Today,
I want to speak to the extraordinary courage, bravery and patriotism that the
men and women in our Armed Forces showed the world – yet again – in the last
several months in Afghanistan.
They
were placed in an impossible situation because of the bad judgment and
leadership failures of President Biden.
Despite
President Biden’s bad judgment, our men and women in uniform again exceeded
expectations.
In
the process of doing their job for people that they don’t even know, we lost 13
of our best who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country and 18 more
suffered serious injuries.
I
pray for their families for the loss that they’ve suffered.
Those
13 young men and women will never be forgotten. They’re heroes.
This
disastrous exit was entirely avoidable, which makes the loss of life so much
more gut wrenching.
Intelligent
and honest people can disagree on whether we should’ve left, but it’s
unthinkable that anyone could justify the manner in which this Administration made
it happen.
The
Biden administration left Americans behind.
This
is the United States of America – we neverleave our people behind.
I
have heard from many Iowans who are outraged at this moral failure.
When
he took office, President Biden arrogantly announced that “America is back.”
Now,
the world sees America in full retreat.
The
Russians and Red China are crowing.
I
and others have compared the imagery and perception to the fall of Saigon.
But
remember, in that case, we had pulled our military out before we broke our
promises to the South Vietnamese military.
In
this case, it appears that crucial support for the Afghan military was
withdrawn while we were relying on it to hold off the Taliban long enough to
complete our withdrawal.
I’ve
been at many briefings relating to President Biden’s Afghanistan exit. I’ve
tasked my oversight and policy staff to do the same. Some have been classified,
others not.
What
I can say – and what I believe the American people ought to know – is that this
Administration couldn’t track the state of play on the ground in the way they
should have.
Every
briefing gave a more dire and desperate picture than the one before it. It was
obvious that this Administration was losing control.
Yet,
it was clear to me and my colleagues that the Administration never sufficiently
changed its posture in the region as the facts on the ground changed.
When
Administration officials were questioned about the strategy, they often
responded that what they were doing was based on a “Presidential-level
decision.”
Joe
Biden owns this disastrous exit, plain and simple.
But
Secretary Austin, Secretary Blinken and General Milley are not without blame.
This
exit has realized the worst fears of every Afghan who dreamt of peace and
highest hopes of every naysayer who said, “Wait and they will leave.”
Our
enemies were right.
The
Biden administration certainly left the women of Afghanistan behind.
They
are once again being beaten and killed in the streets for supposed crimes such
as daring to speak, wanting an education, not covering their faces, and in some
cases, simply walking in public.
The
Biden administration in its hasty exit effectively armed the Taliban with advanced
American military weaponry that is now being used to oppress the Afghan people.
The
Taliban is now patrolling the streets of Kabul in American vehicles, wearing American
uniforms and carrying American made weapons.
Some
of the violent terrorists released by the Obama administration are now in
leadership roles in the Taliban regime.
Other
members of the Taliban leadership have remained on the FBI’s most wanted list for
many years, including one with a $10 million bounty.
If
this were a movie script, nobody would believe it.
In
addition to the equipment, and the funds, it’s crucial that we remember the
human cost of Afghanistan:
We
lost 2,461 service members, 18 of which were Iowans
We
also lost 3,846 contractors, 66,000 Afghan military and police, 1,144 allied
service members, 444 aid workers and 72 journalists.
These
numbers hit home; they hit deep and we should never forget them.
These
numbers also don’t account for the stain on our national reputation for
blatantly disregarding the welfare of Afghans that fought alongside us.
Leaving
behind allies will have consequences that will affect our ability to build
coalitions in the future. It will negatively impact our ability to defeat
future enemies.
Looking
through the negatives, the heart-ache and the pain that our country has
suffered from this terribly executed exit, I remain hopeful.
Where
the Biden administration has failed, veterans and current members of our armed
services have filled the leadership gap.
Working
together, these groups quickly built ad hoc networks to ensure their Afghan
brothers in arms and their families were able to leave their crumbling country
safely.
Americans
have been inspired by reports of Operation Pineapple Express, organized by
special operations veterans who, without being asked and without asking
permission, helped hundreds of Afghan allies and their families to safety.
One
of the more inspiring stories from this disastrous exit involved an Afghan
family being guided by his former U.S. Marine brothers to Abbey Gate at Kabul airport.
The
Afghan family was instructed by U.S. Marine veterans to carry signs with them
that invoked Marine Corps phrases that our Marines at Abbey Gate would
understand but the Taliban wouldn’t.
After
several attempts, the Marines on the wall saw the signs and were able to
retrieve the family and escort them through Abbey Gate only moments before the
suicide attack that took the lives of 11 Marines, a Navy Corpsman, a U.S.
soldier and scores of Afghan civilians.
When
the Marine Corps veteran network was eventually able to make contact with the
interpreter, he was asked if he and his family were alright.
His
reply, “Of course I'm good – I'm with Marines.”
This
isn’t the only amazing story regarding our veterans and our service members.
Pictures
that were taken during this time show the desperation of the Afghan people – mothers
desperately throwing their children to American troops in the hopes that even
if they couldn’t reach safety, their children would.
These
pictures also show the pure hearts of these American warriors.
During
this 20 year conflict our service men and women have never wavered in their
duty to God and Country, consistently showing their ability to annihilate the enemy.
They
defeated the Taliban, liberated the people of Afghanistan, and protected our
country from further terrorist attacks for two decades.
And,
during their final hours in Kabul, our young warriors did something
unimaginable for almost any other country’s military. They injected humanity into
the dark fringes of a war-torn conflict during a mass evacuation.
We’ve
seen the pictures of Marines in full battle attire, holding crying infants. We’ve
seen our service members giving the shirts off their backs to keep children
warm.
This
stands in contrast to the actions of political leaders thousands of miles away.
Despite
the Taliban’s most recent acts of barbarism, the Biden administration has begun
discussing potential recognition of the Taliban as a government. The
possibility of taxpayer funded foreign aid has been dangled as a carrot to
incentivize their good behavior.
Talk
about naïve.
The
Biden administration’s string of foreign policy blunders has created a domino
effect that America will feel for years to come.
Afghanistan
could once again become the epicenter for terrorist activities that will launch
future attacks on our nation.
I
pray that my concerns will not become reality, but fear they likely will.
At
the very least, America’s credibility on the world stage, with our allies and
our enemies, has taken a huge hit.
In
the unfortunate event that our worst fears come to light, my solace is in the
knowledge that our service men and women continue to have the strength to
overcome the failures of their political leaders.
My
fellow Americans, let us never forget the sacrifices our men and women in the
Armed Forces make for our freedom and security.
Their
service and sacrifices have been of immeasurable value. All Americans owe a
debt to them that can never fully be repaid.