U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) on Tuesday lambasted President Joe Biden’s decision to end U.S. military presence in Afghanistan prior to the successful evacuation of all American citizens from the Taliban-controlled country.
Alabama’s freshman senator sees Biden’s handling of the withdrawal as an abdication of the president’s duties.
“I never thought I’d live to see the day when an American President would abandon our country’s citizens and orders our troops to back down from a fight,” said Tuberville. “Hundreds of Americans are now hostages to terrorists.”
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) August 31, 2021
Tuberville places blame at the feet of Pentagon leadership and the commander-in-chief.
“Those who served in Afghanistan deserve our gratitude and represent the best of our nation,” he added. “Their leadership failed them with surrender and a disastrous withdrawal, which rests squarely on the shoulders of senior military officials and the Biden administration.”
The former Auburn head football coach expects to see a surge of jihadist recruits taking up arms against the United States.
“From 40 years of coaching I can promise you that victory on the field brings more recruits and more wins,” continued Tuberville. “The president’s surrender of Afghanistan will be a terrorist recruiting boom. Those who wish to do our nation harm are now more emboldened than ever.”
He concluded, “The American people deserve answers and accountability from the administration and senior military officials for this poorly executed plan.”
According to Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of the U.S. Central Command, the number of Americans left behind in the ravaged country run by Islamist militants is in the “very low hundreds.” The Biden administration said it would now rely upon diplomatic communication with Taliban leadership to bring home the Americans left stranded.
The longest war in United States history came to an end on Monday after the last American-manned aircraft departed Kabul airport. According to military leadership, the 20-year-long war claimed the lives of 2,461 U.S. service members and left more than 20,000 wounded.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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