Adam Kinzinger Insists 'Both GOP and Dems Failed' in Regard to Afghanistan
Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) has insisted that blame for the events in Afghanistan falls on both Democrats and Republicans as he criticized the handling of the situation.
Kinzinger, who flew missions in Afghanistan, has taken issue with the U.S. military withdrawal and leveled criticism at both President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump.
The decision to withdraw was made during Trump's tenure and has since been carried out by Biden.
In a statement released on Sunday, as Taliban insurgents moved into Kabul, Kinzinger said: "The Taliban has always said that America has the watches, but they have the time. Under both President Trump and President Biden, the U.S. announced that our time in Afghanistan is over, effectively letting the Taliban know they were right, they could simply outwait us. And today, we watched as the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban regained full control.
"This is the result of a shortsighted, weak, and utter failure of both the previous White House and the current Administration. The naïve Trump Administration legitimized the Taliban by having 'talks' with them about peace and openly negotiating with terrorists, while the Biden Administration tried to fulfill a campaign promise without any semblance of a plan or forethought into how this would play out. And where are they now? What are they doing to save the countless lives being brutally murdered by the Taliban today?
"This is a disaster, and a stain on the entire nation."
In further comments on Twitter, Kinzinger shared a photo of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served under President Trump, meeting with Taliban Head of the Political Office Mullah Baradar in September 2020.
Alongside this, he wrote: "Do not let my party pretent [sic] to be outraged by this. Both the GOP and Dems failed here. Time for Americans to put their country over their party." He also responded to Pompeo's comments on the situation, in which the former secretary of state
said: "The Taliban are butchers. We demanded a set of conditions and made clear the costs we would impose if they failed to deliver. They haven't. The deterrence we achieved held during our time. This administration has failed."
Kinzinger responded: "Sorry man. We told you this wouldn't work... you didn't listen."
In another tweet, Kinzinger responded to another user on the platform who said; "You can disagree with Rep. Kinzinger but he put his life on the line to serve in Afghanistan. It is not petty or small to criticize the current administration's mishandling of this situation just as he criticized the last administration too."
To this, he replied: "Yep. I have equally attacked Trump and Biden but the tribalism comes through on both ends of politics. Maybe we just be pro American first vs our party. Both parties have failed America."
Newsweek has contacted Kinzinger's office for further comment.
On Sunday, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani fled the country as the Taliban entered the nation's capital of Kabul.
The fall of the nation's government and military to the Taliban comes just weeks after President Biden said he did not think a Taliban takeover of the nation was inevitable after he announced an August 31 deadline for U.S. military withdrawal.
The Associated Press reports that a Taliban official said they will soon announce the renaming of the country to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
