Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said the attack in Moscow that left more than 130 people dead and dozens of others injured is a “very dangerous echo of President Biden’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan” in 2021.
“I’m quite worried, Shannon, as you saw what ISIS from Afghanistan was able to do in Moscow a couple days ago. This is the unfortunate echo of President Biden’s chaotic and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Cotton told Fox News’ Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.” “It’s the same group that killed 13 Americans.”
“Just a few days ago with Armed Services Committee, I asked our commanding general in the Middle East about ISIS’s capacity to project attacks from Afghanistan. He said that in as little as six months, and turned out to be closer to six days, that ISIS from Afghanistan with little or no warning could attack Western interests across Asia and Europe,” he continued.
Islamic State-Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, took credit for the attack on Moscow on Friday, which left at least 133 people dead and more than 100 others injured during a mass shooting at Crocus City Hall, a concert venue. The Kremlin announced this weekend that 11 suspects, including four suspected of direct involvement in the attack, were arrested.
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“And that’s exactly what we’ve seen happen. It’s deeply regrettable that innocent civilians, women and children were killed in Moscow, but the next attacks can be against an American Embassy in Asia or in Europe or against, say, students traveling to Europe on a school trip for spring break. Again, this is a very dangerous echo of President Biden’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Cotton continued.
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 was considered a failure by many Republicans on Capitol Hill, as well as pundits and critics of the president.
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The withdrawal from Afghanistan led to the deaths of 13 U.S. service members defending the Kabul airport during the operation, while hundreds of Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan allies were left in the country under Taliban rule. ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing at the airport. Critics such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the withdrawal paved the way for adversaries like Russia to invade Ukraine, in a war that has continued for more than two years.
Cotton continued that “you don’t even have to sit on the Intelligence Committee” to be “very worried” about ISIS terrorists attacking Americans, whether in the homeland or traveling abroad.
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“You can just listen to what the commanding general of our forces in the Middle East said, that in as little as six months you could have an attack like this. And again, it turned out to be six days. He said it might be a little bit longer to project that kind of attack against the American homeland or the Western Hemisphere. But again, we have millions of Americans who live or travel abroad throughout Europe and Asia, embassies, businesses there. So I’m deeply worried that ISIS from Afghanistan will end up targeting Americans sooner rather than later,” he said.
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Following the tragic attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed that those responsible would be “justly and inevitably punished.”
“All the perpetrators, organizers and those who ordered this crime will be justly and inevitably punished. Whoever they are, whoever is guiding them,” Putin said. “We will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this strike against Russia, against our people.”
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