House Democrat who served in Iraq: Afghanistan’s fall a disaster, avoidable

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a former Marine who served in Iraq, called the fall of Afghanistan a “disaster” that was “avoidable.” 

“To say that today is anything short of a disaster would be dishonest. Worse, it was avoidable. The time to debate whether we stay in Afghanistan has passed, but there is still time to debate how we manage our retreat,” Moulton said in a statement on Sunday.

“For months, I have been calling on the Administration to evacuate our allies immediately—not to wait for paperwork, for shaky agreements with third countries, or for time to make it look more ‘orderly.’ ”

Moulton also said that former President Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo created the situation in Afghanistan with their deal with the Taliban in 2020 in order to fill a “campaign promise.” 

He added that the results should serve as a “wakeup” call to Congress, adding that the “initial mission” in Afghanistan was accomplished. 

“Osama Bin Laden is dead and the threat of terrorist attacks against Americans originating from Afghanistan is diminished. We also provided the security needed to accomplish a peace process that, unfortunately, was never realized,” he said.

Moulton’s remarks come as the government of Afghanistan fell on Sunday after Taliban fighters entered the capital of Kabul.