Graham: Afghanistan War ‘Has Not Ended,’ US to Deal With ‘Catastrophe’ for Decades

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on July 30, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has rebuked the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, saying that U.S. presidents will be dealing with the “catastrophe” for decades to come.

In an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, days before President Joe Biden’s self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Graham said he believes that the war in Afghanistan “has not ended.”

“It’s been a very emotional couple of days for all of us. The parade of horribles are about to unfold,” the Republican senator said. “We’re leaving thousands of Afghan allies behind who fought bravely with us. We’re going to leave hundreds of American citizens behind.”

According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, some 300 Americans remain in Afghanistan and are awaiting evacuation. Many have expressed scepticism and concern over the likelihood of evacuating all Americans by the end of August deadline, amid heightened terror threats near Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Since Aug. 14, a day before the Taliban terrorist group seized control of Kabul, 114,400 people have been airlifted out of Afghanistan, according to a White House official.

U.S. Air Force loadmasters and pilots assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, load people being evacuated from Afghanistan onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, on Aug. 24, 2021. (Master Sgt. Donald R. Allen/U.S. Air Force via AP)

Evacuation efforts have continued in the wake of a lethal attack near the airport that killed 13 U.S. military service members and scores more Afghans. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.

“President Biden said that he wanted to take this, Afghanistan, off the plate for future presidents. He’s done the exact opposite,” Graham said. “For the next 20 years, American presidents will be dealing with this catastrophe in Afghanistan.”

The South Carolina senator said that the war in Afghanistan “has not ended” and that the United States has entered into a “new, deadly chapter,” adding: “Terrorists are now in charge of Afghanistan.”

Criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S. withdrawal, Graham claimed that it has “set the conditions for another 9/11,” saying that he has ”never been more worried about an attack on our homeland.”

“The chance of another 9/11 just went through the roof,” Graham said, doubling down on his call for Biden to be impeached.

“I think it’s dereliction of duty to leave hundreds of Americans behind enemy lines, turn them into hostages, to abandon thousands of Afghans who have fought honorably along our side,” he said.

“I don’t think he got bad advice and took it, I think he ignored sound advice. And this is Joe Biden being Joe Biden. He’s been this way for 40 years but now he’s the commander in chief, he’s not a senator, he’s not the vice president.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.