Biden is a threat to our national security. Congress, will you keep us safe?

Biden’s reckless withdrawal made the Taliban the best-armed terrorist group on earth by leaving behind an estimated $80 billion in arms, including 358,000 assault rifles, 16,000 night-vision goggles, 64,000 machine guns, 22,000 Humvees and 33 Blackhawk helicopters. This represents a security and intelligence nightmare. These arms likely will find their way to other terrorist organizations and the more sophisticated weapons probably will be sold to Russia, China and Iran.

Assertions by Biden aides that U.S. economic leverage, resolutions passed by the U.N. and expectations by the global community will convince the Taliban to not support terrorism and respect human rights – especially the rights of Afghan women – are laughable The Taliban is primarily driven by its extreme Islamist ideology. It does not care what the global community thinks of it.

Taliban leaders also know that Russia and China abstained on a recent U.N. Security Council resolution calling on them to live up to pledges to let people leave Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal. Russia, China, Iran and other U.S. adversaries will happily fill the gap left by America’s departure and provide it with economic aid.

Despite the Taliban’s pledge that Afghanistan would never again host international terrorist groups and Biden’s inaccurate claim that al Qaeda had been eradicated from Afghanistan, it is very likely the country will again become a major terrorist safe haven.

The Pentagon confirmed that the Taliban released thousands of ISIS-K prisoners when it took control of Bagram air base.  The Taliban never cut its ties to al Qaeda and this terrorist group maintained a presence in Afghanistan throughout the U.S. presence in the country. Al Qaeda leaders who sought refuge in Pakistan and Iran reportedly have returned to Afghanistan.

When ISIS created the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq during the Obama administration, radical Islamists were emboldened to stage several major acts of terrorism, including more than 300 injured in a series of coordinated attacks in Paris in 2015. Would-be Islamist fighters flocked to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS from around the world. We may soon see a similar situation in Afghanistan.

Assertions by Biden and his aides that the U.S. will be able to effectively counter terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan with an “over the horizon” capability – drones and satellites – are not credible. Without a base in Afghanistan or in a nearby country, U.S. drones will need to fly eight hours from the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Sea to reach terrorist targets in Afghanistan.  The U.S. also lacks on-the-ground intelligence to help conduct these drone strikes.

This means not only that over-the-horizon drone attacks in Afghanistan are likely to be ineffective, but that the U.S. may also need to send ground forces back into the country if it is used to stage a future deadly terrorist attack again the United States or its allies.