Afghanistan Withdrawal

Floor Speech

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Mr. BACON. Madam Speaker, I agree with the comments of many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle expressing grave concern over the President's decision to establish a date certain for the withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from Afghanistan. I believe this decision is deeply misguided, and it is damaging to the long-term national security interests of the United States and our allies.

The strawman argument of ending forever wars might be a convenient campaign slogan, but it is strategically naive and deeply offensive to those who have volunteered to fight to ensure that the very organization which attacked us on September 11, 2001, is incapable of ever doing it again.

This is their job. It is a job that I did on four deployments. It is our sworn duty. It is their sworn duty. They are proud to do it, and we honor them for it.

The truth is our force levels in Afghanistan are a fraction of what they once were, and have been steadily decreasing for years. Maintaining a small residual force is not an unaffordable or unsustainable burden. More than any other deployment in the world, the U.S. and NATO presence in Afghanistan delivers tangible strategic benefits to the U.S. at a relatively small and ever-decreasing cost, not to mention the immense humanitarian benefit to the people of Afghanistan itself, especially the women and the girls.

The recent violence committed by the armed forces in Afghanistan only proves that the Taliban, al-Qaida, and ISIS-K clearly see this announcement as a full-fledged capitulation, and it reveals their true nature as untrustworthy and savage.

A military withdrawal must always be based on conditions, not a calendar. By establishing a specific date, we are simply surrendering the hard-fought leverage we have gained over two decades, and we are inviting the Taliban to embark on a vicious reign of terror against the Afghanistan people.

Furthermore, as a military man, I am utterly dismayed that we did not take the necessary steps to secure and prepare standoff basing in the region to project power when needed to conduct counterterrorism operations and to support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces before announcing the withdrawal.

We put the cart before the horse. We now have a moral obligation to ensure that the Afghan security forces can continue functioning with the proper military and financial support to keep the Taliban from once again plunging Afghanistan into darkness.

Finally, and most urgently, we must honor our promises and keep faith with our partners and allies. Our values must remain the foundation of our foreign policy. If our partners and allies lose faith in our ability to back them up, we willingly cede the field to an enemy who seeks our destruction.

It is now, unfortunately, a moral imperative to find a way to expedite the safe passage of the very people who stood by us for nearly two decades. They have been loyal to our shared vision and have sacrificed so much to the pursuit of democracy. Their safety must be an absolute priority for this administration.

So far, we have not observed sufficient urgency in developing an interagency plan to do this and in requesting the necessary resources and authorities from Congress. If we don't do this, the Afghans who helped our military will be hunted down and murdered by the Taliban.

We must ask ourselves: Did we learn anything from our clumsy withdrawal from Iraq in 2011?

The only thing more expensive than maintaining a moderate level of stability in a country like Afghanistan is the bloodshed and cost we will bear if we are forced to return.

This is not an academic, hypothetical consideration, nor is it a partisan issue. Like many others on this side of the aisle, I repeatedly and publicly expressed my deep concerns over President Trump's impulse for a hasty withdrawal.

The Taliban is still allied with al-Qaida. If the Taliban prevails after our withdrawal, it is very likely that al-Qaida will once again have a safe haven to conduct terrorism, and this is the very reason we invaded Afghanistan in the first place.

Fortunately, pushback from Congress and the previous administration slowed the withdrawal process while retaining negotiating leverage and key counterterrorism capabilities. Unfortunately, from my vantage point, this latest decision has abandoned any semblance of strategy. It is a retreat.

This hasty withdrawal is a tragic mistake, and we are going to regret it. I urge the President to change course before it is too late.

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