Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized President Joe Biden over reports that American troops would leave Afghanistan by September.
BREAKING: Senior administration official says the withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 is NOT conditions based. Biden has judged that “a conditions based approach, which has been the approach of the past two decades, is a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever.”
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) April 13, 2021
Calling the plan a “disaster in the making,” Graham added that it was “so irresponsible, it makes the Biden Administration policies at the border look sound.” (RELATED: Sen. Graham Says Biden’s Border Policies Are The ‘Biggest Super Spreader’ For COVID-19)
If reports are accurate that President Biden is withdrawing all forces from Afghanistan by September of this year, it is a disaster in the making.
A full withdrawal from #Afghanistan is so irresponsible, it makes the Biden Administration policies at the border look sound. pic.twitter.com/TjtGV7dCTY
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 13, 2021
In his full statement on the matter, Graham noted that he had also been critical of former President Donald Trump when he had set a hard date for all troops to leave Afghanistan.
“President Trump kept a residual force, but he did set a hard withdrawal date, which I thought was a very bad, ill-conceived policy,” Graham said.
Graham went on to add that he found it ironic that the Biden administration would make such a move — which he felt could pave the way for another, similar attack — on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
“All of America’s allies were willing to stay if we were willing to stay,” Graham concluded. “To announce a full withdrawal sends an incredible sign of weakness to adversaries like al Qaeda, ISIS, Hezbollah, China, Russia and Iran.”