President Joe Biden and his administration "arrogantly and smugly ignored" warnings about the worst-case scenario in Afghanistan in the wake of a rushed exit, and now the consequences are being felt, according to Sen. Marco Rubio.
"They ignored everyone who was warning them because they’re the 'experts,'" the Florida Republican told Fox News's Sean Hannity Monday night. "They know everything, and now we’re seeing the consequences...you look at the intelligence, you look at everything before this. It was clear that not only was the worst-case scenario out there, but it was also the likeliest outcome that was going to happen."
His comments came after Biden defended the United States' pullout from Afghanistan, and after the president acknowledged that the Taliban took control of the country faster than had been expected and said the Afghan government lacked the "will" to fight.
“They operated under assumptions that were completely ridiculous," Rubio said. "The assumption was well, ‘what if the Afghan forces stand up and fight and really push back.’ If you make those assumptions, they could've held on for another six months or a year."
But "all the indications" showed that as soon as the United States announced it was leaving Afghanistan, police officers and regular armed forces would abandon their posts and the country's leaders would abandon the country, and "that is exactly what happened," said Rubio.
"That's what they were told," said Rubio. "That’s what they were told, that’s what they were warned would happen. They didn't care and now we see the consequences of it.”
He acknowledged that the war in Afghanistan had to come to an end after 20 years, but said it "had to be done the right way."
"What this way reveals is that you can get away with things with this administration," he said.
Rubio further commented that he's concerned about foreign policy with Biden in office and said he's concerned that in the wake of the chaos in Afghanistan, "that does encourage countries like China and other adversaries not just to go out and try to undermine confidence in America, but actually test America and think they can get away with it."
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is already warning about the threat of Al-Qaeda returning to Afghanistan, something "we have already been saying for close to nine months," said Rubio, adding that there is no doubt the terrorists are coming back.
"They will reconstitute, they will pose a threat again, and this administration has no plan whatsoever to prevent that from happening," said the senator.
Rubio said he's also worried about the United States' foreign policy with Biden in office.
"Our adversaries will conclude that there are things they can get away with because this White House is not strong, they’re not prepared, and they're not confident," said Rubio. "I fear what that means. This is a big problem.”
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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