Senator Tommy Tuberville is calling for an investigation into the Biden administration’s handling of the War in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of allied armed forces from the country.
‘The war is over when your enemy accepts defeat. Our enemy, the Taliban, are not defeated. They are emboldened,” Tuberville said in a Senate floor speech.
Tuberville spoke on the Senate floor about the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, the heroes that were lost that fateful day, and how American resolve never wavered and contrasted that with how the chaotic surrender in Afghanistan is a defeat that rests solely on the shoulders of the Biden administration. Tuberville called for a Senate investigation.
“Here, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, what should be a resounding victory and success of American values and resolve, is instead – a defeat,” Tuberville said. “And it is an especially bitter defeat to Americans all across this country. It’s bitter because Americans surrendered 20 years of blood, sweat, and tears to the enemy. The Taliban now control more of Afghanistan than they did in 2001. And they are better armed with American guns, vehicles, and aircraft.”
“It’s bitter because it was entirely preventable,” Tuberville said. “It’s bitter because those who work in national security know in their hearts that the president is wrong when he says the ‘war is over.’ Mr. President, the war is not over. The war is over when your enemy accepts defeat. Our enemy, the Taliban, are not defeated. They are emboldened.”
“President Biden has handed them the greatest victory in their pitiful, pitiful history,” Tuberville said. “A victory greater than they could have ever dreamed. Using this victory as propaganda against the United States will be recruiting gold for the Taliban. Make no mistake, now that they’ve sent America running for the exits in Afghanistan, they intend to bring the terror we saw at Kabul’s airport home to us right here in the United States of America.”
“Never in American history have we seen a commander-in-chief leave Americans behind enemy lines,” Tuberville said. “It is unheard of. Unheard of in the history of this country. I cannot think of a single fighting man or woman who would leave an American behind. It does not make sense. That is why they fight. That is why our military fights – we do not leave people behind. But they were ordered to leave by our commander-in-chief.”
“To those soldiers, sailors, Marines, airman, and guardsmen who served in Afghanistan, I promise you this: we will get answers from this Administration,” Tuberville said. “If you’re a member of the military or you’ve served our nation, and you have questions, I hope you’ll reach out to my office. I am ready to be your voice. I am ready to fight with you for your answers and accountability. I want to thank Chairman Reed and Ranking Member Inhofe for scheduling hearings so we that can do just that in the next few weeks.”
“First of all, what we’ve seen in Afghanistan has been nothing short of a disaster,” said Ranking Member Inhofe said in a statement. “You’ve heard everybody say it over and over again. We have a hard time finding words properly to describe how wrong that was, and we want to know why — we still want to know why President Biden left hundreds of Americans behind. That’s something we don’t do in America, we haven’t done before. We need to figure out how things went so wrong, who to hold accountable and where to go from here. The SASC had our first in-depth briefing with General Miller. It was classified, and I think we’re going to be setting something up, we’re going to have one that’s not classified. This would be very rewarding to everything.”
“But we heard enough to know that there are inconsistencies between what the administration has said and the truth,” Inhofe continued. “Clearly President Biden didn’t listen to all the military advice. I’m even more eager now to hear from Secretary Austin, General Milley and General McKenzie in two weeks — that’s going to be on the 28th. That will not be classified. I want to hear from General Miller in an open hearing also, which we’ll do. It could very likely end up being the same one but probably not. This is just the start of an open, exhaustive, transparent process. We have a lot more questions, and we hope that they have some more answers. I’m worried that if the administration is so incompetent in Afghanistan, how we can expect a coherent China strategy?”
Biden maintains that the Taliban was going to take Afghanistan whoever was president whether we left next year, five years from now, or 20years from now. The Afghanistan War was the longest in American history.
Tuberville represents Alabama in the Senate and on the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
