Iraq War veteran Paul Rieckhoff ripped joe-biden” target=”_blank”>President Biden< because of what it could mean for the heroes on the ground.
Biden aims to have troops home by the end of August, but Rieckhoff is among those concerned for the thousands of Afghans who helped the U.S. military as translators, drivers and in other capacities who now fear they will be targeted by the terrorism” target=”_blank”>Taliban<
“There is precedent to move people to American territories like Guam,” he continued. “And let’s break this down on a more simple level. This is the United States. We just put a robot on Mars. And the White House is telling us that they can’t get our friends out of Afghanistan? It’s too many excuses, it’s not enough details. and the reality is it’s an evolving situation where heroes, people who stood alongside me and countless others in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and around the Middle East, who are dying.”
Rieckhoff said he was personally concerned about one of his former interpreters because he doesn’t know his fate.
“One of my interpreters is still in Iraq or might be dead. I don’t know what happened to him,” he said. “That’s happening now across Afghanistan and to families throughout the military and the active duty that are very concerned about these heroic people that have stood with America and are being left to die.”
MSNBC correspondent Courtney Kube admitted in the same segment that it was only “kind of true” for Biden to say that Afghan security forces will be able to hold off the Taliban. In some cases, Kube noted, forces are laying down weapons. So the idea that they can actually defend more than the capitals is “really disputed with some defense officials I’m speaking with,” she noted.
Biden has previously told Fox News that interpreters would be welcome in the U.S., but because of congressional law, Afghan translators can’t be evacuated to the U.S. to await their visa processing.
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Biden defended his foreign policy decision, saying it was “the responsibility of the Afghan people alone” of how they want to run their country.
As troops continue to withdraw, defense press secretary John Kirby admitted that the Taliban’s advance was “concerning.”
“What we have seen is a deteriorating security situation on the ground — no question about that — that the Taliban continues to take district centers,” Kirby said on CNN Friday. “We are seeing them continue to advance on district centers around the country, and it is concerning.”
When pressed by CNN, Kirby could not “validate” the Taliban’s claim that it now controls 85% of Afghan territory, only noting that “claiming territory or claiming ground doesn’t mean you can sustain that or keep it over time.”
