Judge Jeanine slams Biden for 'fumbling' Afghanistan withdrawal
'Justice with Judge Jeanine' host examines the President's troop withdrawal in Afghanistan
This is a rush transcript from "Justice with Judge Jeanine" August 22, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JEANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello and welcome to JUSTICE. I'm Judge Jeanine Pirro, and there is breaking news tonight, as many Americans and our Afghan allies remain in danger overseas as a terrorist organization and brutal anti-American regime is once again in control of Afghanistan, which brings me to my open.
Mark this day as the day the United States of America officially fell from grace as the world's superpower due to the ineptitude, the incompetence and the dereliction of duty by a so-called Commander-in-Chief, a fumbling, idiotic, confused, lying, full, incapable of extricating innocent Americans and Afghan allies from behind enemy lines in the war zone we entered 20 years ago.
As American families of those trapped behind enemy lines, as Afghan- Americans whose families helped us, and indeed Americans of all walks of life are glued to this crisis on television, they are met with government officials who are not only not candid, or are confused, or are just outright lying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No one is being killed right now. God, forgive me if I'm wrong about that, but no one is been killed right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: That's a lie. That doesn't include people falling out of airplanes or remains being found in a wheel well? Take a listen to this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?hunter
BIDEN: No, it is not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Clearly, the Taliban has taken over. They have our weapons, and we can't even get Americans to the airport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: There's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy of the United States from Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: I guess, I shouldn't believe my lying eyes. Take a look at your screen right now. Joe, what do you call this? What are you talking about?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Well, let me be clear. Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: How do you expect any American in danger overseas to even believe you? One day, you tell us to proceed to the airport, but you cannot provide safe passage to that airport. The next day, Americans are told to simply proceed to the airport anyway. Today, we're told not to go to the airport.
This, in spite of your promise that you'll use every resource to carry out the mission. You can't guarantee passage to an airport in a third world country that we've controlled for 20 years, and you give up the Bagram Air Force Base, which is one of the most advanced military bases in the world. You leave us, the United States would one airstrip?
You see the Taliban, that's right, outside the airport with all kinds of sophisticated weaponry. You own that, Joe. You gave it to them. You're the one too busy or too dumb as you go back and forth on your vacations to protect Americans, not even to mention the southern border.
We are now on the razor's edge. You leave Americans -- American citizens who put their lives on the line for American, barbarians who shoot women who won't cover their faces, who take young girls as brides, who have daily carnivals to watch the stoning of women and gays to death.
[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]
PIRRO: You leave American citizens and Afghan allies who put their lives on the line for America, when there was no reason? You don't have the slightest idea what you're doing. You are clueless. But more than that, you are dangerous. And you bloviate about how you're being received so well by the international community. Your "America is back."
Hey, stupid. The U.K. Parliament condemned the United States, holding Joe Biden in contempt for the debacle in Afghanistan. The head of German Chancellor Merkel's party described the withdrawal as quote, "The biggest NATO debacle since its founding," while the Brits and the French stunned at the unilateral withdrawal by the United States without even an e-mail, without even a phone call, even a return call to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Brits and the French damned the torpedoes and did what everyone in this country would expect America to do, and that is get out from behind this make believe barrier and go out and rescue their citizens. And you -- you do nothing of the kind.
And remember, Joe, the Brits, the French, the Germans, the Dutch, and the Aussies, they are not there because they were attacked. They're there because we were attacked on 9/11. They did this for us, you ungrateful, tone deaf, taxpayer funded career politician.
And Mr. Cool, do you even give a damn? Or is this all about scooping up millions like you're drugged up son from Russia, the Ukraine and China? You were so dumb you don't even admit the fear or the chaos, the hysteria, the children shot and beaten, whipped and brutalized, people running from Taliban gunfire. You're too cool to admit that?
No, nobody has died? No one has died? Are you watching cartoons all day?
