Rep. Calvert: President Biden Lied to the American People on Afghanistan

Press Release

Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42), the lead Republican on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement in response to testimony offered by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, United States Central Command Commander General Kenneth McKenzie during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Afghanistan:

"It's crystal clear from the sworn testimony offered today by our national security leaders that President Biden lied to and misled the American people about the lead up to our disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. The President has the right to make whatever national security decisions he wants. However, when the President lies to the American people and our troops about those decisions, he brings dishonor to the office and endangers the trust that holds our republic together.

We ask the men and women who serve in our military to put themselves in harms way and make tremendous sacrifices. The families of our fallen heroes, like the Nikoui family in my district, at the very least deserve honesty from the Commander-in-Chief. Anything less is a despicable act of cowardice."

Background:

In an interview on August 18, 2021 with ABC News correspondent George Stephanopoulos, President Biden stated that none of his military advisors recommended keeping 2,500 troops in Afghanistan to maintain stability.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no one told -- your military advisors did not tell you, "No, we should just keep 2,500 troops. It's been a stable situation for the last several years. We can do that. We can continue to do that"?

BIDEN: No. No one said that to me that I can recall.

During today's hearing General McKenzie testified that he, as well as General Scott Miller, recommended to President Biden that the U.S. keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

In the same interview, President Biden said that no one anticipated a rapid collapse of the Afghanistan government.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you didn't put a timeline on it when you said it was highly unlikely. You just said flat out, "It's highly unlikely the Taliban would take over."

BIDEN: Yeah. Well, the question was whether or not it w-- the idea that the Taliban would take over was premised on the notion that the -- that somehow, the 300,000 troops we had trained and equipped was gonna just collapse, they were gonna give up. I don't think anybody anticipated that.

During today's hearing General McKenzie testified that he told President Biden that he believed if 2,500 troops were not left in Afghanistan the government and Afghan military would rapidly collapse.

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