US senator Linsey Graham warned on Saturday that withdrawing troops from Afghanistan would lead to “another 9/11” attacks.
“If we left tomorrow, the Taliban cannot be trusted to take care of ISIS and Al Qaeda,” Graham said in an interview with Fox News. “They don’t have the capability. So when you ask our intelligence community…what would happen to America if we withdrew all of our forces. They tell us without any hesitation it would lead to another 9/11 in a matter of time.”
The Republican, who is the chairman of US Senate Judiciary Committee, said that such attacks would happen in a matter of “years not decades.”
The warning comes as the US is holding ninth round of talks with the Taliban that involve also counter-terrorism assurances and troop withdrawal.
The sides are expected to finalize their agreement in this round of talks which is happening in Qatar capital Doha.
Graham argued that the Taliban don’t have the capacity to remove terrorist groups. He said that he had been briefed by top US commander in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, that the Afghan version of Islamic State is trying to set up operations against America and are perhaps more lethal than Al Qaeda.
“It would be insane to outsource our national security to the Taliban when it comes to ISIS,” he said.
The senator said that the US could reduce its troops in Afghanistan safely to 8,600 but anything below that is a “high-risk strategy.”
He plans to introduce legislation to create a backstop measure to require the secretaries of state and defense to certify that reducing troop levels would not endanger US national security.
According to the senator, a combination of the intelligence community plus a strong counterterrorism force is a “strong insurance policy” against IS attacks.
“You take those two things off the table it’s just a matter of time ’til we get hit,” he warned.
