Sen. Hawley: Military was flying Pride flag while Taliban took over Afghanistan

The Biden administration’s political agenda cost lives in Afghanistan, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said.

“Joe Biden and his team were more interested in advancing their phony culture war than they were protecting American lives,” he said. “Their misplaced priorities had devastating consequences — 13 American service members died and hundreds of Americans were left stranded behind enemy lines. Rather than worrying about flying the ‘Progress Flag’ or adding a ‘nonbinary’ option to U.S. passports, Joe Biden and his team should’ve been focused on how to safely withdraw from Afghanistan. The Biden administration must be held accountable.”

Hawley was referring to the U.S. Military’s efforts to promote Gay Pride month among its ranks earlier in the summer.

In June, Hawley noted, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin promoted a “diversity, equity and inclusion” focus in the military during a Senate hearing, the Taliban were gearing up to take over multiple Afghan districts and provinces the next week, which prompted members of the Afghan army to flee.

A few weeks later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States would start flying the colorful “progress flag” at the State Department to commemorate a “couple of important turning points in our history for LGBTQI rights.” This “diversity and intersectionality,” Hawley said, not only mirrors the language used in critical race theory but also dominated the government’s focus while the Taliban “seized the main Afghan trade gateway.”

Hawley pointed out that the administration is simply trying to “whitewash” what happened in Afghanistan but said it’s up to the Senate to hold the president and his team accountable for the ongoing crisis.

“Hundreds of American civilians were left behind and are still there, Americans are still trapped in Afghanistan, trying to get out, trying to be rescued, left to their own devices and yet the president of the United State, insists that it never happened. ‘It was all a success. All is well,’” he said. “The president said ‘it had to be this way. Those soldiers had to die? What does that even mean? That the military had to abandon billions of dollars of equipment to the enemy? That civilians, hundreds of them, had to die? All those Americans had to be left behind? I mean, is he serious about that? Does anyone honestly believe that?”

Hawley has also called out Republicans, like former President George Bush, who blindly believed that the United States could create a democracy in the country. “Those who advocated 20 years of nation building in Afghanistan and continually promised the American people that Afghan security forces would soon be able to defend themselves have much to answer for as well. For two decades, almost no one has leveled with the American people about the true state of affairs in Afghanistan,” he said in August.

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice