'I Trust His Judgment': Pelosi Defends Biden's Afghan Pullout, Slams GOP Lawmakers' Trip to Kabul
© REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
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Reps. Seth Moulton (R-MA) and Peter Meijer (R-MI) revealed earlier this week that they both made a secret trip to Kabul, Afghanistan, to allegedly conduct oversight of evacuation operations from Hamid Kazai International Airport. US President Joe Biden has said the US is on track to meet the August 31 deadline, despite GOP calls for an extension.
As the US commander-in-chief's foreign policy continues to be questioned, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reassured Capitol reporters on Wednesday that she trusts Biden's decision to not abandon the August 31 deadline for US troops to leave Afghanistan.
"The judgment about leaving is a judgment that the president has made, and he has to balance the equities of what is the threat to our military and the people at the airport versus the advantage of staying," the House Speaker said.
At the same time, many GOP lawmakers - and even some Democrats - "really want to encourage the president to stay longer, but he has to weigh the equities of the danger versus the advantage, and I trust his judgment," Pelosi added.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), a former US Army Ranger who served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, argued that the US simply does not possess the capability to evacuate all forces by August 31.
This⬇️.
— Rep. Jason Crow (@RepJasonCrow) August 24, 2021
Our troops are on the ground and putting everything on the line to serve those who served with us.
I'm forever and always #ArmyStrong #Airborne #RLTW https://t.co/e21i9hWDc7
Several GOP heavyweights, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have called on US President Joe Biden to abandon adherence to the August 31 withdrawal deadline for US forces. The Taliban* has expressed that the date is firm.
"Extend the deadline, get outside the perimeter, make sure that every single American who wants to leave is able to get out with our assistance and our Afghan allies," McConnell said during a Tuesday interview with Fox News. "The Taliban should not be allowed to tell us how long we are there to get our personnel out."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) renewed his calls for Biden's impeachment over the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
"I think Joe Biden deserves to be impeached because he’s abandoned thousands of Afghans who fought with us and he’s going to abandon some American citizens because he capitulated to the Taliban to a 31 August deadline," he said during a Tuesday Newsmax broadcast.
During her Wednesday address on Capitol Hill, the House Speaker pushed back against two GOP lawmakers who took their opposition to the pullout deadline to the next level and organized a secret trip to Kabul.
Pelosi on Reps. Seth Moulton and Peter Meijer going to Afghanistan: "This is deadly serious. We do not want members to go." pic.twitter.com/5khcfqMMv0
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 25, 2021
Reps. Moulton and Meijer argued in a joint letter that they did not take their journey to "grandstand," and did not make a major disruption because they took crew seats, rather than those reserved for evacuees.
"As veterans, we care deeply about the situation on the ground at Hamid Karzai International Airport. America has a moral obligation to our citizens and loyal allies, and we must make sure that obligation is being kept," they told The Hill. "Like many veterans, we have spent the last few weeks working without sleep to try to get as many people as we could through the gates and to safety."
Today with @RepMeijer I visited Kabul airport to conduct oversight on the evacuation.
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) August 25, 2021
Witnessing our young Marines and soldiers at the gates, navigating a confluence of humanity as raw and visceral as the world has ever seen, was indescribable. pic.twitter.com/bWGQh1iw2c
Per the US Department of State, over 82,000 individuals have been flown out of Kabul, Afghanistan, since August 14.
*The Taliban is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia.
