Crenshaw: Biden administration could not have handled situation in Afghanistan 'in a worse way'

Amid a growing buzz of political and public response to the takeover of Afghanistan by Taliban insurgents with a history of atrocities, Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Houston is being heard as a voice of experience. 

Crenshaw, a retired lieutenant commander and former Navy SEAL, knows the challenges the Afghan National Army (ANA) and its citizens face more than most and spoke out on misconceptions and missteps by President Joe Biden in withdrawing troops this month.

In a statement on Young America's Foundation's (YAF) Twitter account, Crenshaw spoke about the relative inexperience of the ANA against Taliban militia.

"You can't tell a man to learn how to swim as he's drowning and you remove the life raft from him, and that's basically what happened," he said. 

As the radical Taliban fighters moved at speed to takeover most provinces in Afghanistan, including the capital, Kabul, Afghans who assisted America on its mission in the country have been left in a hostile environment and even U.S. citizens continue to be evacuated in the midst of the chaos. More U.S. troops are being sent into harm’s way to secure the airport and endangered civilians, though the original exit date of all Americans and more than 20,000 Afghans remains as Aug. 31. 

According to Military Times, “when reinforcements have all arrived, there will be roughly 7,000 U.S. troops securing the Kabul airport, and their mission so far is confined there.”

Evacuation flights resumed early Aug. 17, and according to comments by U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Henry Taylor at a press conference that same day, “the Pentagon’s goal is to evacuate some 5,000-9,000 people out of Kabul daily. This plan would require flying one military cargo aircraft out of Kabul per hour," CNBC reported.

Those actions still leave many former interpreters in various areas of the country controlled by the Taliban with no way to make it through checkpoints of the radical Islamists who have taken over most of the country.

Crenshaw, along with many others, believes Biden handled the situation poorly and put many American allies in the country at great risk.

In an interview with Fox News, Crenshaw said, “The incompetence of the Biden administration on this is really overwhelming. There need to be resignations, there need to be firings. They couldn't have done this in a worse way. We have American citizens left behind. We have people getting shot in Kabul airport at this moment. It's such a complete disaster.”

The Texas representative knows firsthand the challenges of culture and terrain in a country where he was in combat as a member of Seal Team Three. During a mission in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, Crenshaw was hit by an IED blast that destroyed his right eye and almost left him completely blind. 

After Biden’s Aug. 16 address to the American people, Crenshaw, a sixth-generation Texan, responded with a tweet.

“Biden sure blamed a lot of people today. But he forgot about the Taliban," he said.