Last month marked one year since American troops withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took back control of the country. It was a tumultuous withdrawal that left hundreds of Americans behind. Afghans were brutally murdered by the Taliban, people held onto planes that were attempting to flee and military equipment was abandoned. Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich reflects on President Biden’s unfortunate decision to pull troops, a move – Gingrich believes – that sent a signal around the world that the U.S. cannot be trusted:

Reflecting on the first anniversary of the collapse of the American effort in Afghanistan, I’ve done several podcasts that are very sobering. Partially because so many of our veterans feel betrayed, that they left their families, risked their lives, have friends who were killed, in some cases, have suffered severe injury, all of it to just fall apart. A deep sense of despair – that the Afghans they fought side by side with – can’t get into the U.S. – are in danger of being killed by the Taliban.

We were checking into this, and you have 2 million people crossing the border illegally. You have Ukrainians getting visas to come here fleeing the Russian attack in Ukraine. And for some reason the Biden White House doesn’t care about the Afghans who literally risked their lives, who fought next to us, and who our veterans known personally.

And so there’s been this terrible sense that we’ve abandoned an ally. And think about the signal that sends around the world. Would you want to rely on America? Would you want to rely on Joe Biden taking care of you?

I think you go back and look at the Vietnam disaster. We were very generous, very open, very caring for the people who had fought as our allies, who were with us side by side, and who are facing communist concentration camps if they stayed in South Vietnam.

Today, it was sort of illustrated the day the 13 young Americans came home and the president went to see them come off the airplane. And there’s a very famous picture on the cover of The New York Post of Biden looking at his watch, literally bored as these dead Americans are being brought down from the airplane. And I think it tells you that there’s – there’s something there, may go back to Biden’s anti-Vietnam experience, may go back to his general anti-militarism, but it send a signal to our veterans, and it sends a signal around the world, to people who’d like to believe they can trust in America.

It’s a very important anniversary. I hope you took a little time to think about it, and to contemplate on what we have to do to rebuild American strength. I think that is one of the saddest moments I can remember in American history.