Sens. Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio Sunday linked last week's deadly terror attack in Moscow to President Joe Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan and said they are concerned about similar strikes on U.S. interests or in the United States itself.
The shooting deaths in Moscow, where 133 people were killed at a suburban concert hall, are the result of the "dangerous echo" of Biden's "chaotic and disastrous withdrawal" from Afghanistan, Cotton, R-Ark., told "Fox News Sunday" host Shannon Bream.
He also pointed out that the Afghanistan-based ISIS-K terror group was the same one behind the bombing at the Kabul airport during the 2021 pullout that resulted in the deaths of 13 American soldiers.
"Just a few days ago, at the Armed Services Committee, I asked our commanding general in the Middle East about ISIS's capacity to project attacks from Afghanistan," Cotton said. "He said that in as little as six months — and it turned out to be closer to six days — ISIS from Afghanistan with little or no warning could attack Western interests across Asia and Europe, and that's exactly what we've seen happen."
He said the Moscow killings were tragic as they involved women and children, but added that the next attacks could target an American embassy in Asia, students traveling in Europe, or more.
"We have millions of Americans who live or travel abroad throughout Europe and Asia, embassies, businesses there. So I'm deeply worried that ISIS from Afghanistan will end up targeting Americans sooner rather than later," said Cotton.
"What's happened in Moscow obviously is very, very sad for the people there. But we have a duty to protect the American people wherever they are, here in America or around the world. And right now, I worry that they're at grave risk."
Meanwhile, Rubio, R-Fla., appearing on ABC News' "This Week," also linked last week's attack in Moscow to the Afghanistan withdrawal and said he fears a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
"[ISIS-K] reconstituted itself, as we warned would happen when we had this disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan," Rubio commented.
"One of the reasons why we didn't want to withdraw precipitously is because you gave them an operating space to reorganize themselves and plan externally. And since that time, they've attacked inside of Afghanistan. They conducted an attack inside of Iran not too long ago and now this one in Russia, and they'll do it here in the homeland."
Cotton on Sunday also spoke out about the border crisis, blaming Biden for the "chaos at our borders."
"In 2020, he said that he would reverse all of President [Donald] Trump's highly effective policies," said Cotton. "That sent a signal to everyone around the world that if you got to our border, you could get in. And that's exactly what he did on day one."
As a result, he added, "we had more illegal crossings in 2021 than we had in any previous year. And again in '22. And again in '23. That has nothing to do with a bill that Congress may or may not pass in the spring of 2024."
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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