Chairman Proto: Connecticut Congressional Delegation must hold Biden Accountable for Afghanistan Failure

CONNECTICUT – President Joe Biden’s failure in Afghanistan, that has led to a total Taliban takeover, raises the question: What is the Connecticut Congressional delegation doing about the crisis, if anything?  Connecticut’s Congressional Representatives: Rosa DeLauro, Joe Courtney, Jahana Hayes, John Larson, and Jim Himes, have been virtually silent on the collapse of Kabul, and refused to condemn Biden’s botched withdrawal, according to Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Ben Proto.

Our Congressional Representatives have failed us once again, letting down the voters who elected them to represent them in Washington,” said Proto. “The President’s failure in Afghanistan demands immediate action. It demands an investigation. Yet our Representatives in Congress refuse to hold the Biden administration accountable. President Biden and the Democrat’s failure to plan and execute a viable withdrawal has led to a humanitarian and national security catastrophe in Afghanistan. Meanwhile Connecticut Delegation is nowhere to be found.”

 Himes is a member of the Intelligence Committee while Courtney is a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, two essential bodies who analyze intelligence and provide critical information for United States military operations. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has seized United States military helicopters, Humvees, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), drones, and even “anti-aircraft guns, armored tanks, and artillery.”

“This abject failure in Afghanistan is the direct result of Joe Biden’s terrible foreign policy,” said Proto. “Representatives Himes, DeLauro, Hayes, Courtney, and Larson's refusals to strongly condemn the Presidents botched operation says it all. There are Americans trapped behind Taliban lines, and our Democrat leaders did nothing to prevent this crisis. Himes and Courtney are particularly responsible as leaders on intelligence committees-they knew what was happening and did nothing.”

As the situation in Afghanistan rapidly deteriorated, Joe Biden was on ensconced at  Camp David. The ongoing situation is truly shocking as the Biden administration cannot even account for how many Americans are still on the ground, how they will bring them home, or guarantee their safety.

Background

All three of Obama’s CIA directors have criticized Biden’s handling of Afghanistan.

·         Obama CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta compared Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal to the Bay of Pigs, saying that “mistakes” were made.

·         Obama CIA Director David Petraeus: “The situation is absolutely heartbreaking. It is tragic . . . This is a Dunkirk moment or, perhaps, a Saigon moment.”

·         Obama CIA Director John Brennan said that the Biden administration was “caught off guard” in Afghanistan and that things have clearly unraveled. 

·         Obama Acting CIA Director Michael Morell said the Taliban “knew it was going to win” when “the clock started in April when the president made the decision,” and “to blame intelligence now infuriates me, absolutely infuriates me.”

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