Former Rep. Pete King thought 20 years ago that another 9/11 wouldn't happen again, but he told Newsmax Monday that Afghanistan is even stronger now, with a strengthened Taliban in control than it was back in 2001.
"I lost, it was 200 friends, neighbors, [and] our constituents on 9/11," the New York Republican, who was in office when the World Trade Centers' Twin Towers were hit and destroyed, said Monday on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now."
"It's so important that we stand together as a nation to destroy Islamist terrorism."
But Afghanistan is "stronger today than it was back on 9/11," said King, adding that nobody would have thought that would have happened when "we actually decimated the Taliban" and put them "underground."
President Joe Biden, with his actions, however, has put the Taliban in a position where they are even more powerful, even though the United States has more defense measures in place than it did in 2001, said King.
"We've lost a key intelligence outpost in Afghanistan as far as watching these terrorist groups they're gonna reassemble in Afghanistan, and in many ways, we can be back to where we were on Sept. 10 in 2001."
Rep. Andy Biggs, appearing on the program with King, pointed out that the Taliban, a terrorist organization, now has control of an entire country and "literally billions of dollars of airplanes, Humvees, armored personnel carriers, and artillery munitions" left behind by the U.S.
"You've emboldened them and weakened the United States' credibility at home and abroad," the Arizona Republican said.
King, meanwhile, said that if the United States isn't involved in a hostage situation with the Taliban refusing to allow planes holding Americans to take off, that's "only by luck."
"The president's put us in a position where right now the Taliban are holding all the cards," said King. "Listen, I hope all of the people get out and help our allies get out. The fact is, we're in a very precarious position right now...I fear for those Americans who are there. I also fear for the Afghan allies for their and again. I don't know all the details, but I'm not surprised by any of these reports. The Taliban's an evil, corrupt, terrorist organization."
Bachman also noted that officials are looking into reports about older Afghan men coming into the United States as refugees with young girls they say are their brides, but Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said this weekend that there is a "robust screening and vetting process" for the refugees.
"The secretary is not telling the full truth," said Biggs. "In my opinion, the vetting is woefully inadequate. I mean, I've actually had some folks contact my office about the vetting. It's weak. The reality is, you're seeing, uh, polygamist families come in. You're seeing child brides come in, and this is consistent with the failure to vet [migrants coming] across our southern borders...Secretary Mayorkas is not really playing honest and truthful with the American people.
Biggs said the situation is all because of a failure of leadership on Biden's part.
"He's been incapable of communicating in any event. So for me, I look at this and I say this is consistent with all the failures of the Biden administration," said Biggs. "There is an absolute vacuum at the top of American government today and it's Joe Biden, who's basically left his post. Those Americans in Afghanistan, the allied interpreters who are trying to get out, they've been abandoned by President Biden, and [he] doesn't want to own that. That's a failure of leadership as well."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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