You have single handedly put Americans in danger. You have single handedly outsourced the protection of Americans to the Taliban. And don't act so stunned. Everyone knew what you and Barack were doing by emptying out Gitmo even civilians like me seven years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Could it be, Mr. President, he was your excuse to release five Taliban terrorists from Gitmo. Those five men the worst of the worst, some wanted by the U.N. for mass murders, killing thousands, al-Qaeda connected, they hate America and everything we stand for. And you release them knowing many return to the battlefield.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: The truth, this dirt bag on your screen now, who your friend Obama released for another dirt bag, a deserter by the name of Bowe Bergdahl is now back on the battlefield. But not only back on the battlefield, he is in fact in charge of the Taliban, you fools.
We were warned you were inept. We knew in our hearts that you were. You have consistently had the worst foreign policy strategy and diplomatic responses in recent history.
The truth is, Mr. President, you should not only be impeached as Commander- in-Chief, you should be court martialed.
And that's my open.
Let me know what you think on my Facebook and Twitter, #JudgeJeanine.
Here with a reaction to my open and the continuing terror in Afghanistan, Senator Lindsey Graham.
I understand now, we have another guest National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien.
Robert O'Brien? Do we have Robert O'Brien on the show?
Okay, should we go back to Lindsey graham? Well, I guess we're going to break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Sorry for the technical difficulties. But joining me now to talk about the continuing terror in Afghanistan, Senator Lindsey Graham. Senator, you heard my open. What's your reaction to it?
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): You must have shut down the airwaves because we went off the air. Yes, dead on so. So let me tell you, we got cyberattacked by somebody.
So, let me tell you what's on my mind. Everything you said it's true. But judge, I'm worried tonight that we're running our people from Taliban into the ISIS hands. It's almost the Jurassic Park of terrorism.
People are together in a big wad right outside the airport. How easy would it be for an ISIS suicide bomber to blow up our troops and all the people trying to get out? We need to correct that and we need to correct now. We need to push the perimeter back at the airport.
We need to open up Bagram Air Base to have another way to get out, and we need to cancel the 31 August deadline because we can't get our people out.
The bottom line. This is an ill-conceived, disjointed, half ass effort to get American citizens and those who fought for us out of Afghanistan and the Intel failure in this whole debacle is Joe Biden himself.
It's not the quality of the Intelligence, it is the quality the man receiving the Intel. He was wrong about Iraq. He was wrong about killing bin Laden. He's been wrong about everything.
He got up in front of the world and said, "Al-Qaeda is out of Afghanistan." I mean, good God, is the man brain dead?
He also said the Taliban are waving people through the checkpoint, does he not have a television? This is just so disturbing. And he says our allies agree with what he's doing. Well, all of that is dead wrong and I'm worried about an ISIS attack at the airport that could kill thousands of people, including Americans who are sitting ducks.
If we don't change this plan quickly, we are going to get a lot of people killed by ISIS, not the Taliban.
PIRRO: You know, as if it isn't frightening enough the way it is already. I mean, what you say is clearly -- it would be devastating. It seems that no one is in charge. But you know when you say we should take back the Bagram Air Base, how do we do that? What leverage do we have?
When we get up and leave in the middle of the night and don't even tell our NATO partners that we're leaving, don't even answer their phone calls, what leverage do we have to take back Bagram?
GRAHAM: We have the finest military in the world, and we should use it to save American citizens trapped behind enemy lines. If you ask the military for volunteers tonight to go to Afghanistan to rescue our people, and those who fought with us, you'd have a million go.
Take the Air Base by force, if you had to. Tell the Taliban, we're going to fight to get our people out. If you want to fight, you'll have one, but we're going to stay until we get our people out. We're going to move the perimeter back at the Kabul Airport so we can have some organization, and we're going to cancel the 31 August deadline, and we're going to reopen Bagram Air Base. It is way out in the middle of nowhere. It's a great platform.
And tell the Taliban, if you get in our way, we're going to crush you. The leverage we have is we are the United States of America, we are flat on our back, we're not back.
I've never been more disappointed and disillusioned to be an American citizen as I am right now. We have a Commander-in-Chief who is completely incapable of putting the puzzle together, he's put all these people in harm's way. He has no idea of what he is doing.
He was giving different options, he chose the most dangerous and dishonorable option available. He did that same damn thing in Iraq. He has been wrong about everything for 40 years, and this plan that we're trying to execute is going to get a lot of Americans killed and those who fought along our side, because ISIS is going to take advantage of the chaos at the airport.
