PEORIA, Ill. — A pair of explosions outside the Kabul Airport on Thursday took the lives of 13 U.S. troops and left over a dozen others injured.
18th District Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-R), of Peoria, told WMBD’s “The Greg and Dan Show”, what the United States needs to be focused on right now is getting the remaining 1,500 to 2,000 Americans still in Afghanistan out quickly.
“Remember, we have five days left…because of the deadline, that’s the reality, and that’s what we need to focus on. On the political side, this has been a blow to America’s credibility around the world,” LaHood said.
President Joe Biden has said evacuations of Americans, and our allies, will continue through the August 30 deadline, when all foreign troops must be out of Afghanistan.
LaHood says the president’s handling of the chaos in Kabul shows a sign of weakness on the world stage. He adds, it could also be described humiliating, embarrassing, and disheartening.
“It seems to me, Greg and Dan, we have surrendered to the Taliban, and we’re now just negotiating the terms of the surrender,” LaHood said.
Once American troops are out of Afghanistan, LaHood said the U.S. should shift its focus to figuring out who was responsible, and what went wrong there.
Over the course of the 20 years the U.S. has been at war in Afghanistan, LaHood said 2,600 American men and women lost their lives.
LaHood adds, “We need to make sure there’s no more loss of life while our troops are still there.”
