{"id":691155,"date":"2021-08-27T18:20:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T22:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=691155"},"modified":"2021-08-27T18:20:41","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T22:20:41","slug":"the-aggravating-infuriating-reality-peter-meijer-describes-how-cooperating-with-the-taliban-may-be-the-only-way-to-save-americans-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-aggravating-infuriating-reality-peter-meijer-describes-how-cooperating-with-the-taliban-may-be-the-only-way-to-save-americans-in-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Aggravating, Infuriating Reality\u2019: Peter Meijer Describes How Cooperating With The Taliban May Be The Only Way To Save Americans In Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">44<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-aggravating-infuriating-reality-peter-meijer-describes-how-cooperating-with-the-taliban-may-be-the-only-way-to-save-americans-in-afghanistan%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=691155&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>Rep. Peter Meijer, who flew to Kabul this week and saw where 13 Americans and scores of Afghans would later lose their lives, described how the U.S. now finds itself reliant on the Taliban as it tries to extract thousands of people amid constant terror threats.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cThe aggravating, infuriating reality is that the position we\u2019re in right now, we do not have a choice,\u201d Meijer said in a phone interview Friday.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>But with a Aug. 31 deadline, those left behind will almost certainly be dependent on the Taliban\u2019s willingness to cooperate with the U.S. going forward. \u201cTo get the rest of our people out, we will most likely need to continue working with the Taliban,\u201d Meijer said. \u201cWe could spurn that, we could burn that bridge and consign more of our allies to die.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cWhat this means for the long term \u2026 I don\u2019t think we know right now,\u201d he later added. \u201cBut I think the next 20 years of Afghanistan and its future will be decided in the next 20 days.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Rep. Peter Meijer, one of two lawmakers who flew to Kabul this week and saw the very gate where 13 Americans and scores of Afghans would later lose their lives, described how the U.S. now finds itself reliant on the Taliban as it tries to extract thousands of people amid constant terror threats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe aggravating, infuriating reality is that the position we\u2019re in right now, we do not have a choice,\u201d Meijer told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a phone interview Friday. \u201cI wish that weren\u2019t the case \u2026 [but] the shocking reality is that with Taliban security cooperation we have been able to get a large number of folks through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meijer, a freshman Republican from Michigan, quietly <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/25\/peter-meijer-seth-moulton-travel-kabul-us-evacuations-afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flew to Kabul<\/a> on Tuesday alongside Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts. While their trip came under scrutiny from congressional leadership in both parties and the Biden administration, Meijer defended the trip and said that he and Moulton had traveled in a fashion that required no military or diplomatic resources.<\/p>\n<p>Both he and Moulton are veterans who served in Afghanistan, and Meijer sounded audibly frustrated, if not enraged, as he described to the DCNF the chaos unfolding and how Americans had little choice but to be caught in it if they wanted to leave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Their passage] has not been without cases of American citizens being beaten, that is not without cases of people getting turned away, but the alternative is one in which we return to open conflict with the Taliban, and if that happens our forces at the airport will suffer tremendous casualties,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now it\u2019s messy and imperfect, but there are still opportunities to get people through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would be shutting that down forever, and we would have to go into a hostage rescue mode, and we would only be able to get out a small, small sliver of the people we need to, and thousands of the people we need to rescue will be killed,\u201d the congressman said. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/26\/isis-attack-kabul-airport-american-evacuation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(ISIS Will Not Deter Mission To Evacuate Americans From Afghanistan)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7270976\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"33\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7270976\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7270976 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234774569-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"Afghans gather near the military part of the airport in Kabul on August 20. U.S. troops are seen in the background. (WAKIL KOHSAR\/AFP via Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234774569-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234774569-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234774569-620x413-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234774569-768x512-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234774569-1536x1024-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234774569-2048x1365-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7270976\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Afghans gather near the military part of the airport in Kabul on August 20. U.S. troops are seen in the background. (WAKIL KOHSAR\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Even with cooperation from the Taliban thus far, the U.S. faces an impossible task of extracting the hundreds of Americans and thousands of Afghans it has pledged to before its <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/24\/joe-biden-keeping-aug-31-afghanistan-withdrawal-date\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aug. 31 deadline<\/a>. As a result, those left behind will almost certainly be dependent on the terrorist organization\u2019s willingness to cooperate with the U.S. going forward.