains to be seen how much that factored into this decision, but the same folks that are around Biden were the same ones who demanded we completely pull out of Iraq in 2011 that led to the rise of ISIS and the caliphate the size of Indiana, attacks around the United States, have also now completely pulled out of Afghanistan, and we’re seeing the disaster that’s unfolding there.”

He continued, “It’s unclear whether they’ll completely go to zero, but I just remind everyone, I know it’s been long, hard and expensive, but the only reason we were able to get Osama bin Laden and Soleimani and al-Baghdadi and these terrorist leaders that still exist and still intend to hit the United States if they can is because we had special operations troops and assets forward. We need to stay on offense. We need to fight these wars over there, not let it follow us home back here to the United States.”

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