Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, called the southern border crisis on Sunday “probably the biggest human trafficking event of our lifetime,” and warned it was a problem which “every state in the country” will have to deal with, because of Democrat policies and the Biden administration plan to lift Title 42 in May.

“You have almost, I don’t know, estimates of two to three million that have come in under this administration. With Title 42, that will be suspended in May, they are projecting 500,000 illegals coming in five weeks. You were a federal prosecutor, I was too, you can not sustain this,” McCaul told “Sunday Night in America” host Trey Gowdy.

REP. MCCAUL TORCHES BIDEN ADMIN OVER TITLE 42: ‘I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE BORDER THIS BAD’

The Biden administration announced in April that they will be lifting the Title 42 public health order that was implemented in March 2020 to mitigate COVID-19, by quickly expelling illegal immigrants at the border. However, this announcement has drawn bipartisan criticism, over concerns it will cause a migrant surge.

The Texas lawmaker touted how border policies from the Trump administration, such as the Remain in Mexico policy “worked,” because they stopped “85%” of migrants who were not legitimately seeking political asylum.

McCaul blasted Democrats for rescinding these policies and causing the “biggest human trafficking event of our lifetime” as well as a deadly fentanyl crisis.

SEN. KELLY SAYS BIDEN ADMIN DOESN’T HAVE PLAN IN PLACE FOR LIFTING TITLE 42: ‘IT’S GOING TO BE A CRISIS’

“[W]e have seized enough to kill the entire population at the border seven times over with fentanyl,” the Republican said, adding, “This is probably the biggest human trafficking event of our lifetime, and it didn’t have to happen. That is the saddest thing about the whole situation.”

He told Gowdy, “I’m in a border state, we have to absorb all this, but I would argue every state is a border state, they are not just staying in Texas, they are moving on to other states. And every state in the country is going to have to deal with this problem.”

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The show host noted how Democrats control the White House and both houses of Congress, so they don’t need legislative help they need help deflecting blame for this crisis, or they will pay politically, come this November.

With President Biden and Vice President Harris’s approval ratings falling to record lows, and record high inflation, election analysts have predicted the midterm elections will be a “bloodbath” for Democrats.

“They rescinded the [Trump administration] policies from day one. They own this. In terms of the midterm elections they do own it, they can fix it, but they don’t want to,” McCaul said.

Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to kristine.parks@fox.com.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/media/rep-mccaul-democrats-own-border-crisis-it-didnt-have-happen

The post Rep. McCaul calls out the Democrats, says they ‘own’ the border crisis and ‘it didn’t have to happen’ first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Taliban has seized US weapons left in Afghanistan worth billions — possibly including 600,000 assault rifles, some 2,000 armored vehicles, and 40 aircraft, including Black Hawks, according to reports.

The US gave the Afghan military an estimated $28 billion in weaponry between 2002 and 2017 — including seven brand new helicopters delivered to Kabul just a month ago.

The war chest also included the supply of at least 600,000 infantry weapons — including M16 assault rifles — as well as 162,000 pieces of communication equipment and 16,000 night-vision goggles.

In just two years from 2017 to 2019, the US gave 7,035 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 bombs and 1,394 grenade launchers, The Hill noted, citing a report last year from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

“Everything that hasn’t been destroyed is the Taliban’s now,” one US official told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

In just two years from 2017 to 2019, the US gave 7,035 machine guns. EPA/STRINGER

Admitting the weaponry seizures, National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday that the White House does not “have a complete picture” of what “has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.”

But the current assessment is that it includes 2,000 armored vehicles, including US Humvees, and up to 40 aircraft, potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones, another official told Reuters.

Videos have already captured Taliban fighters triumphantly opening crates of seized weapons, including US-made M4 carbines and M16 rifles, The Hill reported. They’ve also been spotted with US Humvees.

The war chest will give the Taliban a huge advantage in quashing resistance.

Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in Kunduz city, northern Afghanistan. AP Photo/Abdullah Sahil, File

US officials also fear that the weapons of war could be handed to US adversaries like China and Russia — or even to more terror groups like ISIS.

“This poses a significant threat to the United States and our allies,” Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters.

President Biden’s administration has not ruled out airstrikes to destroy the larger equipment like the helicopters — but fears it will antagonize the Taliban while people are still being evacuated, sources told Reuters.

On Wednesday, more than two dozen Republican senators demanded a “full account” of what’s been seized — and what plans are in place to get it back.

“It is unconscionable that high-tech military equipment paid for by US taxpayers has fallen into the hands of the Taliban and their terrorist allies,” the 25 senators told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Of greatest concern is their control of aircraft. The US gave Afghan forces more than 200, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

As many as 50 were believed to have been used by Afghan pilots to escape the Taliban, who this week demanded their return. But the remaining stock included Black Hawks, which were supposed to be the Afghan military’s biggest advantage over the Taliban.