We need to fix this, and we need to fix it quick.
PIRRO: Well, you know, and obviously, the thought of sending, you know, more troops in is one that is not, you know, it doesn't seem palatable to a lot of people. But it will simply be, as you suggest, for the purpose of getting Americans and our allies out. You know, why is no one trying to get our Afghan allies out?
We're opening the southern border for the drug dealers and everyone else, and we don't seem to give a damn -- these people at least have aligned themselves with Americans to the point where they're going to die if they're left there.
GRAHAM: Well, so let me just say this. I can speak for one group and one group only. I don't poll when I decide what to do about Afghanistan or Iraq. I go there. I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan 57 times. I saw this coming a long time ago. Thank God, President Trump had a condition space withdrawal. I missed him tonight.
But if you ask the military, would you risk your life to go back in Afghanistan to get our people out? They would say yes. We may lose some people to do this. But the one thing we will never lose if we do this right is our honor, and who the hell is going to fight with us in the future, if we're not willing to fight for these people now? Who's going to fight with us in the future?
You can fight this war in our backyard or the enemy's backyard. I choose their backyard. You can fight it alone or with partners. And if you're going to have partners, you've got to have honorable actions toward those partners.
So, we had the military capability to open up Bagram, let's open it. We have the ability to establish a perimeter around the airport that is safer, let's do it. Let's do what the French and the Germans are doing, going out and getting our people and cancel the 31 August deadline. There's no way in hell we can get everybody out by then.
This just takes will, it's not a capability problem. It is a will problem. And we have a Commander-in-Chief who doesn't have the understanding for the situation that is presenting ourselves as a nation and a lot of people are going to get killed if we don't change and we don't change soon.
PIRRO: Senator Lindsey Graham, thank you so much. It's not just that he doesn't understand, he understands, he doesn't have the will and he has put us on a world stage. We are literally, as you say on our backs now, but thank you, Senator Lindsey Graham.
And we delve deeper into Biden's destruction of America's credibility on the world stage, the frightening Intel failures and what it means for our safety here at home. Former National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACKIE IBANEZ, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to "FOX News Live." I'm Jackie Ibanez. Millions of people in New York and New England brace for the unwelcome arrival of Henri. The storm is expected to strike the tip of Long Island, New York around noon tomorrow as Category One Hurricane. From there, it might move toward Connecticut or Rhode Island creating disruptive storm surges and leaving behind mass floods and power outages. Henri is the first hurricane to pummel the region in 30 years.
On the other side of the country, another major threat as high winds fan a large wildfire in Northern California, 40 mile per hour winds and the forecast could fuel the Caldor fire. It's one of more than a dozen wildfires there in California. Some fire officials fear they may continue to burn through December.
I'm Jackie Ibanez, now back to JUSTICE WITH JUDGE JEANINE. For all of your headlines, you can log on to foxnews.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world. I've spoken with our NATO allies. The fact of the matter is, I have not seen that -- as a matter of fact, the exact opposite -- I've got the exact opposite that we are acting with dispatch we are acting -- committing to what we said we would do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: No question of credibility. Really? In reality, as the world watches the horrific images that continue to pour out of Afghanistan, can the United States restore credibility after Biden's disastrous response?
Former Trump National Security adviser, Robert O'Brien joins me now to weigh in on that, and more. Good evening.
ROBERT O'BRIEN, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Great to be with you, Judge.
PIRRO: Okay, I'll start with this. How do we show that we mean what we say? And how do we get our Americans out of Afghanistan after having virtually given the Taliban all of our weapons?
O'BRIEN: Well, I think on the second question, Lindsey Graham -- Senator Graham had some great ideas about reopening Bagram, expanding the perimeter around the Kabul Airport. We've got to make sure that we're doing what the French and the British are doing. The British are sending out one of their elite units to go gather their citizens or subjects out of Kabul.
PIRRO: But we are not.
O'BRIEN: We need to be affirmatively going out and finding out -- we need to start and we need to get those Americans home safely.
