President Joe Biden announced that the US would withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and Republicans are taking issue with the rash decision. House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) blasted the president’s “reckless” decision to withdraw troops, on the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, no less.
“Any withdrawal of forces that is not based on conditions on the ground puts American security at risk. The notion that on the day they attacked us, we are going to mark that anniversary by withdrawing our forces,” Cheney said on Wednesday. “...we know that this kind of a pullback is reckless, it’s dangerous, it puts American security at risk, it will provide an opportunity for terrorists to be able to establish safe havens again...The United States of America went to Afghanistan because our security depended upon it, because we were attacked by al Qaeda, because the Taliban hosted al Qaeda – that relationship continues. A withdrawal of forces that isn’t based on conditions on the ground is fundamentally dangerous.”
President Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan is reckless and dangerous.
— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) April 14, 2021
We know what happens when terrorists establish safe havens and we must ensure that it never happens again.https://t.co/LIMTcHz111 pic.twitter.com/9JTUypCGeX
Biden spoke about the decision on Wednesday afternoon.
Pres. Biden: "I'm now the fourth United States president to preside over American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats. I will not pass this responsibility onto a fifth...it's time to end America's longest war. It's time for American troops to come home." pic.twitter.com/Xd8m7SvELn
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 14, 2021