Expressing disapproval and disappointment in the failure of President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. and Democratic Party leadership to execute an orderly and peaceful withdrawal of United States armed forces from Afghanistan.
Whereas, on May 27, 2014, President Barack Hussein Obama announced in the Rose Garden at the White House that he planned to withdraw the last American troops from Afghanistan; and
Whereas, President Obama’s promise for an orderly Afghanistan withdrawal proved not only to be a broken promise, but a total failure; and
Whereas, on February 29, 2020, at the direction of President Donald John Trump, the United States forged a landmark agreement creating a basis for ending combat operations in Afghanistan; and
Whereas, on February 3, 2021, the Congressionally established Afghanistan Study Group released its report that identified benchmarks that should be met before American withdrawal; and
Whereas, the bipartisan Afghanistan Study Group concluded that American forces should not be withdrawn unless and until the Afghan state is capable to “exercise sovereignty over its borders and internal affairs,” and a demonstration that the Afghan state left behind has the ability to “support and protect minorities, women’s rights, and the democratic character of the state, and a free press;” and
Whereas, on May 1, 2021, at the direction of President Biden, the United States began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan; and
Whereas, on July 8, 2021, President Biden, the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. armed forces, said in a public statement that the likelihood the Taliban would take over all of Afghanistan was highly unlikely; and
Whereas, by August 15, 2021, upon the colossal failure of President Biden’s military strategy, the country of Afghanistan was completely overtaken by the Taliban regime; and
Whereas, most provincial capitals had fallen to the Taliban, and indeed the capital city of Kabul was overtaken by the Taliban as heavily armed fighters gripped the city in panic; and
Whereas, the Afghan president, Ashram Ghani, was forced to flee the capital city; and
Whereas, on August 15, 2021, President Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, admitted that the defeat of the Afghan forces by the Taliban, “happened more quickly than we anticipated.” and
Whereas, after withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan, President Biden reversed course and ordered several thousand troops back into Afghanistan to rescue U.S. Embassy personnel and to evacuate western diplomats and others trapped behind Taliban lines; and
Whereas, the Taliban has a history of harboring terrorists who are sworn enemies of the United States, and are guilty of terroristic human rights abuses against women and minorities, citizens are now living in fear and trepidation and fearing for their very lives and livelihoods; and
Whereas, desperate citizens of Afghanistan clung to U.S. aircraft in a desperate attempt to flee the ensuing terror that awaits them at the hands of the Taliban; and
Whereas, the embarrassing miscalculations by President Biden and his administration have been reported around the globe damaging the superpower reputation of the United States; and
Whereas, the United States has lost 2452 service members while defending freedom in the Afghani theater, including 15 service members from West Virginia; and
Whereas, the United States has the most capable and respected military leaders in the entire world, and President Biden’s political policies and his apparent disregard for their wise counsel have failed to give them the functional strategy they require for an orderly transition out of Afghanistan; now therefore, be it
Resolved, that the West Virginia Republican State Executive Committee:
(1) strongly condemns the execution of the withdrawing of the United States armed forces from Afghanistan by President Biden;
(2) expresses profound disappointment in President Biden’s ability to lead responsibly on the world stage;
(3) expresses sorrow for the evil that has befallen the innocent Afghan people at the hands of the Taliban due to the disastrous exit policy by President Biden;
(4) calls on President Biden to reassess his strategy concerning military action in Afghanistan;
(5) calls on President Biden to do everything in his power to protect women and minorities from further oppression by the Taliban regime;
(6) affirms our sincerest confidence and respect for the men and women who serve in the United States military and dutifully fulfill orders given to them by America’s civilian leadership structure, except those mentioned in item 7.
(7) calls for the resignation of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, and all the other joint chiefs.
(8) express our condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives, especially the 13 US Servicemen, as well as all those injured by the suicide bomber attack in Kabul
Submitted by Tony M. Hodge, Chairman of the Putnam County Republican Executive Committee
