republicans call on biden to resign or be impeached after breaking his promise to bring home every american citizen from afghanistan and pulling troops out 24 hours early
The last US evacuation flight has left Kabul, marking a bitter end to US' longest war, and Republicans are hitting President Biden for pulling out one day ahead of his self-prescribed deadline.
Many decried the hundreds of Americans left behind, and some renewed calls for the president to step down.
'The Afghanistan war is not over. Joe Biden decided to quit and leave our citizens and allies behind,' Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote on Twitter after Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of US Central Command, broke the news.
Witnesses in Kabul said the Taliban let off celebratory gunfire as news circulated that the final U.S. flight had left.
President Biden managed to meet his August 31 deadline and American personnel are now free from danger, but 38 million Afghans are at the mercy of the Taliban and over 170 are dead from last week's suicide bombing, including 13 American troops.
On Sunday, President Biden traveled to Dover, Delaware to watch the remains of the troops that were killed in the attack arrive back home.
13 US troops were killed in a suicide bombing last week outside Kabul airport as the US tried to complete its withdrawal
'How many Americans were left behind?' House Republicans wrote on Twitter.
'Shameful. The President better move heaven and earth to get every last American home safely,' Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., wrote on Twitter.
McKenzie said that less than 250 Americans were left behind, adding that some of those tried but could not make it for the final departing evacuation flights.
Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., hit Biden for pulling out 'before the deadline' and called for the president to be impeached.
'President Biden withdrew from #Afghanistan BEFORE THE DEADLINE — abandoning American citizens still on the ground desperately needing evacuation! IF BIDEN REFUSES TO RESIGN, HE MUST BE IMPEACHED! This is an absolute disgrace!'
'@POTUS left Americans and our Afghan allies behind. Completely unforgivable. He must resign,' said Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla.
Planes are seen on the tarmac at the airport in Kabul late on August 30 hours ahead of a US deadline to complete its frenzied withdrawal
One of the final U.S military aircraft takes off from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday
Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., called for the president to resign over a Washington Post report claiming the Taliban had offered to let US forces secure Kabul as the Afghanistan government collapsed, but Biden was determined to withdraw all troops.
'This is unbelievable! President Biden’s actions are a shameful failure of American leadership. I am calling for the resignation of President Biden. We cannot tolerate this any longer,' she said.
'The United States just completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan with many Americans still stuck behind enemy lines desperate to get out, and $85 billion in US weapons and equipment now in Taliban hands,' said Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y. 'This is a historic disgrace of epic proportions ordered by President Biden.'
'How many Americans are now officially abandoned in Afghanistan because of Joe Biden's incompetence?' Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., wrote on Twitter.
'Biden knew his Afghanistan withdrawal would needlessly put American lives in danger. Now, we've tragically lost 13 American heroes,' Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said as he demanded a Congressional investigation into Biden's handling of Afghanistan.
'Absolutely shameful,' said Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C. 'President Biden has officially left hundreds of U.S. citizens stranded in Afghanistan.'
'America's longest war has ended. This should be a good day. Instead, because of Biden's failed withdrawal, the Taliban is stronger than ever and 13 families won't see their loved ones come home,' said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.
Taliban fighters hold Taliban flags in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, hours before the US completed its withdrawal
'But there are still American citizens in Afghanistan. Our troops are gone. Our commanders are gone. The Taliban is in control,' said Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla.
'The fact that the Pentagon has said "only a few hundred Americans have been left behind" is devastating. Americans are still there.'
'The Biden Administration should not have left Afghanistan without bringing home every single American trapped behind enemy lines. We should have never been on the Taliban’s timeline,' Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, wrote on Twitter.
'This is a surreal moment for many & devastating for those left behind,' Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said. 'To our brave men & women who stepped up to serve, we as a nation owe a constant debt of gratitude. You kept America safe & showed two generations of Afghans a better world. May God bless our troops.'
Many Democrats were markedly silent at the announcement of the official end of the war, though some defended the withdrawal.
'Ending wars is good actually,' Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., wrote on Twitter.
'America’s longest war is over, and that’s a good thing,' Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said.
'We never should have begun America's longest war in the first place — a war of endless suffering and needless death. Let us now envision a future that is based on peace, security, dignity, diplomacy, and human rights, not destruction and profiteering by military contractors,' Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., wrote on Twitter.
But Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, N.H., decried the US' 'premature withdrawal' in a statement.
'My chief concern with what I believe was a premature withdrawal - first announced in March 2020 - was that the progress we built over 20 years would unravel without verifiable assurances of a stable, secure government in Afghanistan. It is paramount that the United States remain engaged with our international partners to evacuate remaining US citizens and Afghan allies.'
The Taliban quickly declared victory after the last U.S. plane departed, firing victory shots into the air.
'American soldiers left the airport, and our nation got its full independence,' said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
'The last five aircraft have left, it's over,' Hemad Sherzad, a Taliban fighter stationed at Kabul's international airport, told the Associated Press.
'I cannot express my happiness in words. ... Our 20 years of sacrifice worked.'
Meanwhile, McKenzie said he believed that the US would be able to negotiate for the some-250 Americans left behind to get out.
'I believe we're going to be able to get those people out,' said McKenzie.
'I think we're going to negotiate very hard, very aggressively to get our other Afghan partners out.'
The withdrawal was dominated by a hasty evacuation effort and looming threats of terrorist attack, one such devastating blow that came to fruition.
A coalition of countries worked around the clock to rescue their citizens and Afghans who worked for their militaries.
More than 122,000 people have been flown out of Kabul since Aug. 14, the day before the regained control of the country.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a notice that Hamid Karzai International Airport was without air traffic control service after the U.S. exit.