<\/p>\n<p>The unworkable situation proved enough for Meijer to realize that abiding by the deadline was crucial, despite those left behind and the extreme risk they will face.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, cooperation between the two long-time enemies must continue as the Taliban tries to maintain its own grip over Afghanistan and as imminent terror threats grow. And the attack Thursday, orchestrated by the rival terrorist group ISIS-K that killed American service members and some 170 Afghans right outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, is the clearest indication yet that cooperation from the Taliban is far from an assurance that no more lives will be lost.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo get the rest of our people out, we will most likely need to continue working with the Taliban,\u201d Meijer said. \u201cWe could spurn that, we could burn that bridge and consign more of our allies to die. There is nobody on the ground who wishes this was not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Who\u2019s Accountable?<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cWhat this means for the long term\u2026 I don\u2019t think we know right now,\u201d Meijer said. \u201cBut I think the next 20 years of Afghanistan and its future will be decided in the next 20 days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Washington, however, Meijer was far more certain as to what he thinks should happen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are broad failures where we owe it to the American people, we owe it to our men and women of our armed forces to learn the right lessons from,\u201d he said. \u201cHow was this withdrawal so incompetently mismanaged that we found ourselves in this impossible position?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Meijer called for a \u201cfull accounting\u201d of what led the withdrawal to go so poorly and hoped that those responsible in both the Biden administration and the armed forces recognized their need to resign, he urged Congress and Americans alike to look back at the entirety of the war \u2013 from its lack of a concrete objective to the faulty assessments and rhetoric that fueled it.<\/p>\n<p>The changing mission, Meijer said, was critical to the U.S.\u2019 continued involvement there. Changing the mission from counterterrorism to nation building to economic development to countering narcotics, he asserted, made it all the more easier to keep troops there far longer than was in the nation\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery year for the past 20 years you could ask a general \u2018what is our mission in Afghanistan?\u2019 and you\u2019d probably get a different answer,\u201d Meijer said. \u201cIt\u2019s a large part of the reason why the war lasted for so long and why it ended the way it did.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7270978\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"35\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7270978\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7270978\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234889629-scaled-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234889629-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234889629-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234889629-620x413-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234889629-768x512-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234889629-1536x1024-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1234889629-2048x1365-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7270978\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Taliban fighter stands guard at the site of the where twin suicide bombs killed scores of people, including 13 US troops, at Kabul airport on August 27. (WAKIL KOHSAR\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He also viewed the overseas catastrophe as the clearest reason yet for Congress <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/20\/mike-lee-bernie-sanders-chris-murphy-congress-war-powers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reasserting<\/a> its war-making power over the executive branch. \u201cImagine how different this would have played out if every two years members of Congress would have to decide for themselves whether to approve continuing to send American men and women into harm\u2019s way. Imagine if they had to make half that difficult vote.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would be in the hands of the Taliban today if every single arms sale had to be justified and approved to get the consent of a majority in the House and Senate?\u201d Meijer added.<\/p>\n<p>While Meijer agreed that the war in Afghanistan in its entirety was a bipartisan failure in the hands of both the legislative and executive branches, he like countless Republicans and many Democrats, laid the withdrawal\u2019s execution squarely in the hands of President Joe Biden and his administration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should have never been in this position to begin with,\u201d Meijer said. \u201cI am appalled and outraged at the mismanagement of the withdrawal that the Biden administration has affected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Meijer, unlike some of his Republican colleagues who pounced on the withdrawal to call on Biden to resign or face impeachment, declined to go that far.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf articles are brought forward, I will study them and cast a determination,\u201d Meijer said. \u201cI am operating from a place of pure emotional anger, and so I don\u2019t want to get ahead of our facts on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut let me be very clear,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe need unsparing accountability in this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rep. Peter Meijer, who flew to Kabul this week and saw where 13 Americans and scores of Afghans would later lose their lives, described how the U.S. now finds itself &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-691155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}