Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Sunday that both the Biden and Trump administrations are at fault for the crisis in Afghanistan.
During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Romney also told host Jake Tapper that “leaving Americans behind and leaving our Afghan friends behind who’ve worked with us would put upon us and will put upon us a moral stain.”
“And this is the result of very ineffective decisions, terrible decisions made by the prior administration and by the current administration. This did not have to happen. It was — it was preventable,” Romney said.
“And let me note, that’s very different than the military. Our military came in at the very last moment and has performed admirably, as far as I can tell, to move people out as quickly as possible.”
Romney cited former President Trump’s agreement with the Taliban, freeing 5,000 (Islamic State) ISIS-K and Taliban fighters from an Afghan prison and President Biden closing Bagram Air Base as contributing to the current crisis.
“So, right now, you have to ask, OK, what’s the action we can take at this very last minute which is most likely to get most Americans and most of our friends out of Afghanistan? That’s a decision that the commanders on the ground are going to have to make,” Romney said. “But the reality is, the fact that we’re in this position is the result of bad decisions made by two administrations.”
Romney’s remarks come amid the aftermath of 13 U.S. service members and more than 160 Afghans dying in a suicide bombing last week near the Kabul airport, where masses are gathering in the hopes of being evacuated from the now-Taliban controlled country.