But what I'm concerned about is the bigger picture and what comes next, Jeanine, and that is, you know, you see what the Chinese are doing with their "Global Times." They are the Communist Party's mouthpiece. They've already published an editorial, a psychological warfare aimed at the people of Taipei, in Taiwan, and they've said, this is your future, this is what's going to happen after we invade, the Americans are going to abandon you, and you're going to be surrendering to us very shortly. And that's the sort of thing that really does hurt our credibility.
And so over the weekend, John Ratcliffe, our former Director of National Intelligence and I got together and, and came up with a list of things that wouldn't cost much that would have had bipartisan support, and we've got to move out. We've got to first take care of the Americans to get them home, we need to salvage our credibility to the extent we can in Afghanistan, and then we've got to move out across the world to do some things to reestablish American leadership among our allies.
We are going to pay for this crisis for many, many years going forward.
PIRRO: And so, I guess, I can take from that, that you believe that we have suffered on the world stage and that China is now in a position to take advantage, and I understand that China and Russia are doing joint military exercises, are you aware of that?
O'BRIEN: We are aware of them. The theater wide exercises are some of the biggest exercises that have been conducted by any country over the past 30 or 40 years. And again, that's to send a message to our friends and allies in the Pacific -- the New Zealanders, the Australians, the Japanese, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, that they're on the move, and that they are powerful, and that the U.S. is suffering and has suffered a massive defeat and should come over to the other side of the authoritarian.
So, we need to do things like speeding up the delivery of weapons of that Taiwan has already bought from the United States. We need to get those weapons to Taiwan immediately. We need to go out and renegotiate our Compact of Free association with Palau and Micronesia, the Marshall Islands where we have access -- our military has access to vast swaths of the Pacific. We need to renegotiate that deal and get it done.
We need to put a Coast Guard Cutter in American Samoa. People in the Democratic Party talked about caring about Pacific Islanders and Asian- Americans, and yet in Samoa where American Samoa, we have 50,000 Americans, they have no military presence out in the Pacific and they're being ravaged by illegal unreported and unregulated Chinese fishing.
We need a Coast Guard Cutter to American Samoa. So, there are a whole bunch of things that we can do at very little cost, but that would be very important to send a message right now at a time when the world thinks we're down.
PIRRO: But the question is, does the President have number one, you know, they say lack of Intelligence. I think it is lack of the President's Intelligence to be honest with you. He doesn't have the intelligence or the will to do any of the things that you and the other experts are recommending.
So right now, we are sitting ducks in Afghanistan. We can't even get our people out. We're telling them but you know, go to the airport. And we've got this guy Milley -- the head of the Joint Chiefs, Milley and the Secretary of Defense Austin, and I understand that you were in a room when Trump was there and Trump as what would be the consequences of pulling out the troops. And that my understanding is that, you know, Milley said that there would be terrible consequences that you couldn't do that until the Americans were out. Do you remember that?
O'BRIEN: Well, the President made very clear he did not want a Saigon- style exit. He did want to move troops out of Afghanistan and put them in the Pacific and that's another thing we need to make sure we do to deter the Chinese who are building a massive Navy and putting the United States at risk.
But he also said I don't want a Saigon style retreat from Afghanistan. And he knew that and General Milley knew that and that was our policy. We wanted -- The President didn't want to leave any equipment behind in Afghanistan and we've had billions of dollars -- the taxpayers have paid billions dollars in this equipment that's been left behind.
The Taliban is going to be one of the best equipped armies in the entire world, not just in the region but in the world. So yes, the President understood this. And keep in mind when President Trump left office, there were 2,500 Americans there, but more importantly, there were 5,000 NATO troops there.
So we had two to one, for the first time in many, many years. President Trump, who negotiated with NATO and Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, to make sure that there were 5,000 NATO troops there as well. So Kabul was free. The situation was under control and, and we've got to get back to that situation at least long enough to evacuate the Americans and our friends and allies in in Kabul and the rest of Afghanistan.
We need to get those who helped us and put their lives on the line. We need to get them out of that country and to safety as soon as possible.
PIRRO: You know, and if we don't, Robert, we will be the ugly Americans. We will be people for whom people put their lives on the line and ended up dying anyway.
Robert O'Brien, thank you very much for being with us. And just as I thought, Milley knew. Milley knew what the consequences were. He knew from the Trump administration.
