Washington (WBAP/KLIF) – Holding no punches in a series of tweets, Afghanistan War veteran and U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R/IL) took aim at both President Joe Biden and former President Trump for the the rapid withdrawal of American troops, and subsequent take-over of the war-torn nation by the Taliban.
“This is a disaster, and a stain on the entire nation The Taliban has always said that America has the watches, but they have the time. Under both President (Donald) Trump and President (Joe) Biden, the U.S. announced that our time in Afghanistan is over, effectively letting the Taliban know they were right, they could simply outwait us.”
Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran who flew missions over Afghanistan blamed the fallout and mass hysteria unfolding now the result of “shortsighted and weak actions by both the Biden and Trump administrations.”
“I am heartbroken and angry by what’s happening in Afghanistan, largely because this was entirely avoidable I’ve said countless times that withdrawing our troops emboldens our enemies and puts our allies in grave danger. And yet, both President Trump and President Biden made their announcements anyway — broadcasting to our enemies that we were leaving and telling our allies around the world that we had given up.
The reality we face now is sad, and the aftermath will be dangerous and devastating.”
Today is devastating, but now we have to do whatever we can to help our allies on the ground & push the WH to facilitate SIVs.
To ALL our servicemen & women who sacrificed in #Afghanistan, we are forever grateful. Today does NOT erase our mission. https://t.co/m5H1fdy2ki— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) August 15, 2021
Kinzinger added that the US must help Afghans who worked with America by issuing them special immigrant visas. The Pentagon is in the process of evacuating those Afghans who assisted US troops.
Meantime, for Obama-era defense chief Chuck Hagel, said that, former President Trump made an “avoidable mistake” that would ensure Afghanistan’s swift collapse.
Hagel told ‘Raw Story’ that Trump set the process in motion early last year when he announced that we would be out of Afghanistan by May of this year.
Hagel said, quote, “Trump started the peace process without including the Afghan government,” a “huge mistake” in Hagel’s opinion “The same thing we did in Vietnam.”
Hagel added that it sent a clear signal to the Taliban, Afghan forces and the Afghan government that “We were leaving them behind.”
Trump’s Doha Peace Agreement was negotiated with the Taliban and called for the release 5,000 prisoners,”A move that Afghanistan was told that they had to live with. Hagel added, that it was “pretty clear” what would happen.
Hagel also said that the Taliban had already taken control of about 60 percent of Afghanistan in the past two years.
(Copyright 2021 WBAP/KLIF 24/7 News. This report contains material from the Raw Story.)