WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, authored an op-ed in USA Today in support of President Biden’s decision to end the longest war in our nation’s history.

"The images coming out of Afghanistan are heartbreaking, but the rapid takeover by the Taliban is not a reason to reverse course and indefinitely put more troops back into the country. On the contrary, it’s confirmation that President Biden made the tough but right decision to end this forever war,” said Murphy.

Murphy continued: “We thought we could build a modern participatory democracy and American-style military out of whole cloth. We were wrong. Another one or five or 10 years of U.S. troop presence would not change this reality. But Trump (who bragged this summer that he forced Biden’s hand on a withdrawal) and the Washington establishment are now arguing that we should have stayed. They want to ask American taxpayers to continue to spend trillions of dollars to protect a corrupt government and prop up Afghan forces.”

On the importance of continuing our humanitarian and counter-terrorism mission, Murphy said: “I’m not saying we should totally disengage. We have an obligation to help as many of our Afghan partners as possible seek safety and resettlement. And we must maintain counterterrorism capabilities to guard against any future threats from al-Qaida in Afghanistan.”

Murphy concluded: “President Biden did the right thing by ending the longest war in our nation’s history, and the events of the last week simply confirm the soundness of his decision."

Murphy released a statement after the Taliban took control of the presidential palace in Kabul. Last week, Murphy delivered remarks on the Senate floor on the situation in Afghanistan. Murphy has long been supportive of President Biden’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

You can read the full op-ed here. 

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