President Joe Biden is under fire for a botched approach to Afghanistan withdrawal, as the Taliban continues to dominate. Republican Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) put the spotlight on a particular failure by the president: the abandonment of Afghan women. With the Taliban’s ousting nearly 20 years ago, Afghan women have been afforded more rights, particularly in education, as Ernst noted.
“This has been a bright spot over the 20 years where we have now seen women and younger girls going to school, becoming educated, being accepted into community, in leadership positions. And unfortunately now, we have handed the country over to the Taliban, we know that there are going to be tremendous civil rights abuses. There will be violations against these women and girls. So it is very, very important that we are getting these women’s advocates out of the country. They are being targeted by the Taliban,” Ernst told Fox News on Monday. “And yes, I am so distraught over what will happen, not just to the general population of Afghanistan, but especially to the women and girls because we know what the Taliban does to those who have been educated, to those who have authority in their communities....All of this falls on President Joe Biden’s shoulders. It is extremely shameful, the haphazard withdrawal that we have gone through over the course of the last few months, leaving these women and girls behind in Afghanistan and at the mercy of the Taliban."
Afghan women and girls are being left at the mercy of the Taliban under @POTUS Biden’s haphazard withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/ShNofj7zmY
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) August 16, 2021
President Biden is set to address the nation on Monday afternoon.
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