Des Moines, Iowa: Former State Secretary Mike Pompeo said Friday, he believes Afghan forces can secure the country when the US withdraws, but success will depend on whether they have strong willingness against the Taliban.
Thousands of Afghans have escaped from the country in the last few days when Taliban troops surged through North Afghanistan.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Pompeo said he was sure Afghan forces could drive the Taliban, but it was “will issue.” “I saw on TV the other day, I saw around 22, a 22-year-old Afghan man said, ‘It’s really dangerous here, I want to get out,'” said the former secretary of the country.
“What the Afghans should say is really dangerous here, give me M16.” Under the former President Donald Trump, Pompeo oversaw negotiations with the Taliban and remain the only Secretary of State to meet face to face with senior Taliban officials.
He clapped President Joe Biden moved to withdraw from Afghanistan – rare praise from a trump loyalist – but said he was worried that US counterterrorism surgery could be hurt in the process.
Pompeo was in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday spoke on several political events, including a conference for conservative Christians.
Since leaving the office at the end of the former President Donald Trump, POMPEO has formed a political action committee and is considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate.
He said he was currently focusing on raising funds and recruiting other candidates.
Pompeo encourages Biden to increase pressure on the Cuban government as an anti-government protest erupting there.
Pompeo pointed back Cuba A “Sponsor State Terror” during the last days of the Trump government, even when Biden promised a new approach to the regulated communist island.
Protests have been driven by food shortages, price increases and power outages, but Pompeo sticks to hardlines, “the first Americans” of foreign policy views.
He warned that every step to send funds to Cuba would show “the fundamental misunderstanding of the totalitarian regime.” “You can’t fund them, you can’t bear it,” he said.
He suggested that the US can move like opening internet access which will help protesters coordinate and increase pressure on the Cuban government.
“There are many tools owned by the American government in their ownership and demanding leadership who want to destroy the communist regime.”