Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the safety of the United States and its allies has been severely undermined by the botched and hasty removal of American soldiers from Afghanistan one year ago.
“We are more likely to be attacked like New York City was 20-some years ago. We’re more likely to be attacked from [Afghanistan] today than we were just one year ago,” Pompeo told John Catsimatidis on Sunday.
The “debacle,” observed globally, emboldened U.S. enemies, he said. While Pompeo touched on this during the interview, he went more in-depth during an opinion piece posted by Fox News this morning.
“Team Biden’s debacle in Afghanistan heralded the arrival of American weakness,” Pompeo wrote.
This weakness, Pompeo said, emboldened Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine, China to threaten Taiwan, and Iran to put bounties on Americans.
“Less powerful dictators, too, have gotten in on the action. Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro is hosting military groups from China, Russia, and Iran for joint military drills, in a clear challenge to the U.S. in our hemisphere. The world’s bad guys today feel ‘free to move about the cabin,’ and this started with Joe Biden’s incompetence and weakness in Afghanistan one year ago,” Pompeo stated.
1 year ago today, 13 American service members needlessly lost their lives in a terrorist attack at the Kabul Airport. Each one of them was a hero. Their service will not be forgotten.
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) August 26, 2022
Pompeo’s words paint a stark comparison. A little over a year ago, there were no fears of nuclear fallout or escalating an invasion into a world war. Now, China and Russia have planned joint war exercises amid rising tensions with Western nations over recent Taiwan visits by U.S. lawmakers.
At the time of the Afghanistan withdrawal, military leaders warned that Afghanistan would turn into a “breeding ground for terrorism once again” according to an FISM report.
Afghanis themselves, particularly women, expressed fears of human rights violations under the brutal regime that once ruled the country through fear and violence.
In the year since, those fears all appear to be coming true.
Just days after the Taliban takeover following American troop withdrawal, Chinese officials bragged about having a “friendly and cooperative relationship” with the regime. It was also noted that Russia’s embassy flag remained in flight alongside China’s embassy while the U.S. flag was taken down.
Now both countries are involved in escalating global tensions.
In addition to American citizens left behind in the country, refugee advocates estimate tens of thousands of Afghans are still vulnerable to retaliation for their assistance to the U.S. military.
Since then, a U.N. intelligence report said that three terrorist groups had found a “safe haven” in Afghanistan, including Al-Qaeda.
The Army Times recently shared the story of one of these women who, although having a Priority 1 status for special immigration, still hasn’t been able to leave the country. She’s looking to get passports for her sons so they can leave the country. Otherwise, they risk being caught up in retaliation against their mother.
“I always look over my shoulder,” she told Army Times. “I’m always careful so that the Taliban doesn’t recognize me because I worked for the government.”
Human rights conditions have become dire for Afghans. The U.N. has noted hundreds of rights violations in Afghanistan this past year. Meanwhile, the Taliban dissolved the country’s Human Rights Commission in May.
Women lost the ability to work and education for girls was banned past the 8th grade. This has led to Afghan women having to fight to recapture the rights they recently possessed.
Because the Taliban did not disable minefields like it was previously believed they would, there are still ongoing victims of the war as children are maimed by the explosives.
The country also led globally in religious persecution this past year, including becoming the most dangerous country for Christians to live in, according to Open Doors.
Pompeo criticized Biden for not enforcing a condition-based withdrawal of the troops, saying the president “decided to leave unconditionally, trusting the Taliban not to take advantage of the vacuum.”
“Now, after a year, the Taliban’s brutal rule is yielding predictable results,” he said.