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[Page S2660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AFGHANISTAN
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, make no mistake, the foreign actors
who seek to harm the United States have not let up while we have
attended to other problems. For example, in Afghanistan, despite
agreeing just months ago to engage in further peace negotiations with
the Afghan Government and sever its ties with al-Qaida, the Taliban
has, instead, continued its violent campaign against the Afghan people.
President Trump has expressed frustration with the Taliban's failures
and is reportedly considering withdrawing from Afghanistan even more
rapidly. Yet, as we weigh our options, we must not forget the painful
lessons of the last administration's mistakes.
Former President Obama and Vice President Biden were intent on
beating a hasty retreat from Iraq, conditions on the ground
notwithstanding. Just as many of us warned at the time, their
recklessness left a vacuum that terrorists and Iran readily filled.
ISIS flourished. Tragically, the rest is history. The resulting chaos
threatened our interests and drew American efforts back into the
region.
By contrast, the Trump administration has seen a number of successes
in this difficult region. The President's strategy has secured a
territorial defeat of ISIS. It has put new pressure on Iran and given
the Iraqi people a fighting chance, which their new government seems
inclined to take.
Yet helping Iraq stand up to Iranian influence will not be an
overnight project. Iran wants to drive the United States from the
region. China and Russia would also be thrilled with a reduction of
American presence and influence there. So, as we struggle to clean up
the broken pieces of one rushed withdrawal, we need to avoid repeating
those mistakes somewhere else.
I applaud the Trump administration for its approach thus far in
Afghanistan. The President has taken constraints off U.S. forces. We
have helped Afghan forces go after the terrorists. We have ratcheted up
the costs on the Taliban, bolstered the Afghan forces that bear the
brunt of the violence, and won international support for our mission
there. We have done all of this with fewer resources and fewer
personnel than during the previous two administrations. The President's
strategy and diplomacy have helped create a path for discussions among
Afghans--the only thing that could actually secure the country's
future.
If these qualified successes continue, it would be appropriate to
further reduce our American presence as certain conditions are met, but
we must retain enough forces and influence to maintain our
counterterrorism capabilities. Given recent reports and our
longstanding experience, we cannot just trust the Taliban will sever
ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist networks. We need to be vigilant.
We need to maintain enough presence to judge whether the Taliban
complies with agreements and help the Afghan Government impose
consequences if it does not. We need to maintain enough presence to
preserve our strategic foothold against ISIS, the Haqqani Network, and
al-Qaida. We should also maintain enough presence to help prevent a
full replay of Iraq or Syria--a bloodbath and a human rights collapse,
particularly for generations of Afghan women.
Last year, a bipartisan supermajority in the Senate voted for an
amendment I authored, which warned against precipitous withdrawals from
Afghanistan and Syria in ways that could jeopardize the hard-won
progress we have attained, embolden Iran and Russia, and create more
pain for us and everyone else in the future.
Our enemies would be thrilled if the United States would grow too
tired to continue the hard work of standing with our partners,
confronting our adversaries, and maintaining measured leadership that
projects our security around the world. Our enemies would be delighted
if we would grow too weary to act in our own long-term interest. We
must not give them that satisfaction.
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