House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has called for an investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of the crisis in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has regained control after U.S. troops were pulled out.
McCarthy told Punchbowl News on Sunday that Biden's decision to remove thousands of U.S. troops from Afghanistan was a "mistake that will haunt us for decades."
McCarthy said it was wrong for Biden to have set Sept. 11 as a target date for troops to be out of the region, and added the president erred by removing troops "during the summer, when [the Taliban is] at their height."
The minority leader said investigations should look into what the U.S. and allied intelligence community knew in the weeks and months leading up to the fall of the Afghan government, The Hill reported.
Taliban insurgents made their way into the capital city of Kabul on Sunday and seized control. Many people, including Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, fled in the days before fearing for their lives.
Former President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Biden to "resign in disgrace" over the rapid collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government following the pullout of American troops.
Biden on Saturday authorized an additional 1,000 U.S. troops for deployment to Afghanistan, raising to roughly 5,000 the number of troops to assist with evacuating U.S. personnel.
"Over our country's 20 years at war in Afghanistan, America has sent its finest young men and women, invested nearly $1 trillion dollars, trained over 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, equipped them with state-of-the-art military equipment, and maintained their air force as part of the longest war in U.S. history," Biden said Saturday.
"One more year, or five more years, of U.S. military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country. And an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me."
Biden and his staff have tried to blame Trump for the collapse of the Afghan government and leaving the Taliban "in the strongest position militarily since 2001," The Hill reported.
Politico said an irate McCarthy reportedly spoke out during a Sunday briefing with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley.
"I have passion and I have anger. I want to know where President [Ashraf] Ghani is," McCarthy said, two people listening to the call told Politico.
McCarthy told Punchbowl, "How does the rest of the world look at us? They like that the president doesn't tweet, but they don't think America is very tough."
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