A top Senate Democrat signaled that in light of explosion attacks in Kabul that killed at least 11 U.S. Marines and a Navy medic, patience with President Joe Biden’s Afghanistan evacuation strategy is wearing thin.
“As we wait for more details to come in, one thing is clear: We can’t trust the Taliban with Americans’ security,” New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement on Thursday.
11 MARINES, NAVY MEDIC AMONG DEAD AS KABUL CASUALTIES CLIMB
Though he did not name the president directly, the statement was an apparent swipe at the Biden administration for working with the Taliban to secure passage through Taliban-controlled areas.
“This is a full-fledged humanitarian crisis, and the U.S. government personnel, already working under extreme circumstances, must secure the airport and complete the massive evacuation of American citizens and vulnerable Afghans desperately trying to leave the country,” Menendez said.
Asked Sunday on whether he trusts the Taliban, Biden told reporters: “I don’t trust anybody.”
“So far, the Taliban has not taken action against U.S. forces. So far, they have, by and large, followed through what they said, in terms of allowing Americans to pass through, and the like,” Biden said. “We’ll see whether or not what they say turns out to be true.”
Other top congressional Democrats have not gone as far as Menendez. Most have simply called for stability, offered prayers, or stated that they are monitoring the situation.
“We must do everything we can to stabilize the situation outside the airport so that we can resume evacuations of American citizens, SIVs [Special Immigrant Visa applicants], and the Afghans most in danger as soon as possible,” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.
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Republicans have been much harsher in criticizing Biden, with No. 3 House Republican Elise Stefanik of New York saying there is “blood on his hands.”
Menendez and Warner, as well as Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed of Rhode Island, have said that their committees will investigate the “flawed execution” of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and why the United States was not “better prepared for a worst-case scenario involving such a swift and total collapse of the Afghan government and security forces.”
