Pfluger: Afghan Military Refuges Hiding in Uzbekistan Face Reprisals

WASHINGTON, DC — There are nearly 600 Afghan pilots, servicemembers, and their families stranded in Uzbekistan, including family members of our Texas Congressional District 11 constituents. The Uzbek government is under immense pressure from the Taliban to repatriate these individuals back to Afghanistan to face reprisals. The United States must provide all necessary resources to assist the Uzbek government and prevent these Afghanis from being subjected to the brutal Taliban regime. I stand ready to work with anyone across our government to ensure our promises to these brave men and women are kept and protect them from harm’s way.

The unmitigated disaster in Afghanistan must be a wake-up call to every American. Our strength, our resolve and our future as the world leader and defender of democracy is being tested in real-time. And President Biden is failing.

I grew up in the doctrine of peace through strength, and it worked. Biden’s doctrine of "crisis due to weakness," is forcing our nation to realize an incredible number of threats from every possible direction. Instead of protecting our country, Biden and his administration are surrendering to our enemies and rendering us more vulnerable to all.

The Biden Doctrine revealed: Hear no evil. See no evil. Stop no evil.

As a 20-year Air Force veteran who flew dozens of combat missions over the Middle East, and now a member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, it is heartbreaking to watch the reports come from Afghanistan of the destruction of Afghan national forces and the Taliban’s rolling through the streets of Kabul in less than a week.

The United States spent nearly two decades expending blood and treasure fighting the Taliban, denying Al Qaeda a terrorist stronghold, instituting democratic values, and building relationships with our Afghan partners. Now, the Chinese Communist Party, which is waging a campaign of genocide against the Muslim minority in their own county, is preparing to formally recognize the Taliban and expand their Belt and Road Initiative into Afghanistan.

The disastrous and ill-planned retreat from Afghanistan was entirely avoidable. The upcoming 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack will be marked with the complete takeover of Afghanistan and Kabul by the Taliban. This utter failure is a stain on America’s reputation—as we turn the country right back over to enemies of America and grotesque human rights abusers. 

The Biden administration’s lack of planning and inability to accept the realities on the ground is nothing short of an unmitigated and easily predictable national security and humanitarian disaster.

The images of helicopters leaving the U.S. Embassy in Kabul harken back to those of Saigon in 1975. The lack of planning to address the safety and security of our Afghan partners is astonishing. Our promises to the Afghan faithful that fought and died alongside our U.S. service members and civilian personnel for decades have been shattered.

Their failed decisions and hasty withdrawal will have lasting impacts on America’s security and ability to engage partners and allies for generations.

Unfortunately, this is not the first crisis we have seen unfold under this administration.

The president continues to deny the national security and humanitarian crisis unfolding at our own southern border. Hundreds of thousands of people are flooding into the country illegally every single month with enough drugs to kill every American.

We are aware of Known and Suspected Terrorists (KSTs) crossing into the United States and the ensuing chaos in Afghanistan is sure to make that rise exponentially. What has the Biden administration done to mitigate KSTs? Nothing. In fact, Biden is hiding the numbers from the American people, living up to his tactics of non-transparency and deceit.

The administration is relentless in their pursuit to harm American energy production and energy security, all while handing Vladimir Putin a major strategic victory with the tacit approval of the Nord Stream II pipeline. Last week’s begging of OPEC to produce more energy into the global market comes after American sources are handicapped by government fiat was laughable. 

The administration fails to recognize or hold the CCP accountable for its role and cover up of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We must ask ourselves, is our country safer under this administration? With Biden’s "head in the sand" policies, the answer is undeniably no.

These examples tell the story of our national security. How hard it is to achieve. How easy it is to lose. The sacrifices of so many are in vain.

The solutions are not easy. They never are. Thoughtful policy requires collaboration and work to maintain our strategic advantages in the world. Biden’s doctrine of "crisis due to weakness" erases the advantages that are so difficult to achieve.

President Biden’s failure to keep our nation safe is an embarrassment. His administration never engages Congress in these solutions. Our pleas from the border have been repeatedly ignored. The benefits of American-made energy are belittled with climate alarmist nonsense. Our concerns about rushed withdrawal from Afghanistan fall on deaf ears. 

America, wake up. This is the Biden Doctrine!