Two unlikely forces are joining together to criticize Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton both are sounding the alarm over Biden’s plan.
According to Axios:
Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee they’re worried about President Biden’s plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, with Rice suggesting the U.S. may need to go back, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The position puts two former secretaries of State — from the Obama and Bush administrations — at odds with one of Biden’s most significant foreign policy moves to date.
–The new president has vowed to complete the withdrawal by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack. U.S. forces were sent to Afghanistan by Rice’s then-boss, former President George W. Bush, to destroy havens used by the attack’s organizers.
–Clinton and Rice offered their reactions during a members-only Zoom call Wednesday, two attendees told Axios.
Both Rice and Clinton supported the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Both agreed that it would be necessary to keep a counter-terrorism operation somewhere with Rice stating, “You know, we’re probably gonna have to go back.”
Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas) added, “With the potential for an Islamic State, coupled with what they’re going to do to our contractors in Yemen and Afghanistan is, sadly, it’s going to be tragic there and we all see it coming.”
Clinton has stated that she regretted her decision to give President Bush the authority to go to war.