U.S troops should have been out of Afghanistan long ago, but the United States' enemies are laughing at the "abject failure" that was brought about by President Joe Biden and his administration, Rep. Scott Perry said on Newsmax Tuesday.
"This is a catastrophe," Perry, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Most veterans have a hard time finding the word for it, and it's important to make the distinction. This isn't about the troops or the men and women in boots. This is about the suits in Washington, D. C., at the Pentagon, at the administration, at the State Department."
All of America was tired of being in Afghanistan and watching family members losing their lives there, he added, but the withdrawal should have been done responsibly, and "this is as far from that as possible," considering the Taliban was able to use the United States' left-behind weapons while taking over the country in a matter of days.
Perry said he does think the United States and the rest of the free world have earned the right to maintain counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, as it's important to remember that the Taliban is a terrorist organization.
"Let's remind ourselves that we went there because of al-Qaida, the Taliban, and Osama Bin Laden, then followed on by ISIS to more factions in Afghanistan," said Perry. "This is a terrorist nation that threatens the rest of the free world."
But still, there should have been a conditioned, phased withdrawal that included a counterterrorism mission remaining in place, he said.
"It's just a terrorism haven," said Perry, adding that there was "no execution" of the administration's policy.
'We left Bagram (Airfield) in the night and didn't even tell the host government," said Perry. "We were leaving. They woke up in the morning to an empty airfield that the Taliban or anybody else could have taken over."
He further placed the failures of the exit from Afghanistan squarely at President Joe Biden's feet.
"He owns this completely," said Perry. "This did not have to be this way, and think about this; this happens every single time you leave the left in charge of the military operation. It goes back to Vietnam, but it certainly doesn't stop in Iraq or Benghazi and now Afghanistan. They are incompetent. They are incapable."
And with Afghanistan, "this is just willful negligence and lives will be lost and lives have been lost because of these failures," said Perry.
"I don't know if it's a failure of confidence or intel or pride or what it is, but this is not the way that a free nation leads anything. It's an embarrassment, and we are going to have a hard time getting people to wear the uniform," said Perry.
He also claimed that the Taliban will use the images of Afghan refugees falling from U.S. transport planes for propaganda to recruit fighters not only in Afghanistan but all over the world.
"Think about that crew on that airplane that had to get that airplane and its cargo, including people out of that country, knowing that there are going to be injuries and likely fatalities," said Perry. "They have to live without the rest of their lives."
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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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