KABUL - An influential US senator has lambasted President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan by September 11
The presidential move was not backed by a clear plan to mitigate the risks once US troops had withdrawn, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell claimed.
Speaking in the Senate on Tuesday, the Republican lawmaker hit out at Biden’s decision as dangerous, wishful thinking.
In the wake of the US withdrawal, he added, there was every reason to believe that Al-Qaeda would regroup in its historic safe haven.
The US had learnt that in order to fight terrorists, it was important to have reliable access and local partnerships, McConnell continued.
He went on to ask: “How many forces will be required to secure our embassy if a pro-Taliban mob threatens to overrun it? What will we do to protect it? Where will a quick reaction force be based, if not in Afghanistan?”
The senator queried; “If the Taliban take Kabul, will the Biden administration recognise them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan?”
The reality was “they don’t know. They can’t say. There’s no plan,” he remarked, alleging the US was in fact abandoning Afghanistan.
“Horrific reports of the Taliban beginning to reimpose their version of Sharia are just a taste of the catastrophes facing our friends in Afghanistan…” (Pajhwok)