And just ahead, as Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, one Afghan journalist spoke out amid the chaos, her powerful message and Lara Logan's, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAZIRA KARIMI, AFGHAN JOURNALIST: As you know, I'm from Afghanistan and I'm very upset today because Afghan women didn't expect that overnight all the Taliban came. They took off my flag. This is my flag.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: That brave Afghan reporter, Nazira Karimi will never stop fighting for the Afghanistan she loves. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PIRRO: Nazira, thank you so much for being here tonight. You are a respected journalist and reporter and someone that we have seen on television pleading with the President. What is it that is happening in Afghanistan that you want to not happen?
KARIMI: As you know, you know, Afghanistan is a crisis. It's a big tragedy. Afghanistan people right now, they know what to do. That's why I am here to raise my voice, voice for Afghan voiceless, especially Afghan women.
PIRRO: Nazira, what will happen to the Afghan women and the children?
KARIMI: As I experienced them, like 25 years ago, 20 years ago, Taliban prevented women to go to school, Taliban prevented kids. But that big consideration of my big consideration, especially me as a journalist, Taliban established a lot of Madrasa, many, many Madrasa in Pakistan, which is brainwash kids.
I'm so upset, and I'm so concerned about future. Kids in Afghanistan, they will have dark future. Women and children, generally, Afghan people, they're under a lot of situation, if Taliban continue their policy and their situation. Of course, there is no future, dark future, dark future.
PIRRO: When you say -- Nazira, when you say dark future? What will the Taliban do to these people?
KARIMI: The Taliban repeated the same policy, the old policy, the policy that we would deal with in Afghanistan, captured Afghanistan on 1996. They killed men. They killed women. They prevented women to go to school -- like kids. They prevented the woman to be in the society.
The Taliban, you know, ideology. This is Taliban's or Talib is ideology. Ideology, I doubt it to change somebody's ideology. How can we change? You're a judge, you're a very kind woman. You are so generous, and you have a lot of experience as a woman, as a judge.
What do you think? What is it? What is your judgment about somebody that has a daughter, and very, very negative experience and repetition? Of course, kids, they are today's kids, tomorrow's future. Kids are like sponge. Afghanistan kids have a lot of expectation. The United States is supposed to bring some opportunity for them. The United States is supposed to raise the program for refugee visas number for Afghanistan, people.
Thousands of people they are outside the airport right now. They sleep nighttime and daytime, and they are waiting to leave the country. Why are our people suffering all the time? This is 20 years, more than 20 years that Afghan people suffered. Why? I don't know what game is played in Afghanistan. Why Afghanistan doesn't deserve the right to live in peace. What is our problem?
PIRRO: All right, Nazira. Thank you, Nazira Karimi. Thank you for being with us tonight. Thank you and God bless.
KARIMI: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PIRRO: Here with reaction to that JUSTICE exclusive, FOX Nation host and former war correspondent, Lara Logan. You know, Lara, you could hear the pain. You could hear the anxiety, you could hear, you know, the experience that Nazira clearly has, and what is expected to happen.
Although, I don't know that she described in depth in detail what will happen, what will Afghan women face and then I want to talk to you about what is going on in terms of the different tribes in Afghanistan.
LARA LOGAN, FOX NATION HOST, "LARA LOGAN HAS NO AGENDA": Well, this is a death sentence for Afghan women. Basically, for those who, you know, aren't executed or assassinated, for being policewomen or in the Army or working in the government, they will be subjected to a life of hell, without joy, without lights basically.
Imagine everything that is dark. These people are forces of darkness. Their ideology is a force of true evil. And it is not supported by the vast majority of Muslims all over the world and in Afghanistan itself.
Women are imprisoned in their own homes. They cannot leave without permission from a man. The burqa itself, I've worn a burqa, because I've lived in Afghanistan and it gives you an extraordinary headache. It's designed to only fit one size of head, and to be too small, because the pain is meant to be a reminder to every woman not to leave their house.
They want to limit your ability to move outside. They're made of polyester anyway, and it's brutally, brutally uncomfortable in the heat and humidity over there.
You have no rights. Most women are beaten in their homes. I've heard some of them describe how they've broken their wife's arm for leaving the house without permission, things like that.
