KABUL- Reports from Afghanistan of Taliban forces entering the capital city of Kabul on Sunday drew harsh responses from the Nebraska and Iowa congressional delegations.
Several news organizations, including the New York Times and the Associated Press, reported that Afghanistan’s government collapsed on Sunday with the flight from the country of President Ashraf Ghani and the entry into the capital of the Taliban, effectively sealing the insurgents’ control of the country. The fall of Kabul came swiftly after dozens of cities rapidly fell to the Taliban following U.S. troop withdrawals begun by former President Donald Trump and continued by President Joe Biden.
Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a retired brigadier general who was deployed four times to the Middle East, said that the unfolding disaster was avoidable and that senior officials in the Department of Defense and possibly the Department of State should offer their resignations to Biden.
Yes, the buck stops with Biden, but “the president either got terrible advice or he ignored advice,” said Bacon, a Republican. “This was a strategic blunder.”
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released a statement critical of Trump and Biden, saying that the U.S. would “regret” its moves and that foreign relations would suffer as a consequence.
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., also issued a statement after receiving a briefing Sunday morning.
“The Senate was briefed this morning amid the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan,” Fischer said. “Thousands of lives are in imminent danger and our service men and women in Kabul are working hard under extremely dangerous conditions to evacuate U.S. citizens and our partners. Given that the Commander-in-chief chose not to act to slow the Taliban’s advances this past week, it is disgraceful that the administration was not better prepared for this eventuality.”
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, issued a lengthy statement condemning the Taliban and the U.S. withdrawal.
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