CIA Director William Burns listens during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:31 AM PT – Wednesday, April 14, 2021
CIA Director William Burns has pushed back on the White House’s decision to withdrawal troops from Afghanistan. While speaking at the Senate Intelligence Committee’s hearing Wednesday, he said pulling troops out of region would hurt the CIA’s ability to gather intelligence in the country.
Burns added, having U.S. troops on the ground there has helped alleviate the threat from ISIS and Al-Qaeda, but the withdrawal presents a “significant risk.”
“When the time comes for the U.S. military to withdraw, the U.S. government’s ability to collect and act on threats will diminish,” stated the director. “That’s simply a fact.”
The Endless War cheerleaders have been saying for 15 years that if we just stay in Afghanistan a little longer, the Taliban will give up and the Afghan government will get their act together. And they will say it for the next 15 years if we leave our troops there indefinitely.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 13, 2021
Burns continued, confirming the CIA and its partners will continue to provide strategic warnings to the U.S. to enable the government to respond to any threats from the terror groups.
