REP LIEU STATEMENT ON EVENTS IN AFGHANISTAN

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) issued the following statement:

"President Biden made the difficult but correct decision to complete the troop withdrawal process in Afghanistan that was initiated by the former President. If the United States could not win in Afghanistan after 20 years of war, we would not win if we stayed and fought for another 20 years.

"Making the right decision for the U.S.'s national interest does not ease the pain of watching Afghanistan – a country in which we have invested so much over the last two decades – deteriorate in a matter of days. My heart aches for the thousands of Afghans fleeing for their safety. The U.S. must do everything in its power to evacuate those who helped us, as well as those whose lives are now threatened under Taliban control. My office is working to support these efforts in every way we can, including by working with the administration over the last several weeks on establishing a P-2 program for Afghans who supported U.S. media.

"We honor the bravery and sacrifice of our military and civilian members who served in Afghanistan. Events in Afghanistan over the last few weeks are the result of two decades of policy failures across prior administrations. They raise serious questions about why the State Department and Pentagon in prior administrations gave inaccurate assessments about Afghanistan to Congress and the American people. We should also investigate why the Afghan military and police forces collapsed within a matter of days despite over $80 billion of our taxpayer funds spent by both Democratic and Republican administrations to build up the Afghan military and police forces."

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