Senator Collins’ Statement on Afghanistan

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins issued the following statement on the situation in Afghanistan:

The chaos unfolding in Afghanistan is as awful as it was avoidable.  The Biden Administration badly misjudged the immediate conditions on the ground.  It did not plan adequately for the safe evacuation of American citizens.  Also at great risk are Afghans like translators who worked closely with us, as well as Afghan women leaders, such as the courageous woman running a girls’ school with whom Senator Jeanne Shaheen and I met recently. 

The Administration’s unwise decision to abandon Bagram Air Base, which I traveled to four times, now greatly hampers our rescue efforts since we now are dependent on one airport in Kabul.  

As the Taliban consolidates its sweeping control over Afghanistan, the opportunity exists for the country to once again become a safe haven for Islamist terrorist groups targeting our country.  

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