Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) on Tuesday argued that President Joe Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal laid the foundation for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.
The Ukraine-Russia conflict has reached a boiling point amid weeks of increasing tensions. In an address to Russian citizens, Putin recognized the “independence” of two regions in Ukraine. Following the speech, he ordered troops into the regions to keep “peace.”
“The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and other foreign policy debacles gave Vladimir Putin the green light to invade Ukraine’s Donbas region. In response, President Biden is predictably continuing to project weakness by imposing ineffective financial sanctions against Russian oligarchs and minor banks. The Biden administration should instead hit Russia’s economy where it actually hurts by reversing its woke fossil fuels agenda and becoming an energy exporter to European markets,” Burchett said in a statement.
Because of the botched effort, Putin and other world leaders witnessed a sign of weakness from the United States, the congressman explained.
During the withdrawal attempts, several members of the U.S. military were killed in a terrorist attack near the air base that conducted evacuation operations. Additionally, a shocking video showed Afghans attempting to hold on to an Air Force plane, in a move of desperation, as it attempted to take off.
Recently, on the six-month anniversary of the fall of Kabul, Burchett urged congressional colleagues to continue oversight of the matter.
“President Biden’s failed leadership left hundreds of Americans stranded in a hostile country, handed over advanced military hardware to terrorists, and weakened the United States’ global reputation. Along with my House Foreign Affairs Committee colleagues, I will keep demanding explanations from Biden administration bureaucrats about how many Americans are still unaccounted for in Afghanistan and why the withdrawal went so wrong,” he said.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Tim Burchett” by Tim Burchett. Background Photo “Russian Troops” by Marko Vucicevic. CC BY-SA 2.0.
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