Press Releases

All Americans have personally felt the negative consequences of the Biden Administration’s domestic policy choices. Rampant inflation, spurred in large part by the multi-trillion-dollar spending packages touted by the President, is now costing families an extra $700 per month in spending.

And then there are the Biden Administration’s energy policies, which have severely hampered domestic oil and gas production and made permitting new fossil fuel projects extremely difficult (including recently canceling Alaskan drilling leases). As a result, everyone continues to pay more at the pump.

Everywhere we go, prices are up and in turn, life is more difficult.

Unfortunately, the Administration’s flawed policies are not only seen here in the U.S. – they also extend to the world stage.

This past August marked the two-year anniversary of Biden’s chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan. Within hours of the withdrawal, Afghanistan’s President Ghani had fled, and control of the country ceded to the Taliban.

The Administration’s poor planning led to troops abandoning Bagram Airfield in the middle of the night, leaving behind approximately $7 billion worth of military equipment, including guns, ammunition, military vehicles, aircrafts, etc.

In addition, our chaotic exit led to the death of 13 U.S. service members, after two ISIS-K suicide bombers, freed from prison by the Taliban, detonated bombs at the Kabul International Airport, where our military was leading evacuation efforts.

And now I believe we’ve seen our failure to withdraw in an orderly manner, that would be expected of a professional military, has opened the door to aggression elsewhere by our adversaries.

Our failed withdrawal has allowed Iran to push the narrative that the West is unreliable, its policies destined to fail, and that they themselves are the only reliable actor in the Middle East.

Many argue, including myself, that our country’s failure in Afghanistan essentially gave Vladimir Putin a greenlight to invade Ukraine. Putin’s National Security Advisor Nikolai Patrushev publicly argued that given what happened in Afghanistan, Ukraine could not rely on the U.S. as it lacked the patience to achieve a military victory and, in the end, we would be disloyal to our allies in Ukraine, just as we were in Afghanistan.

Within weeks of the Afghanistan withdrawal, Putin began a buildup of Russian troops and weapons on the Ukrainian border. By February 2022, Russia invaded.  

However, what was projected to be a war lasting little more than a few weeks by both Russia and the American military establishment, has turned into a prolonged war.

Now with the war raging on, Russia’s supplies have dwindled and many of our other adversaries have come to their rescue.

U.S. intelligence reports say that China has been a huge supporter of Russia’s war effort, helping them evade Western sanctions. China has increased their purchase of Russian oil, gas, and other energy exports. Additionally, they are allowing Russia to use their financial system to conduct transactions otherwise blocked by Western sanctions. China has also sent Russia navigation equipment, parts for fighter jets, and drones/drone parts.

Iran has also helped by supplying Russia with drones and other military equipment.

Further, North Korea and Russia are close to reaching an agreement, in which North Korea would supply Russia with artillery shells and anti-tank missiles, in return for access to Russian technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines and supplies of food.

While our previous Administration was able to ease tensions with North Korea, this Administration’s actions are leading to a strengthened North Korean economy and their unpredictable military becoming more lethal.

On China, we already know that since 2021, they have “employed multiple diplomatic tools in an attempt to erode U.S. and partner influence, such as highlighting the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and criticizing U.S.-backed security partnerships,” according to the Department of Defense’s 2022 report to Congress.

Perhaps that’s why earlier this year China was emboldened to deploy a spy balloon over the U.S. in order to collect intelligence.

And the Biden Administration showed weakness when it didn’t intercept the offending balloon until it crossed the whole daggone country.

What’s next? Taiwan.

Right now, China is watching us, calculating how we will respond if they invade Taiwan.

I worry our missteps on the world stage these past two years have indicated to China that invading Taiwan might be a sound move.

Why wouldn’t they? From a foreign viewpoint, our country’s President and his Administration are too weak to do what is necessary to defend Taiwan and other allies in the South Pacific.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office.  You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

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