The Homeland Security Cost of the Biden Administration’s Catastrophic Withdrawal from Afghanistan

On April 18, 2023, Senior Fellow Nathan Sales offered testimony at a hearing on ‘The Homeland Security Cost of the Biden Administration’s Catastrophic Withdrawal from Afghanistan’ hosted by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence. The hearing discussed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, which led to the death of 13 U.S. servicemembers and at least 170 Afghans in an ISIS-K orchestrated terrorist attack. In his testimony, Ambassador Sales noted: “The terrorist threat environment in Afghanistan has deteriorated dramatically since August 2021 – and it is getting worse. Due to a combination of Taliban-provided safe haven, the Taliban’s lack of counterterrorism capability, and the absence of sustained counterterrorism pressure from the United States, Afghanistan has become hospitable terrain for a variety of terrorist groups.”