Graham says Biden’s Afghanistan exit, review ‘political whitewash’ that ‘paved the way for another 9/11’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that the newly released Afghanistan withdrawal report by the Biden administration is “political whitewash” that lays blame elsewhere when it comes to the chaotic and controversial exit from the country.

“This report is a political whitewash by the Biden administration to shift blame,” Graham said on “Fox News Sunday” with Shannon Bream.

Graham also questioned the report’s claim that the U.S. mission in Afghanistan was accomplished, saying that the Biden administration is “lying” if they say there are no more terrorists in Afghanistan. He also warned that there is only a “matter of time” before there is “another 9/11” if the U.S does not change its polices.

“When the Biden administration tells you there are no terrorists in Afghanistan, they are lying. There’s a lethal cocktail forming, rise of terrorism, Afghanistan, a broken border here in the United States.”

“My view of what happened in Afghanistan by Biden was he paved the way for another 9/11,” he continued.

The 12-page report released last week detailed the decision making process for the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 and largely blamed former President Trump’s administration for limiting President Biden’s options.

National Security spokesperson John Kirby defended the report, deflecting a barrage of questions from reporters last week over the White House’s assessment of what is largely seen as a major failure. He reiterated that Trump limited Biden’s options for leaving Afghanistan, sparking criticism from GOP lawmakers.

“He didn’t negotiate with the Taliban,” Kirby said of Biden last week in reference to a meeting held by Trump. “He didn’t invite the Taliban to Camp David. He didn’t release 5,000 prisoners. He didn’t reduce force levels in Afghanistan to 2,500, and he didn’t have an arrangement with the Taliban that they wouldn’t attack our troops. He came in with a certain set of circumstances he had no ability to change, he had to deal with it based on what he inherited.”

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) meanwhile defended the Biden administration saying it was only left with “very bad options” when it came to the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He noted that the intelligence “was not accurate” and reiterated the conclusion that the Taliban took over sooner than anyone could have predicted.

“But make no mistake about it. The Biden administration had very bad options. The decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was made by the Trump administration,” Cardin told Bream on “Fox News Sunday.”

“But President Biden had basically one of two choices, was he going to get out of Afghanistan or put more troops into Afghanistan with no end in sight?” Cardin said. “And they were not good options. And I think he based upon the intelligence, he had made what he thought was the best judgment.”