South
Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has warned that President Joe Biden has “set
the conditions for another 9/11” after the withdrawal of troops from
Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the country.
Graham is
of the opinion that the best way to avoid the terror threats that have crept up
was not withdrawing troops from the war-torn country at all, while adding that
working with indigenous forces is “the best insurance policy against
another 9/11.”
The
Republican was speaking on CBS News’s Face the Nation.
“The
parade of horribles is about to unfold. The chance of another 9/11 just went
through the roof,” Graham said.
The senator
also attacked Biden’s airstrike policy in the aftermath of the Kabul airport
bombing, saying that drone attacks will not degrade ISIS.
He said
that future US presidents will now have to deal with the aftermath of the
Afghanistan exit and it is a dereliction of duty to leave Americans
“behind enemy lines.”
“This
war has not ended. We have entered into a new deadly chapter. Terrorists are
now in charge of Afghanistan,” the Republican Senator said.
Graham
warned the Biden administration against recognising the Taliban as the
representatives of Afghanistan.
“I
would counsel the Biden administration, do not legitimize the Taliban, do not
recognize them. Because if you do, you’re going to put Americans at risk all
over the world,” he said.
US
officials said that a drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide
bombers” from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate on Sunday before they could
attack the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul’s international airport.
The strike
came just two days before the US is set to conclude a massive two-week-long
airlift of more than 114,000 Afghans and foreigners and withdraw the last of
its troops, ending America’s longest war with the Taliban back in power.
President
Biden had vowed to keep up the airstrikes, saying on Saturday that another
attack was “highly likely.” The State Department called the threat “specific”
and “credible.”
