With President Joe Biden having announced that the U.S. military would be completely moved out of Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, current and former military leaders like U.S. Army Green Beret Rep. Michael Waltz (R), continue expressing their concern about the thousands of Afghan translators that will be left behind to fend for themselves against the Taliban that has threatened swift retaliation against them.
During a press conference with former U.S. Army Ranger Rep. Jason Crow (D) and a group of American Legionnaires on Capitol Hill, Rep. Waltz did not mince his words, saying that he wanted to be “clear” and he wanted “to be blunt” in his criticism of the Biden administration’s lack of effort and resolve in calling for an immediate evacuation of the Afghan translators. Waltz said that he and Rep. Crow would probably not have survived if not for the help from the translators during their tours of combat operations in Afghanistan.
Waltz began by stating that in 1975, then-Senator Joe Biden turned his back on Vietnamese translators when he “voted against the evacuation of our Vietnamese allies,” and that “if he had his way, we would not have gotten those people out.”
“I want to be clear. If he doesn't act, and he doesn't get these people out, blood will be on his hands and on his administration hands, and I for one will very publicly and very loudly hold him accountable,” threatened Waltz.
According to Crow and Waltz, the Pentagon has already accelerated its plans of complete withdrawal prior to the September 11 deadline, and because these Afghan translators face imminent harm, Americans have “a moral and national security obligation to get these people out.”
“When that last soldier goes wheels up out of Afghanistan, it is a death sentence for our local allies. The Taliban have made that clear in their words and in their actions as they hunt these people down right now,” concluded Waltz.
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