Marco Rubio Says U.S. Has 'Donated an Air Force to the Taliban'
By: Darragh Roche (MSN)
Ill thought out bullshit.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Senator Marco Rubio has argued that United States has in effect "donated" the Taliban an air force after troops were withdrawal from Afghanistan.
© Twitter Photos purported to show Taliban with seized U.S. military A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft and MD-530F light military helicopter at the Mazer-i-Sharif airport.
The Florida Republican spoke to Fox News' Hannity on Tuesday about President Joe Biden's handling of the troop drawdown and specifically highlighted Taliban fighters capturing U.S. military equipment, including aircraft.
The Taliban has been posted photos and videos to social media in recent days showing captured equipment. It is not definitively known how much U.S. equipment it has.
As of June 30, U.S. aircraft in Afghanistan included 23 A-29 ground attack aircraft, 45 Black Hawk helicopters and 50 MD-530 helicopters in Afghanistan, according to a July report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.
Rubio told Hannity: "When history looks back on this moment, and it's going to look back at this moment - this is going to be a big deal for decades - but this is going to be covered as one of the worst catastrophes in American foreign policy history for two reasons."
"Number one is [...] the failure of this administration to anticipate what they should have known - what the red lights were flashing the whole time - that the Taliban was moving faster than they were talking, and the whole time they were oblivious to it, it seems," Rubio said.
"And then, the botching of this evacuation, this entire process," the senator went on.
"This is the way the process should have worked, OK? What Joe Biden should have said is, 'We have these people and we have this equipment, and we're going to get it out of Afghanistan, and we'll leave once we have all that stuff, and anyone that gets in the way - including the Taliban - who tries to stop us, you will die if you get in our way.' Not August 31, not September 1, not August 29 - not a date. A goal."
"The goal is we're going to get out Americans, we're going to get out the people that work for us, and we're not going to leave the Taliban an air force. We just donated an air force to the Taliban," Rubio said.
In addition to aircraft, the Taliban is believed to control 2,000 armored vehicles, including U.S. Humvees as well as handheld weapons such as machine guns, mortars and small arms.
President Biden has rejected calls for troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the August 31 deadline for a final withdrawal despite calls from U.S. allies to extend the deadline amid ongoing evacuations.
He has said that remaining in Kabul after August 31 risked attacks from ISIS-K, an Afghanistan-based affiliate of terrorist group ISIS.
"Every day we're on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both U.S. and allied forces and innocent civilians," Biden said on Tuesday.
Newsweek has asked Senator Marco Rubio for comment.
© Paul Morigi/Getty Images Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and members of Congress hold a news conference on the benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits at the VFW Building on April 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. Rubio has said the U.S. has "donated" an air force to the Taliban amid the troop withdrawal. Paul Morigi/Getty Images
Related Articles
- 84 Percent of Americans Want to Let Afghan Military Translators Into U.S.
- Putin Criticizes U.S. Leaving Afghanistan, Says Fallout May Present Problems for Russia
- U.S. Allies Fail to Convince Biden to Extend Afghanistan Deadline During G7 Meeting
- AG Garland Must Investigate Afghan President, GOP Members of House Oversight Committee Say
Tags
Who is online
128 visitors
And I am sure China will help them figure out how to operate them if they don't already know.
Well of course their soon to be good buds and friendly neighbors the Chinese will do that. The CCP has already said they will recognize the Taliban government and wants to be on friendly terms. What the CCP Does not say is that they are just itching to exploit Afghanistan's mineral wealth, especially it's rare earth minerals that China needs for it's computers and military hardware. Just wonder how long it will take the Taliban to realize they've been had by the CCP?
So long as the mineral development money comes in, and the Chinese train their new military, I doubt the Taliban will believe they have been "had".
Still not a forgone conclusion that the Taliban will ever be able to fully take the country. I am willing to bet a lot of the US weapons (and those Afghan forces that were competent and had brains) made their way into Warlord strongholds; who were fighting the Taliban to a standstill for years before we entered Afghanistan.
The Chinese might have just a hard of time mining for those minerals as they did when the Afghan government was in place.
To rub salt into the wounds they will more than likely use the weapons to kill Americans.
If they were smart the Taliban would take each and every last US Citizen they found hostage; and demand 1 million each for their safe release. If they take anyone prominent, then add as a high of multiplier as they can. That is assuming they can get all of the various clans that make up the Taliban to agree that keeping them alive is more important than satisfying their revenge and bloodlust.
Something tells me Joe will be more than willing to pay; as it will be far cheaper, and less risky, than any type of military operation. He has already proven he doesn't give a shit about his own image or that of the US on the world stage.
And the Taliban thanks US taxpayers ....... nice job Joe!