But no one can forget the images of women being executed in the stadium in Kabul. And you know, that clip that you have been showing, that young woman whose face is pressed up against the bars, who is screaming, "The Taliban is coming," it's all she can say. And you can feel and hear the abject terror in her voice.
And that's because these people rule with fear. They are absolutely brutal. And this is not some failed experiment in America. Millions of Afghans believe in having women in the workplace and having rights for women, and having freedom and a free press. And what the United States has done in turning its back on these people cannot be solved by just evacuating the Americans.
You can't just abandon the Afghan people in this way on the world stage. Your moral authority is weakened and we're sort of accepting this false position that it's all done. There's nothing you can do and it's over. Just get your people out and then try and regain your credibility by putting a carrier somewhere in the in the Taiwan Straits. Give me a break.
You need allies. That's how you protect yourself. You project power, walk softly, carry a big stick, and you actually stand by your allies. You don't just use them.
Every American citizen everywhere in the world today is less safe because of this. Because why can't any of our allies say, you know what? We're done with you, United States. You didn't do what you promised and we've spent enough blood and treasure and by the way, we're handing you over to your enemies to slit your throats in the night, and good luck to you. We don't care. Is that the message?
PIRRO: Lara Logan, you are one smart woman. Thank you so much.
And be sure to watch Lara's special tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. right here. "Lara Logan has No Agenda" "Sacrificing Afghanistan," I'll be watching it.
And still ahead new fears as we learn more about the extent of the U.S. weapons the Taliban now controls. Colonel David Hunt reacts next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Biden has botched exit in Afghanistan is the most astonishing display of gross incompetence by a nation's leader, perhaps at any time that anybody has ever seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Former President Trump just moments ago at a rally in Alabama slamming Biden's complete failure in Afghanistan.
Colonel David Hunt joins me now with reaction. Good evening, Colonel.
COL. DAVID HUNT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL MILITARY ANALYST: Hi.
PIRRO: Hi. Okay. I'm going to ask a question that -- assume I'm asking you this at the beginning, not now. Did the President have the people and the equipment available to him to get all Americans out and all our Afghan allies out?
HUNT: Yes, sure. Up until about 70 days ago, many days ago, yes, absolutely we did.
PIRRO: Okay, and is there any reason that you can think of why he didn't think that that was a good idea?
HUNT: No, I can't get anyone to -- certainly not a President. I think like -- I think it needs to be said I think the decision that Trump made and later that Biden made was the right decision to get out, which is catastrophic as how we're doing it. But he was advised -- that this was not an Intel failure or a Department of Defense failure. This is a presidential decision failure.
The President has been told and briefed, what was happening when the best time to pull out was, the problems going to be et cetera, and he made this call. I do not understand why, but it's awful. Because of Saigon, which we saw and should have learned from, this is actually worse.
PIRRO: Well, it certainly is worse than Saigon. Plus in addition to that, I mean, we have so much sophisticated equipment, artillery tanks and all of our weaponry is now in the hands of the Taliban. It's almost as though Joe Biden says, look, we will be there for a few years and we'll give you our weapons. How did that happen?
HUNT: Same way it happened in Iraq when ISIS came across the border of the Iraqi military, 60,000 ran away. We spent $48 billion training the Afghan army for 20 years, and with that came equipment. We turned the equipment over to them for their use. They ran off the battlefield. They were also bribed, as was the government.
The government collapsed and with that, the equipment you mentioned. It's an extensive amount of very sophisticated gear and weaponry and Intelligence equipment. They will certainly be the best equipped military in that region for a long time, but that's what happens when you try to do nation building and you don't pull it off.
PIRRO: Well, now you have enough experience, Colonel Hunt. I mean, I've known you for many years. I mean, this is your -- this is the essence of who you are. Now, how do we get these people out of Afghanistan?
HUNT: First of all, you have to let the commander on the ground, guy named Donahue, Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division to do his job. Right now, if you want to support his guys outside the wire of Kabul, they have to ask the White House to do that. That's wrong. It takes too much time. It's bureaucratic.
