Sen. Graham rips Biden for going 'against sound military advice' on Afghanistan withdrawal
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss why he believes the likelihood of a terror attack with Afghanistan origins is 'through the roof' one year after the U.S. withdrawal.
One year after the U.S. withdrew military forces from Afghanistan, the Biden administration continues to face scrutiny amid growing concerns the Taliban-controlled nation will become an international "hotbed" for terrorism.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., ripped the Biden White House over the withdrawal, warning the decision went "against sound military advice" and has dangerous repercussions.
"This was a political decision by Biden," Graham said on "America's Newsroom" Tuesday. "He wanted to get out by 9/11/2021, 20 years later. He wanted to be the American president... that ended America's longest war."
"Well, it backfired on him," he continued. "We didn't end the longest war. We started a new one. Al Qaeda camps are emerging, training camps are emerging in Afghanistan as I speak."
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Evacuees wait to board a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 23. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Isaiah Campbell)
Biden announced earlier this month al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a U.S. drone strike, but despite receiving bipartisan praise, critics worry the reemergence of terrorism in the nation is cause for concern.
"This is one of the biggest mistakes in the war on terror," Graham said. "It is setting in motion, I can't say this enough, another attack against America, 9/11 style, because we've abandoned Afghanistan, we're repeating history, and it was all avoidable."
"The buck does stop with Joe Biden," he continued. "There's nobody else to blame but him. He's been wrong about everything for the last 30 or 40 years. My biggest fear about him being president is he would do something this stupid."
President Biden inherited an outlined withdrawal from the Trump administration, which was originally supposed to take place in May 2021.
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But Biden ultimately decided to proceed with removing the military "unconditionally" by Sept. 11, 2021, despite pushback.
"It was Biden's decision to pull the plug on Afghanistan against sound military advice," Graham said. "There were conditions in place for our withdrawal. The Afghans, the Taliban were not meeting in those conditions."