National security experts are raising concerns about the Biden Administration's incoming troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in September, fearing that it could lead to heightened national security concerns in the future.
According to Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Florida), there is no doubt that Al Qaeda will return when the Taliban regain control of Afghanistan, adding that "I do fear a Taliban takeover of the country and a resurgent Al Qaeda that will attack the homeland [...] We saw this when the Obama administration pulled out of Iraq too soon, that led to the rise of ISIS, attacks against Europe, and inspired attacks right here in the United States".
Waltz is a decorated former Special Forces officer, having led multiple combat tours to Afghanistan.
Waltz stated that by abandoning the critical U.S. Bagram Air Base, President Biden would be giving up a strategic military foothold in the backyard of America's greatest rivals.
"If you just look at the map, Afghanistan is the only country in the world where we have an airbase that physically borders China", adding that "Afghanistan is on the western flank of China, the southern flank of Russia, the eastern flank of Iran. Why would we just give that base up especially when the Afghan government wants us to stay."
Marc Polymeropoulos conducted multiple covert missions to Afghanistan during his 26-year career with the CIA, and articulated that "There's no doubt this is one of those foreign policy decisions that I'm afraid might come back to haunt the Biden administration".
"The bottom line is without U.S. forces on the ground that means U.S. intelligence personnel will not be on the ground and that really hurts us when it comes to human intelligence", with Polymeropoulos adding "That's the art of spotting, assessing, developing, recruiting, and handling a human source, penetration of a terrorist group - without U.S. officers being on the ground that takes away a key capability for us".