Two key Republican senators, channeling President Trump, this week decried the continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan, arguing that, after 19 years, the goals are muddled, the costs in money and lives unjustifiably high, and the accomplishments unclear.
“I want to find a way to end the war,” said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a longtime opponent of the war.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley added, “If we cannot show any progress on any metric — we’ve invested $1 trillion. We’ve lost thousands of lives. I don’t understand. The American people have been hugely patient, hugely patient. I just don’t see what’s going on here.”
Their comments came during a Tuesday afternoon Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing on the costs of the war and the hundreds of pages of audits showing deep corruption and waste in the nation.
Paul’s latest call for a troop withdrawal came just hours after he joined Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at Dover Air Force Base to honor two soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The scene was grim, with grieving family members greeting the caskets.
Trump has privately been urging to withdraw troops, as he promised in his 2016 campaign, but has been stalled by Republicans worried about what will happen there in the aftermath. In the meantime, he has been trying to work a peace deal that will ease the withdrawal of troops.
To make the point that the war hasn’t worked well, Paul invited several experts to testify, including John Sopko, the longtime auditor of the war in his role as the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.
Sopko told Secrets that he is the “eternal optimist” and hopes for a peaceful solution to the constant battles in Afghanistan, but he couldn’t point to many achievements. Asked “what went right,” he said that there are “certain areas we have seen gains.”
He cited protection and advancements for women, improved healthcare and education, enhancements to the Afghan military and air force, and in some anti-corruption initiatives.
Paul said that he is seeing more bipartisan agreement to end the war. “We’re getting to the point where people on both sides of the aisle are saying, ‘Enough is enough,’” he said.
Not focusing on the war with a goal of ending it is “not fair to our soldiers and their families, to put them through this if there is not a vital interest.”
Paul also laid the blame on Congress. “I don’t really blame the generals,” he said, adding, “It’s Congress’s fault. We are in this lingering war because Congress hasn’t done its job.”
