House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) slammed President Joe Biden’s “botched” Afghanistan withdrawal, saying terrorists could now overtake the country.
In a strong statement, McCarthy said that “for 20 years, our troops have endured months-long deployments, hardships, and time away from their families to serve their country during tours of combat in Afghanistan.”
He mentioned that the troops in the deployments had “dutifully responded to the call of service,” which they had “bravely fought to protect our national interests abroad.”
The Republican leader mentioned that over the last 20 years, “far too many” troops have paid the sacrifice and have endured “life-altering injuries, and some even paid the ultimate sacrifice with their own lives.”
“It should have been the government’s responsibility to execute a responsible exit as we withdrew the remaining forces from the country,” McCarthy added. “But in a matter of months, the Biden administration has led a botched withdrawal process that has now predictably handed an entire country over to terrorists.
FORT DRUM, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: U.S. Army soldiers return home from a 9-month deployment to Afghanistan on December 10, 2020 at Fort Drum, New York. The 10th Mountain Division soldiers who arrived this week are under orders to isolate at home or in barracks, finishing their Covid-19 quarantine just before Christmas. The troops were replaced in Afghanistan by a smaller force, as the U.S. military continues to reduce troop levels Afghanistan (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images).
McCarthy said this after news broke that Biden is sending troops back to Afghanistan to help speed up the evacuation process and the Taliban capturing key cities.
“Twelve provincial Afghanistan capitals are now under Taliban control after the militant group captured strategic cities on Thursday, leaving the Afghan capital of Kabul increasingly beleaguered and cut off from the rest of the country,” CNN reported.
McCarthy continued, saying, “President Biden must immediately focus all efforts on making sure there is a plan to safely extract all American service members and civilians still remaining in Afghanistan.”
The Republican leader wanted to make it clear that Biden “owes the American public an answer on what he plans to do to make sure the region doesn’t turn into a breeding ground for more violent extremism that will lead to large-scale global attacks of terrorism.”
Follow Jacob Bliss on Twitter @jacobmbliss.
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