International
Obama’s Defense Secretary says ‘our national security is threatened by what has happened in Afghanistan’
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”846795″ player=”23886″ title=”Sara%20Carter%20Breaks%20Down%20’terror%20That%20Is%20Reaping%20Through%20Kabul'” duration=”undefined” description=”Fox News contributor weighs in on the Taliban gaining control of parts of Afghanistan on ‘Hannity'” uploaddate=”2021-08-17″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/18168/thumb/846795_t_1629191833.png” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/18168/sd/846795.mp4″]
By Jenny Goldsberry
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta railed against President Biden for botching the Afghanistan withdrawal. According to him, it could translate directly into a national security threat on American soil. Panetta appeared on MSNBC Tuesday to share his predictions.
“I don’t think there’s any question that our national security is threatened by what has happened in Afghanistan,” Panetta told host Andrea Mitchell. “We went there for two missions. One, to go after al-Qaeda and the leadership of al-Qaeda and bin Laden because of what they did in attacking our country on 9/11. And we were successful at going after al-Qaeda, and obviously I’m very proud of the mission to go after bin Laden. But there was a second mission, which was to prevent Afghanistan from ever becoming a safe haven for terrorism again.”
Biden echoed this statement during his address on Afghanistan earlier this week. Then, he explained the mission from the beginning was “never supposed to be nation-building,” or “unifying.” Instead, he said it was about “preventing another terrorist attack on American homeland.”
“Unfortunately, we have failed at that mission,” Panetta said. “And with the Taliban now controlling Afghanistan, there is no question that they will provide a safe haven for al-Qaeda and for ISIS and for other terrorists to be able to reorganize, strengthen themselves again and potentially use Afghanistan as a base for attacking not just the United States, but other countries as well.”
During his speech, Biden was proud to be the ending the war that lasted five presidencies. But Panetta, who served under the Obama administration, said claimed the U.S. has lost all cooperation from the Afghans.
“This is a national security threat and it’s not going to be easy to go into Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban,” he said. “When we were there, we had the cooperation of the Afghans. We worked with the military. There were a lot of partnerships involved. We had good intelligence on where the targets were. We’ll have none of that with Taliban control.”
You can follow Jenny Goldsberry on Twitter @jennyjournalism.
Follow Steve Postal: @HebraicMosaic
———
What would a new Trump administration mean for the Middle East? Expect the following:
Increased Pressure on Iran and its Proxies
Brian Hook, Trump’s former special envoy to Iran who is believed to be leading Trump’s transition team for the State Department, stated that the new Trump administration would seek to “…isolate Iran diplomatically and weaken them economically, so that they can’t fund all of the violence…” coming from Iran’s proxies, “…all of whom destabilize Israel and our Gulf partners.” This approach contrasts with the Biden-Harris administration, who engaged the Islamic Republic diplomatically and economically, and even removed the Houthis from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity list from February 2021 through January 2024. That being said, Hook also stated that the new Trump administration would have “no interest in regime change” in Iran, and that decisions about the future of Iran lies with its people.
The Trump administration may green light an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. GOP spokeswoman Elizabeth Pipko refused to say whether President-elect Trump would approve of Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear sites, stating that Trump should speak for himself on this issue and will do so when he assumes office. However, Trump had stated in October that Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear sites. In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration vocally opposed Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear sites or oil fields, and Israel’s attack plans were leaked to Iran through someone in the Biden-Harris administration’s Defense department.
Striving to End Wars in Lebanon and Gaza
According to Pipko, President-elect Trump wants Israel to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon quickly, decisively, and with victory. Pipko contrasted this approach with the Biden-Harris administration’s “back and forth” policy, and that the Biden-Harris administration was pressuring how Israel conducts war based on election considerations. The Biden-Harris administration was guilty of “armchair quarterbacking” Israel’s wars in an unproductive way, including by leaking Israel’s plans to strike Lebanon, opposing the Rafah invasion, and opposing the killing of several arch-terrorists.
Trump will also likely prioritize the release of the hostages; Trump recently threatened Hamas, stating that if they did not free its hostages before inauguration day, it will pay “a very big price.” In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration has been spinning its wheels in endless failed diplomacy with Qatar, having not produced a hostage deal with Hamas since November 2023.
Pursuing a Conditional Peace with Palestinians
President-elect Donald Trump will likely re-visit his 2020 peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians, according to Brian Hook. Regarding the 2020 plan, Hook stated that “much of that work is still relevant today.”
On the issue of a Palestinian state, expect that the Trump administration won’t pursue a Palestinian state unconditionally for its own sake, as the Biden-Harris administration has. Hook conceded that Trump’s 2020 plan, which was endorsed by Israel and U.S.’ allies in the Gulf, “had a path to a two-state solution.” But Hook also recognized that Israelis are not focused on a Palestinian state now, and are instead focused on protecting themselves from terrorism in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Additionally, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas outright rejected the 2020 plan, and the plan also required the PA to provide security guarantees for Israel, recognize Israel, and allow Israeli citizens to remain in Judea and Samaria, all of which the PA did not agree to. If the new Trump administration seeks to revive this plan, it will likely revive these conditions for a Palestinian state as well. The PA will then in turn likely reject it a second time, proving again that the PA is not a partner for peace.
Expanding the Abraham Accords
President-elect Trump is also poised to expand the Abraham Accords. Trump brokered normalization deals between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Reportedly, the previous Trump administration was on the verge of expanding the Abraham Accords to Indonesia and Mauritania, but were prevented from doing so once the administration’s term expired. During the past Trump administration, Saudi Arabia had been trying to get Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords as well.
In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration failed to add any countries to the Abraham Accords. Most notably is the administration’s failure to clinch an Israel-Saudi Arabia deal after chilling US relations with Saudi Arabiaand insisting on a Palestinian state as an integral part of any deal. The Biden-Harris administration seems content with now pursuing a bilateral US-Saudi deal that ices out Israel, which would completely undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords.
Jared Kushner has had multiple discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the issue of US-Israel-Saudi relations since President-elect Trump left office. So given past efforts, the new Trump administration could clinch Abraham Accords deals with Indonesia, Mauritania, Oman, and/or the big prize, Saudi Arabia.
-
Immigration7 days ago‘Times’ Up’ For Tren de Aragua Members, Major Arrest in NYC
-
Media6 days agoTHE POOR DEARS: White House Reporters Claim They’re Already ‘Exhausted’ by Second Trump Administration
-
Immigration6 days agoCNN Host’s Reaction to Tom Homan Comments About Denver Mayor Speaks Volumes (VIDEO)
-
Politics5 days agoBiden Omits God From Thanksgiving Message