The White House does not “have a complete picture” of what weapons the Taliban now has, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said. Ken Cedeno/UPI

It has left US officials clinging to the hope that the aircraft will prove too tricky to maintain and fly for the Taliban to use effectively — with a leader this week admitting the group did not have trained pilots.

“Ironically, the fact that our equipment breaks down so often is a life-saver here,” a third official told Reuters.

But just having night-vision goggles — of which the US has given at least 16,000 since 2003 — is a huge advantage.

“The ability to operate at night is a real game-changer,” one congressional aide told Reuters.

Rep. Michael McCaul is one of many Republicans concerned about the Taliban’s growing possession of US weapons. Alex Wong/Getty Images

No matter how the Taliban uses it all, it is already a huge embarrassment for the US.

“Clearly, this is an indictment of the US security cooperation enterprise broadly,” Elias Yousif, deputy director of the Center for International Policy’s Security Assistance Monitor, told The Hill.

“It really should raise a lot of concerns about what is the wider enterprise that is going on every single day, whether that’s in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia.”

With Post wires

Source:  https://nypost.com/2021/08/20/us-left-billions-in-weapons-in-afghanistan-with-black-hawks-in-talibans-hands/

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President Biden is expected to announce Wednesday his decision to begin the drawdown of U.S. forces before May 1 and the plan to have all the troops out of the country by September 11, at the latest.

According to a senior administration official, Mr. Biden has made the determination that the best path forward to protect American interests is to end the war in Afghanistan to address the global threat picture of today that includes China, pandemics, and terrorism in places across the globe.

The U.S. went into Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks to prevent terrorists from launching more attacks from Afghanistan. The Biden administration has determined that al Qaeda does not currently possess an external plotting capability, according to the official.

There will be counterterrorism capabilities that remain in the region to counter the potential reemergence of al Qaeda and hold the Taliban to its commitment that al Qaeda will not grow its capabilities.

An Afghan government official texted a response to the news: “Well we now have to charter our own way forward.” The Afghanistan government is concerned about the withdrawal of U.S. troops; Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib predicts civil war will ensue.

The Biden administration has had to contend with a May 1 deadline negotiated by the Trump administration with the Taliban last year in a deal that called for a reduction of violence. The deadline of September 11, according to the official, is not “conditions-based.”

The Taliban has threatened to harm U.S. troops if there is a break from the May 1 deadline. The official said the Taliban knows any violence against U.S. forces will prompt “a forceful response.”

The U.S. has been consulting with NATO allies and will coordinate the withdrawal of NATO forces within the U.S. timeframe. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are traveling to Brussels on Wednesday.

The Biden administration is still pushing for the diplomatic process to find a political settlement between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The next peace negotiations will take place in Istanbul later this month, and the senior administration official said the Biden administration is committed to ensuring that women are both participating in the talks as well as the government.

The Washington Post first reported the president’s plans.

Some Republicans were vocal in their criticism. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor that Mr. Biden was making a “grave mistake.”

“Precipitously withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan is a grave mistake. It is retreat in the face of an enemy that has not yet been vanquished and abdication of American leadership,” McConnell said.

GOP Senator Jim Inhofe called Mr. Biden’s decision “outrageous,” and Senator Joni Ernst said that it was “concerning.”

“I think a random withdrawal just because you’re celebrating an anniversary is not the right decision,” Ernst said.

Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that he was “shocked and extremely concerned” by reports of Mr. Biden’s decision.

“This premature withdrawal shows a complete disregard for the realities on the ground and will not only put Afghans at risk but endanger the lives of U.S. citizens at home and abroad. I have urgently requested details on this decision and strongly urge the president to reconsider,” McCaul said in a statement. The congressman had previously pushed back against the Trump administration’s decision to slash the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Some Democrats, too, responded to the news of the withdrawal with some skepticism. Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters on Tuesday that he wants “to hear the administration’s rationale” for pulling out of Afghanistan.

“I just am concerned that after so much blood and national treasure that we don’t lose what we were seeking to achieve,” Menendez said. He added that he will “certainly will not be supportive of any assistance to Afghanistan if there is backsliding on civil society [and] the rights that women have achieved.”

“If the Taliban ultimately doesn’t keep its obligations, then there will be consequences and one of them will be that there will be no money flowing. So I don’t know how they will rebuild the country,” Menendez said.

Democratic Senator Jack Reed expressed unease over the decision, saying that the U.S. must “maintain a presence for regional stability.”

“This should be seen as transitional, not as closure,” Reed said.

But other lawmakers welcomed the news. Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said in a statement that Mr. Biden was making “the brave and right decision.”

“We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to every U.S. and coalition service member who has served in Afghanistan since 2001, and we will never forget the over 2,300 U.S. service members who gave their lives there. We also remember the over 100,000 Afghan civilians who have been killed in this war,” Sanders said. “The United States must remain committed to diplomatic, economic, and humanitarian support for Afghanistan even as we bring this military intervention to an end.”

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