Rep. Mast: Biden's 'number one goal is the optics' of Afghanistan, not the American people
Florida Republican joins 'Life, Liberty & Levin' to discuss the president's response to the chaos in the troubled nation
Heartbreaking images of men horrifically falling off planes, women desperately throwing their children over barbed-wire fences to U.S. soldiers, Americans stranded behind enemy lines in fear for their lives, Taliban militants chanting "Death to America!" Those were the immediate images after President Biden haphazardly withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan without a basic plan in place to evacuate Americans and prevent the Taliban from taking over the country.
Last week, President Biden and his fellow Democrats in Congress prioritized ramming through their $3.5 trillion tax and spending spree instead of focusing all their energy on rescuing every American that they stranded behind enemy lines.
House Republicans’ number one priority is to make sure every single American who has been stranded behind enemy lines is safely returned home to the United States. No excuses.
Yet, President Biden wasted precious limited time last week working the phones to pressure House Democrats to pass a $3.5 trillion far-left tax and spending spree, instead of using every minute to rescue Americans who are abandoned because of his botched exit. As he made those calls, our troops were racing against an artificial timeline that, incredulously, was set by the Taliban, a terrorist organization, not by our commander in chief.
Republican lawmakers have been asking the Biden administration how many Americans were abandoned behind enemy lines, but they can’t or won’t even give us a definitive answer.
The Taliban has taken control of most of Afghanistan — and has billions of dollars of America’s most high-tech military equipment — all because President Biden completely misread the intelligence that sadly predicted this devastating outcome.
At every step of this process, he has been more focused on the optics of withdrawing by the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, versus the advice of the intelligence community.
On Thursday, Aug. 26, explosions outside the Kabul airport killed several U.S. service members and Afghan civilians. This is the worst terrorist attack on U.S. service members in Afghanistan since President Obama controlled the White House.
The attack at the Kabul airport was disgraceful and avoidable. This should have never happened.
BIDEN BREAKS PROMISE TO 'STAY' IN AFGHANISTAN UNTIL EVERY AMERICAN EVACUATED
Our adversaries are pouncing upon President Biden’s weaknesses, and our allies around the world are disgusted and have lost all confidence in President Biden’s ability to make decisions. In the United Kingdom, the Parliament voted to condemn President Biden for his disgraceful role in Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban.
Afghanistan isn’t President Biden’s only disgraceful and avoidable disaster.
President Biden and his extremist allies in Congress refuse to reverse their dangerous, open-door immigration policies, which are jeopardizing the health and safety of American citizens.
This year alone, more than one million illegal immigrants have been apprehended by federal and state law enforcement officials. This massive number of people would be more than the tenth largest city in America.
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Along with hundreds of thousands of COVID-19-positive individuals, we have seen people on the terrorist watch list apprehended at our open southern border.
Now, thousands of hardened Taliban fighters and terrorists were released from Afghani jails and believe that God has freed them to seek retribution against America. The welcome mat has been rolled out on the southern border.
But that’s not all.
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Inflation is at its highest level in 13 years. Hard-working families are paying more for everyday household items, wiping out all of the paycheck increases they gained during the Trump administration. The last thing President Biden and congressional Democrats should be doing is ramming through the largest tax increase and spending plan in history on a partisan vote.
So much for President Biden’s broken promise to work with both parties. Prices are rising faster than paychecks, and inflation disproportionately hurts families with lower incomes. Workers and small businesses will continue to suffer unless Washington socialists change their ways and stop wasting trillions of dollars of taxpayer money.
Unlike President Biden, House Republicans understand the needs and concerns of the American people.
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Right now, Congress’ top priority should be rescuing every American who has been stranded in Afghanistan because of President Biden’s disgraceful abandonment.
Instead of trying to raise taxes and spend trillions in debt on their far-left priorities, Democrats should work with Republicans to press for action to protect Americans both at home and abroad from President Biden’s failed agenda.
Republican Brian Mast represents the 18th District of Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served in the U.S. Army from 2000 to 2011.