McCaul says situation in Afghanistan is ‘worse’ than pre-9/11 because Taliban has US weapons

Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday that the situation in Afghanistan is “worse” than before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because the Taliban is “fully armed” with U.S. weaponry.

McCaul, when asked by host Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” how he assesses the terror threat from Afghanistan now that the Taliban has taken control, said circumstances are worse than they were before the 2001 terrorist attacks.

“We’re going back to pre-9/11 right now but it’s worse, it’s worse because now they’re fully armed with our weapons, our helicopters and pallets of our cash,” said McCaul.

When pressed on how he sees the U.S.’s ability to “deal with” the terror threat in Afghanistan without U.S. troops stationed there, McCaul said America’s capabilities are “greatly exaggerated” because Afghanistan is landlocked and surrounded by “enemies” that “have now been emboldened by this foreign policy blunder.” 

He also said that officials “have to establish that ISR [intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance], you know somewhere over the horizon capability means flying from the Gulf, probably countries like Qatar, which would be, you know, anywhere from six to eight hours, having to fly, you know, around Iran over Pakistan, get refueling.” 

“When I talk to anybody in the military they tell me this is not adequate for us to have ISR capability, well we need to see, eyes and ears on the ground, to see the threat so that we can respond to the threat and eliminate it,” he added.

When asked about reports that the Taliban are carrying out mass killings of former Afghan government officials and former Afghan defense forces, McCaul said the insurgent group is not “new and improved,” but instead is reverting back to the “brutal” tactics it used when it was last in power.