Lindsey Graham's Prediction About Afghanistan Stuns Reporter

Leah Barkoukis | September 07, 2021 8:10 AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham stunned BBC reporter Stephen Sackur after making a prediction about the United States’ future involvement in Afghanistan.

“Whether you like Trump or not, whether you believe it’s Trump’s fault or Biden’s fault, here’s where we’re at as a world: The Taliban are not reformed, they’re not new,” Graham said about the situation in Afghanistan. “They have a view of the world out of sync with modern times."

The South Carolina Republican said life for the Afghan people is about to get so bad that it will make Americans “sick to our stomach.” Beyond that, under Taliban rule, the country will end up providing a “safe haven” for other terror groups, prompting U.S. action, he claimed.

“They’re going to give safe haven to al Qaeda, who has ambitions to drive us out of the Middle East writ large and attack us because of our way of life,” Graham told Sackur. “We will be going back into Afghanistan as we went back into Iraq and Syria."

Sackur was shocked by what Graham predicted.

“Hang on, you seriously think the United States will once again in the foreseeable future put troops back into Afghanistan?” Sackur asked.

“We’ll have to because the threat will be so large,” Graham claimed. “Why did we go back to Syria and Iraq? Why do we have 5,000 troops in Iraq today? Because of the caliphate rising, projecting force outside of Iraq. Killing Americans. Killing the French, attacking the British. So yes, it will be a cauldron for radical Islamic behavior. You cannot deal with this over the horizon.”