Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday slammed President Biden’s decision to pull U.S. troops from Afghanistan, calling the move “one of the worst foreign policy decisions in American history.”
“We’re looking at the exit, and over the next two days our heroic military is doing the best they can with a horrible policy decision. This is one of the worst foreign policy decisions in American history, much worse than Saigon,” McConnell told host Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday said the U.S. has “little or no leverage” to evacuate American citizens and Afghan allies from Afghanistan after U.S. troops withdraw on Aug. 31.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the Biden administration has “significant leverage” to ensure that the Taliban make good on their commitments to allow people to exit Afghanistan past the Aug. 31 U.S. troop withdrawal deadline.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that it is “not likely” the U.S. will have an “on-the-ground diplomatic presence” in Afghanistan on September 1st, but vowed that the Biden administration will continue to help those who want to evacuate the country past Tuesday’s withdrawal deadline.
“The idea that we’ve done anything to put at further risk those that we’re trying to help leave the country is simply wrong. And the idea that we shared lists of Americans or others with the Taliban is simply wrong,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told host Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
National security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday said the Biden administration is actively working to “disrupt and prevent” more “threat streams” as the U.S. continues to evacuate personnel from Afghanistan amid the Taliban’s takeover.
“We believe there’s still an opportunity for American citizens to jump to the airport, get on planes and get home,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster said on Sunday that the war in Afghanistan “ended in self-defeat” as the Biden administration finishes withdrawing the last remaining U.S. troops from the country before an Aug. 31 deadline.
“We’re still planning on eight months. That was the calculation we made. This rollout will start on the week of September the 20th. But as we’ve said all along, Chuck, in the original statement, that’s the plan that we have, but we are open to data as they come in,” Anthony Fauci told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet The Press.”
