Pulling troops out of Afghanistan could result in another 9/11-type attack on the United States, Rep. Jim Banks warned Friday.
“We’re there to prevent another attack on American soil, like 9/11, and I’m more concerned than ever before that ISIS-K poses that type of threat," the Indiana Republican told CNN's "New Day."
Banks, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and who has served in the military in Afghanistan, said that when he went back in November, it was clear the threat was much more serious than has been seen in recent years.
"The rise of ISIS-K in Afghanistan poses a much more serious threat than what we’ve seen there in many years, maybe even since 9/11," he added, referring to a ISIS arm operating in the Khorasan province in Afghanistan.
"Now is not the time to pull back troops,” he said.
His arguments echoed those from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said Tuesday that ISIS-K would "dramatically benefit from a reduced American troop presence."
"Our Afghan partners are incapable of subduing the threat posed by ISIS-K alone," Graham said. "In addition, our intelligence capability and military might cannot be replaced by any other regional ally when it comes to subduing ISIS-K in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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