‘I could not disagree more’: Graham slams Trump’s support of Biden’s proposed U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

April 19, 2021

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said Monday that he disagrees with former President Trump’s support of President Biden’s proposal to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

Trump said Biden’s decision was ‘wonderful’ and ‘positive.’ The former president, however, disagreed with withdrawing the troops on September 11, as proposed by the administration. Instead, he urged an even faster withdrawal on a different day, suggesting September 11 must remain a date to remember the victims of the tragic attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda.

Trump said withdrawing from Afghanistan is “a wonderful and positive thing to do.” Originally, Trump had set a May 1 withdrawal deadline if he was to remain in office.

“With all due respect to former President Trump, there is nothing ‘wonderful’ or ‘positive’ about allowing safe havens and sanctuary for terrorists to reemerge in Afghanistan or see Afghanistan be drawn back into another civil war.

Sen. Lindsey Graham

Moreover, He suggested the Biden Administration “should keep as close to that schedule as possible.”

“I wish Joe Biden wouldn’t use September 11 as the date to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan, for two reasons. First, we can and should get out earlier. Nineteen years is enough, in fact, far too much and way too long,” Trump said.

“September 11 represents a very sad event and period for our Country and should remain a day of reflection and remembrance honoring those great souls we lost,” he added.

However, Graham, a strong supporter of Trump, says he is in absolute disagreement with him.

Squad of Three Fully Equipped and Armed Soldiers Standing on Hill in Desert Environment in Sunset Light.

“I could not disagree more with former President Trump regarding his support for President Biden’s withdrawal of all forces from Afghanistan against sound military advice,” Graham said. “With all due respect to former President Trump, there is nothing ‘wonderful’ or ‘positive’ about allowing safe havens and sanctuary for terrorists to reemerge in Afghanistan or see Afghanistan be drawn back into another civil war.

Graham noted that senior military and intelligence officials are arguing against complete withdrawal. He stated that a “capable residual counter-terrorism force be left in Afghanistan.”

Further, he said keeping these forces “act as an insurance policy to prevent the rise of ISIS and al-Qaeda, which threaten the American homeland, as well as to prevent another Afghan civil war. The intelligence regarding withdrawal is ominous for U.S. interests and no one believes the Taliban can be trusted to police al-Qaeda and ISIS as envisioned by the Biden-Trump plan.”