WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ohio’s members of Congress are divided over President Joe Biden’s handling of Afghanistan.
As the crisis unfolds, Ohio Republicans feel Biden has failed.
What You Need To Know
- Ohio Republicans blame Biden for crisis in Afghanistan
- Ohio Democrats are largely backing the president’s decision to withdraw troops
- Rep. Steve Chabot said Biden should consider resigning over the conflict
“All the warning signs were there, this president ignored them,” Rep. Steve Chabot (R, OH-1), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview Monday.
Rep. Mike Turner (R, OH-10), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, was also critical of Biden.
“Afghanistan is going to once again return to a nation that threatens not only the United States, but really the world from terrorism,” Turner told Spectrum News on Monday.
Ohio Democrats are largely backing Biden.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D, OH-3) said in a statement that “the responsibility to secure Afghanistan ultimately lies with the Afghan security forces,” while Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D, OH-9) said “the time has come to finally bring our troops home.”
The fall of Afghanistan comes as lawmakers are home on recess, but some are already calling for congressional investigations into what went wrong.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R, OH-2), a Cincinnati-area Republican and Army Reservist who served in Iraq, said in a statement, “The time will come for Congress to exercise its rightful oversight role and conduct the necessary after-action reviews…But right now, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to getting our partners out of harm’s way.”
In northeast Ohio, Rep. Tim Ryan (D, OH-13) said, “I have grave concerns about intelligence estimates of the strength of the Afghan military, the execution of the withdrawal, and what it means for our national security moving forward.”
On Monday, Biden attempted to explain his decisions, but Ohio Republicans are not having any of it.
Asked if he feels Biden should resign over this — something several Ohio GOP Senate candidates have called for — Chabot told Spectrum News, “I think it’s certainly something that ought to be considered.”
A Twitter thread including every statement about Afghanistan released by Ohio’s members of Congress, so far, may be found here.
