It's an "easy soundbite" for President Joe Biden to say he is bringing the troops home from Afghanistan, but the way he is making that happen is a "mess" that could result in increased threats of terrorism for the United States, Rep. Michael Waltz, who has served two tours of duty as a Green Beret in Afghanistan, warned Newsmax Friday.
"I wanted to hear yesterday, what's the plan for the day after all the U. S troops are out?" the Florida Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," while remarking on Biden's comments about Afghanistan and the troop withdrawals. "How are we going to keep a lid on half the world's terrorist organizations and keep ISIS and Al Qaeda from roaring back in the wake of a Taliban takeover?"
A Taliban delegation in Moscow said on Friday that it controls 85% of the territory in Afghanistan and reassured Russia it would not allow the country to be used as a platform to attack others.
Waltz said, however, that the United States should keep a small and targeted presence in Afghanistan.
"We've had troops in South Korea for 65 years, in Germany for 70 years; heck, we've had troops down training the Colombians for 40 years," said Waltz. "The Afghan army is out doing the fighting and dying, but a small presence (is needed) to provide them support air support, logistics maintenance, and then also to go after Al Qaeda if they think they can stick their heads up again."
He said he's also concerned that without a U.S. presence staying on offense, terrorism problems will return to the United States.
"I don't want this terrorism problem following us back home again and having another San Bernardino or Pulse Nightclub (attack) and going back to the days of attacks across the United States," Waltz said. "I don't want to lose any more American sons and daughters in places like Pulse Nightclub or a suicide bomber in a school bus or a shopping mall."
He also said the pullout is a "repeat" of when former President Barack Obama "yanked everyone out" of Iraq.
"We had ISIS come roaring back," said Waltz. "They established a caliphate the size of Indiana and then launched attacks all over Europe and inspired attacks in the United States. I fear that's going to happen again. But it's going to be worse this time because we have no bases in the region, and right now as we speak, the Taliban are hunting down everyone who stood and worked with us for the last 20 years."
The Taliban officials said the group will do all it can to keep ISIS from coming into Afghanistan and that it will try to wipe out drug production, and said the territory they control "will never be used against our neighbor," but Waltz said they're "talking nice."
"In the areas they do control, we're seeing a very different story," said Waltz "Female judges, politicians, journalists are being attacked. People who stood with us very publicly are being hunted down. The Taliban are brutal thugs. They look to establish Sharia law, and my fear is that Al Qaeda will move in in the wake of that and again start launching attacks across the west."
Biden also didn't mention that the Bagram Air Base that was turned over was the only in the region, said Waltz.
"It's sandwiched between China, Russia, and Iran, so when we look at great power competition, why would we just give that away?" he said.
Waltz added he was glad to hear Biden mention Mark Frerichs, the commercial contractor and Navy veteran the Taliban has been holding for a year, but he questions why the United States can't "at least get him back" as part of the deal to leave Afghanistan.
"We gave the Taliban everything they wanted, and we couldn't get at least one American hostage out of there?" said Waltz. "The family is just beside themselves."
Note: See Newsmax TV now carried in more than 100 million U.S. homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Frontier Ch. 115, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, Mediacom Ch. 277, AT&T TV Ch 349, FUBO and major OTT platforms like Roku, YouTube, Xumo, Pluto and most smart TV’s including Samsung+, Sony, LG, Vizio and more – Find All Systems that Carry Newsmax – Click Here