The Biden administration must be accountable for its decision to withdraw from Afghanistan three years ago because it was a "catastrophic mistake" for the United States, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said Thursday on Newsmax.
The withdrawal, Bolton said on "Newsline," not only endangered U.S. national security but "the execution of the withdrawal was very poor, no doubt about it."
Bolton said that his worry at this point is the return of foreign terrorist fighters to Afghanistan, which was "entirely predictable and was predicted by a lot of people."
Further, Bolton said, terrorists such as ISIS-K and al Qaeda are showing they are capable of conducting attacks in remote locations, including against the U.S.
"It started from Afghanistan and it's very likely they're on the way to the United States, if they're not already here," Bolton said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is not enforcing its sanctions against Iran and other places, said Bolton, responding after reports Thursday that the Biden administration plans to impose measures against the Houthi and Hezbollah organizations.
"The best day a sanction usually has is the day that it's announced," said Bolton. "As has become clear over a long history, we just are not enforcing sanctions effectively."
Further, the Treasury Department often provides "road maps" that allow American companies to bypass sanctions and continue doing business, he said.
"The Houthis, who wouldn't have two rocks to rub together if they didn't have missiles and drones from Iran, have effectively closed the Suez Canal and Red Sea passage to all but a very limited amount of commercial traffic," said Bolton.
He added that it "verges on criminal" behavior for the U.S. to allow such behavior to continue.
"What other terrorist groups and rogue states learned is that at least under this administration, we don't have the resolve to open up the channels of communication again," said Bolton.
Bolton said the administration has also gone out of its way to pressure Israel against defending itself adequately as the war continues in Gaza, and to refrain from responding to attacks from Iran.
"They're obsessed with the notion of getting a cease-fire and they were when Joe Biden was the candidate," said Bolton, adding that the same holds true with Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrats' candidate.
"They think if they can put the Middle East off the front pages, and if they can put Ukraine off the front pages, they can pretend like their guidance of American national security has been a success when it clearly has not," he said.
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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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