August marks the one-year anniversary of the Biden administration's botched withdrawal from the United States' 20-year war in Afghanistan. Despite intelligence reports warning about how quickly the Taliban could take over Kabul, the administration was still caught off guard, throwing together a haphazard evacuation plan when it was already too late.
The debacle was marked by images of Afghanis clinging to departing U.S. planes, falling to their deaths, the airport terror attack that left 13 U.S. service members and scores of Afghanis dead, and thousands of legal permanent U.S. residents stuck in the country months afterward with no way out.
At the time, Republican veteran lawmakers who served in the country spoke out to the Republican National Committee about the disaster. Now, one year later, Rep. Tony Gonzales, Navy Master Chief Petty Officer (Ret.); Rep. Michael Waltz, Green Beret (Ret.) and Army National Guard Colonel; Rep. Brian Mast, Army Staff Sergeant (Ret.), Rep. Ronny Jackson, Navy Rear Admiral (Ret.), and Rep. Jake Ellzey, Navy Commander (Ret.) reflect on what's happened since the withdrawal, vow accountability, and remember the patriots who honorably served and sacrificed for their country.
"[Republicans] will lead the charge in making sure that Americans know that that freedom, that safety, that security, it came with the sacrifice. And for those that made that sacrifice, they will be taken care of, they will not be forgotten, and their sacrifices will not be in vain," promised Mast, who called the withdrawal "the most effed up military operation" he's ever witnessed.
"You can have the strongest, most forceful, most well-equipped military in the world, but if you have a weak Commander in Chief that our enemies don't respect and fear, it's all for naught," said Waltz. "As long as I have a breath in Congress, we are going to get to the bottom of what happened and there will be accountability."
Last year 5 veterans @JakeEllzey, @TonyGonzales4TX, @BrianMastFL, @michaelgwaltz & @RonnyJacksonTX sat down in the midst of Joe Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal to discuss his failure.
— GOP (@GOP) August 24, 2022
One year later, they have the same message to every veteran – your sacrifice was Not In Vain. pic.twitter.com/Cve5quYrlY