Foreign Relations Democrat: We Have Been Losing the War in Afghanistan ‘for a Decade’
Al Qaeda threat is diminished, according to Sen Chris Murphy
Political opponents and critics have been condemning President Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan — after nearly 20 years in that country — as the hardline Taliban take control of more territory.
However, the situation in that country is more complex than critics portray, as the United States truly has been losing the war there for a decade, according to a Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The US military first invaded Afghanistan in 2002, along with NATO troops, in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Afghanistan — then under the rule of the fundamentalist Taliban — had been harboring the mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden and his group, al Qaeda.
Biden announced earlier this year that US troops would be withdrawing from what had become the United States’ longest armed conflict.
"Of course I worry about what’s going to happen in Afghanistan. But frankly, I have been worried about what’s been happening in Afghanistan for the last 10 years. We have been losing the war in Afghanistan to the Taliban,” said Sen Chris Murphy (D-Conn). “They have been increasing their control over territory for a decade. And the fact that Washington has been blind to that reality has caused us to expend billions of taxpayer dollars in an effort that isn’t accruing to the national security benefit of the country.
“So, you know, my constituents in Connecticut want us to bring our troops home. They don’t want a full withdrawal from Afghanistan. I think we need to be very much politically involved, diplomatically involved, and economically involved to help support the Afghan government but we no longer need to have a massive billion-dollar troop presence there putting our men and women at risk,” he added. “You know, the threat from al Qaeda in Afghanistan isn’t as real today as it was in 2001 and if we can make sure that al Qaeda doesn’t present a threat from Afghanistan without thousands of troops there, then we’re better off spending that money in other places.”
While Murphy said that he remains concerned about the future of Afghanistan, it's also true that the United States has been neglecting that conflict for some time.
“So, yes, I’m worried about the future in Afghanistan but I am very frustrated about the fact that many of my colleagues are relatively blind to the fact that things have been going badly there for a long time even with thousands of troops on the ground,” Murphy said.
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