Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTom Cotton calls on Biden to 'destroy every Taliban fighter' near Kabul Biden holds video conference with security team to discuss Afghanistan drawdown Taliban capture Afghan government's last northern stronghold MORE (R-Ky.) slammed President Biden
Joe BidenTom Cotton calls on Biden to 'destroy every Taliban fighter' near Kabul Trump slams Biden for not 'following the plan' he left on Afghanistan Pelosi 'deeply concerned' for women amid Taliban gains in Afghanistan MORE’s “botched exit” from Afghanistan on Sunday after the Taliban entered the capital city of Kabul, having already taken control of the rest of the country.
“The Biden Administration’s botched exit from Afghanistan including the frantic evacuation of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from Kabul is a shameful failure of American leadership,” McConnell wrote in a statement.
The Taliban seized control of Kabul overnight on Sunday, marking a harrowing turning point in the insurgent group’s military offensive in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country Sunday morning, and the U.S. is pulling all personnel from the embassy in Kabul.
The escalating situation comes as the U.S. inches closer to completing its withdrawal mission from Afghanistan, which Biden previously said is set to finish at the end of this month.
A number of GOP lawmakers are placing the blame for the deteriorating state of affairs in Afghanistan on Biden, who announced in April that he would pull all troops from the country following a deal with the Taliban, brokered by former President Trump
Donald TrumpTom Cotton calls on Biden to 'destroy every Taliban fighter' near Kabul Trump slams Biden for not 'following the plan' he left on Afghanistan The Memo: Fall in white population could add fuel to nativist fire MORE, to withdraw military personnel from the region.
Republican members of Congress went on the offensive on Sunday, blasting Biden during appearances on the Sunday show circuit.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise
Stephen (Steve) Joseph ScaliseSunday shows preview: Taliban close in on Afghanistan; Kathy Hochul to become first female governor in NY A tale of two chambers: Trump's power holds in House, wanes in Senate Wyoming GOP leaders say they no longer recognize Cheney as party member MORE (R-La.) compared images of Chinooks over Kabul evacuating embassy staff in the capital city to America’s exit from Vietnam, calling the morning’s developments “President Biden’s Saigon moment.”
Rep. Michael McCaul
Michael Thomas McCaulSunday shows preview: Taliban close in on Afghanistan; Kathy Hochul to become first female governor in NY Top Foreign Affairs Republican seeks sanctions over 'Havana Syndrome' attacks GOP report on COVID-19 origins homes in on lab leak theory MORE (R-Texas), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Biden is “gonna have blood on his hands” for the withdrawal mission.
McConnell did not mince words in his attack on Biden on Sunday, writing that the president is responsible for the “monumental collapse” of Kabul.
“America’s two-decade involvement in Afghanistan has had many authors. So have the strategic missteps made along the way. I have never hesitated to express myself candidly when leaders of either party threatened to put politics ahead of reality on the ground,” McConnell wrote.
“But as the monumental collapse our own experts predicted unfolds in Kabul today, responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of our current Commander-in-Chief,” he added.
The sharp criticism from McConnell comes after a previous statement from the minority leader calling on the Biden administration to do more amid the advances by the Taliban.
He previously called on Biden to commit to sending more troops back into Afghanistan after Aug. 31, his target date for pulling all soldiers from the region, and urged the president to begin conducting airstrikes against the Taliban in support of the Afghan forces.
McConnell said that while the U.S. still has “the capacity to dampen its effects,” a presence on the ground is needed to do so.
“It did not have to happen this way. The United States had the capacity to avoid this disaster. We still have the capacity to dampen its effects, but without a presence on the ground or local partners, defending the homeland from a resurgent al Qaeda will be far more difficult,” he wrote.
He wrote that the “likelihood” of al Qaeda returning “to plot attacks from Afghanistan is growing,” adding that “everyone saw this coming except the President, who publicly and confidently dismissed these threats just a few weeks ago.”
“The strategic, humanitarian, and moral consequences of this self-inflicted wound will hurt our country and distract from other challenges for years to come,” McConnell added.
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