08/26/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/26/2024 10:15
MADISONVILLE, La. - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today issued the following statement on the third anniversary of the Biden-Harris administration's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. The ill-advised withdrawal left 13 American service members dead and countless Americans stranded under Taliban-rule. The Biden-Harris administration's withdrawal also allowed the Taliban to gain control of more than $7 billion of U.S. military equipment which included Humvees, attack aircraft, drones and small arms.
"It is a sad day for many American veterans and their families. Today marks three years since the Biden-Harris administration's botched withdrawal-botched withdrawal-from Afghanistan. What an embarrassment.
"Thirteen of our bravest men and women died that day-Americans. Several more troops sustained injuries, and the thousands of American veterans who fought so valiantly in Afghanistan had to witness the Biden-Harris administration make a mockery of their hard work by leaving the country in chaos.
"Neither President Biden nor Vice President Harris has ever apologized. Not once. As we reflect on this anniversary, I want to remind the American people and the people of Louisiana that this devastating withdrawal didn't have to happen. It did not have to happen. We didn't need to lose those 13 brave men and women. We didn't need to abandon our military base and give American Black Hawks to the Taliban, who want to kill Americans, who want to hurt us the entire time we're dying and then want to drink our blood out of a boot.
"None of that had to happen. This all happened because of stunning incompetence. . . . [T]his was caused by the stunning incompetence of the Biden-Harris administration, and that's just a fact. President Biden and Vice President Harris ignored every single warning from their top generals, and they announced to the world that we'd be out of Afghanistan by Sept. 11th.
"They knew it was a bad idea. They had to. And they did it anyway. They ignored those who knew better, and, by ignoring those who knew better, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris delivered these terrorists their biggest win in years-in years. . . .
"[W]hat they did makes me want to heave. I am so sorry for the pain this chaotic withdrawal caused to our brave veterans and to the American people. They deserve better. We all deserve better, and, on this issue, President Biden and Vice President Harris should hide their heads in a bag."
View Kennedy's full statement here.