[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                              AFGHANISTAN

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now on a completely different matter, 
yesterday, under oath, General McKenzie and General Milley both 
confirmed they also agreed with the commander on the ground. They 
agreed we should keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. These top generals 
gave President Biden exactly the advice the President told the American 
people he had not received.
  To be very clear, the Commander in Chief gets to make the final 
decision, no matter what the advisers suggest. But he needs to own his 
decision.
  The President publicly misstating what advice he got from his top 
generals is corrosive to the civil-military dynamic that keeps America 
safe.
  The military did their job. They gave their best military advice. It 
was rejected. So they saluted and executed the order of the Commander 
in Chief. That is the way it is supposed to work. But having rejected 
their advice, the President doesn't get to claim he never received it, 
nor does he get to claim, as he has since tried to pretend, that the 
only alternative to his botched retreat was sending 10,000 soldiers 
back to Afghanistan.
  That is a false choice. We have heard directly from the two senior 
military officers in the chain of command, as well as the President's 
principal military adviser, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
  Everyone with an ounce of common sense knows President Biden's 
botched retreat was not the extraordinary success the President 
claimed. As General Milley acknowledged, it is more accurate to 
describe the withdrawal as a strategic failure.
  We have now heard confirmation from our top military officers that 
the terrorist threat in Afghanistan is already growing. And relying on 
over-the-horizon counterterrorism leaves us with much less ability to 
do anything at all about it.
  What a debacle. We face a greater terrorist threat from Afghanistan 
than we did before we withdrew, we have less intelligence about that 
growing threat, and we have fewer tools with which to combat it. This 
administration gave our enemies in Afghanistan everything they wanted 
and got less than nothing in return.
  So, Mr. President, I know some of my colleagues want to unilaterally 
declare an end to the War on Terrorism. Ah, if only it were that easy. 
But the terrorists aren't through with us.
  I hope my Democratic colleagues will think twice before they compound 
the failures in Afghanistan by trying to narrow or repeal the 2001 
authorization for the use of military force. I, for one, will 
strenuously oppose any further efforts by the Democratic administration 
or this Democratic Congress to take away any more tools or authorities 
that our military servicemembers and intelligence professionals need to 
keep our country safe from our enemies.
  At some point we will have a different administration that will 
better understand how to protect America for the long term. At this 
rate, they will need all the tools they can possibly get.

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