Sasse says fall of Afghanistan government worse than Saigon

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Monday called the fall of the Afghan government “worse than Saigon” in a statement blasting President Biden.

“While President Joe Biden cowers at Camp David, the Taliban are humiliating America. The retreat from Afghanistan is our worst foreign-policy disaster in a generation. As the Taliban marches into Kabul, they’re murdering civilians, reimposing their vicious Islamist law, and preparing to turn Afghanistan back into a bandit regime,” Sasse said.

The Nebraska Republican said the Biden administration failed to protect the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan and is “turning their backs on the women and children who are desperate for space on the remaining flights out of hell.”

Sasse also took issue with the low number of Afghan aides who helped U.S. forces who have been approved for visas.

“This bloodshed wasn’t just predictable, it was predicted. For months, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee have warned the Biden administration that this would happen. Now the administration is acting like this is a surprise. It’s shameful, dishonest spin,” he said.

“Make no mistake: The Taliban will exploit every image of American retreat,” Sasse added. “Pictures of desperate Afghans perilously crowded around the unguarded airport in Kabul are painfully reminiscent of images of Saigon — images that cemented communist victory in Vietnam and showed American weakness to the world.”

On Sunday, after the Taliban entered Kabul and the fall of Afghanistan’s government was imminent, Sasse released a statement blaming both the Biden and Trump administrations, saying they “deliberately decided to lose.”

Numerous GOP lawmakers have condemned Biden’s policy in Afghanistan and blamed him for the ultimate fall of its government. Biden administration officials, however, have argued that the fall of Kabul was inevitable and no amount of action could have prevented it from occurring, maintaining that the 20 years the U.S. spent in Afghanistan had to come to an end.