LaMalfa: Biden Failures in Afghanistan Unconscionable

Statement

Congressman Doug LaMalfa issued the following statement after the Presidential press conference yesterday where the Administration misled the public regarding the facts on the ground and the situation American Citizens are facing trying to evacuate Afghanistan.

Rep. LaMalfa said, "From reviewing diplomatic and military advice to the President and Vice President it is clear they were warned that the Taliban may sweep quickly into power. The State Department recommended removing citizens and special visa recipients beginning August 1. It is unfathomable that the President chose to abandon American Citizens, advising them that we won't help them escape unless they can make it on their own, through hostile forces, to the Airport. Our European partners are safely collecting their citizens across the country, including dispatching helicopters to pick them up. Yet, Americans are being asked to either "shelter in place" or try to sneak their way to the airport. Many Americans are reportedly being beaten at Taliban checkpoints and cannot reach the Kabul Airport.

It is a slap in the face to our military, those wounded there and those whose lives are lost, to have politicians in Washington so badly screw this up. Our military did everything that was asked of them, and more. They sacrificed and now this Administration has abandoned everything they fought for.

I am calling on this Administration to snap out of this trance it is in and focus solely, like any leader who has sworn the oath to protect our country first, on getting our American citizens safely out of Afghanistan, wherever they are, now. Previously, Congress worked with the Trump State department to rescue Americans stranded around the world during the beginning of the Corona pandemic soon after it was released from Wuhan labs. It is imperative that we rescue our people from this country where our major military presence the last 20 years had provided a level of stability that made a safe extraction possible. This ill-advised poorly planned withdrawal has wreaked decades long damage for our international standing, the people of Afghanistan, and even now arming the Taliban with billions in our war equipment. The very least on any American leaders agenda would be to safely extract our people by all means necessary."

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California's First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.

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