Exclusive—Ryan Zinke: Biden Wants to Distract Us from His Deadly Mistakes in Afghanistan

After listening to President Biden speak this afternoon, I want to be very clear about a few things.

Americans overwhelmingly agreed that it was time to end the war in Afghanistan. Despite the White House’s best efforts to make the media and American people believe President Biden was dutifully fulfilling his promise, the reality could not be further from the truth. It was President Biden and his entire administration who shamefully abandoned U.S. citizens, abandoned our allies, and abandoned our core principles that as a nation we will “support any friend and oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

The criticism is not whether the United States should have ended the war, it is how the U.S. failed in ending it. The White House is trying to distract you.

The failures are many:

President Biden is responsible for the decision to give away Bagram air base that forced us to operate out of Hamid Karzai International Airport, where our military forces were surrounded, outnumbered, and out gunned by our own American-made equipment.

President Biden is responsible for the decision to retreat on a Taliban imposed timeline and trust the benevolence of the Taliban to give free passage to the airport. In doing so, he abandoned U.S. citizens and tens of thousands of the same allies that fought and sacrificed alongside us.

President Biden is responsible for the conditions that allowed a radical Islamic ISIS-K terrorist attack that killed 13 of our troops and wounded many more. An attack on a virtually un-defendable position was both predictable and preventable.

President Biden is responsible for the Taliban now owning $85 billion in sophisticated American military equipment that will no doubt be used against American forces and our allies across the globe.

And President Biden is responsible for putting at risk every future military and diplomatic mission that depends on American credibility and commitment to freedom and liberty. Today, our military is engaged in fighting terrorism and promoting cooperation in over 50 counties. “Winning the hearts and minds” depends on trust. President Biden has lost the trust that America will stand for freedom and not coward to terrorism.

This is the real conversation that the president failed to address today. Joe Biden’s handlers have spun their web of lies and are so insulated they have no idea what reality is, what Americans think and feel, and how their failure is playing out around the world.

Every American should be demanding the truth and full accountability.  We the People deserve to know who is calling the shots in the White House and who was behind each failed decision. If Nancy Pelosi is unwilling to hold the hearings, a vote of no confidence must be held. When I was in Congress, I worked with a handful of Democrats who honorably served our nation in the military, and I am confident that they are equally disgusted, sad, and angry.

Lastly, Americans should take pride for the amazing work the U.S. military and the many volunteers did to evacuate those American citizens and allies that got out. Bravo Zulu. We should never forget, however, that they should not have been pinned down with no viable plan to begin with. May God Bless America and all those who defend her.

Ryan Zinke served 23 years as a U.S. Navy SEAL, retiring at the rank of Commander, which included tours commanding SEAL Teams SIX and ONE and as Deputy Commander of Joint Special Forces in Iraq. He received the Bronze Star with a Combat V.  Zinke served two terms as Montana’s Congressman and as Interior Secretary under Donald J. Trump. Zinke is running for Congress again.