We need to get one or get all the Americans in Kabul home and all of the Afghans that we promised home and not worry about how he does it -- Donahue. The American soldier is the best in the world. We know how to do this. But we can't be allowing decisions to be made at the White House when we're going to go down to Smith Street and save a couple of Americans. That can't be and that's what's happening right now.
PIRRO: And why would the President not give permission for the military to go outside of that make believe barrier?
HUNT: It's sometimes called, good after bad. They don't -- it's a bad decision. It's the same thing happened with Benghazi. But that somebody is briefing him that there could be trouble, we could get in a fight with the Taliban. It's all nonsense. We've got soldiers there to do one thing, get Americans home first, get the Afghans home and then get themselves home. That's it. And we know how to do this.
PIRRO: And so would you agree that we have lost our footing on the world stage, Colonel Hunt?
HUNT: We've lost a step or two. It is going to take a while to get it back. This is embarrassing. We've got a great military, a great Intelligence Community. They weren't at fault here, which is a one-man decision and we are just going to take a while to make this up.
PIRRO: All right, Colonel David Hunt, always good to see you. Thanks.
And next, as we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Afghanistan veteran and FOX News contributor, Joey Jones talks about the sacrifices he and his fellow men and women in uniform made to keep us safe. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Afghanistan veteran and FOX News contributor, Joey Jones joins me now with the reaction to Afghanistan's fall to the Taliban and everything that we've seen over the last horrific week.
Joey, thanks so much for being here tonight. You did a tour in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan and you lost both legs in Afghanistan. What has this week been like for you?
JOEY JONES, AFGHANISTAN VETERAN AND FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, you know, my legs aren't a big deal. I recovered. I'm totally fine with that. It is the brothers I lost overseas. It's the brothers that I lost in Afghanistan that piss me off at this.
We're not mad because of our sacrifice. We're mad because this man couldn't give us -- we risked life, limb, and eternal peace in this war and did so gladly. And this man in the White House couldn't give us the dignity of quitting with honor. He couldn't give us that much and that and that hurts.
Listen, Google the name Danny Ridgeway, a Silver Star recipient, one of my best friends. I've got a guy upstairs right now in my home. He was a Green Beret and served honorably in Afghanistan, Africa, and South America. He's got bullet wounds he is recovering from today and he gets a text message as a veteran that they want him as a civilian to go into Afghanistan with nonprofit organizations and rescue people because our President won't let our military do it. That's the situation we're in.
The idea that veterans -- a veteran sitting in my home with bullet holes in him may be the one that goes and save these people because our President won't let our military do it. This is unconscionable.
PIRRO: Well, you know, what we heard from the N.S.A., the head of the N.S.A., O'Brien who was on earlier said that he was in the room when Mark Milley was told by all the experts that if we left early without having a plan for our people to get out that it would be a catastrophe. So Milley knew, Biden knew. They all knew.
Why are they doing this to us, to American families, to us on the world stage, to our Afghan partners? Why?
JONES: Because it's a game of optics and politics. I'll tell you one thing, there's been four Presidents preside over this war. Joe Biden is the only one that did not inherit this war. You could argue that George Bush inherited Bill Clinton's mistakes in letting this happen to begin with. But Joe Biden was Vice President, he gave this war as Vice President to Donald Trump.
So, for him to walk up there and tell the American people in a straight face that somehow this is something he inherited. That's just a lie.
Listen, I don't have any love loss for any President. I don't get to be partisan when I'm pleading for the lives and dignity of my fellow brothers and sisters that are there now today. This isn't about partisanship.
Listen, President Trump sat across the table with his administration with the Taliban and that was a bad look and probably a pipe dream. But the idea was give the Taliban a voice within Afghanistan, and maybe they won't terrorize it.
President Biden turned that into give Afghanistan to the Taliban, and maybe I'll get this done before the midterms, so I can run for re-election without it being a current issue and that's despicable.
PIRRO: It is despicable. And you know what, he did it without a concern for the American people. He is the lowest of the low.
Joey Jones, thank you for your service. Thank you for being here tonight.
And everyone, don't forget to set your DVR so you never miss a show. You can catch more of me at cameo.com/judgejeanine.
I'm Jeanine Pirro advocating for truth, Justice and the American way.
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