Retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor says only President Trump can end the war in Afghanistan
Two U.S. service members supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel were killed Saturday after an improvised explosive device hit their vehicle in southern Afghanistan; reaction from Douglas Macgregor, retired U.S. Army colonel and author of 'Margin of Victory.'
Retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Monday that only one person can extract the United States from the conflict in Afghanistan: President Trump.
"There is one man, only one man who can take decisive action and end this. His name is Donald Trump. He promised to do that a long time ago. He's disappointed a lot of us because he hasn't," Macgregor told Carlson. "He could stand up tomorrow and pull us out, but he needs to send everyone out of the Oval Office who keeps telling him, 'If you do that and something bad happens, it's going to be blamed on you, Mr. President.'"
Carlson and Macgregor were responding to the news that two U.S. service members were killed over the weekend after an improvised explosive device (IED) hit their vehicle in southern Afghanistan.
The Pentagon identified the victims as 29-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Ian P. McLaughlin of Newport News, Va.; and 21-year-old Army Pfc. Miguel A. Villalon of Joliet, Ill.
"[Trump] needs to say, 'I don't give a damn. This is wrong. What do I tell the families of these people that just recently were murdered in Afghanistan for no reason at all, for no strategic purpose, for no attainable political or military objective?'" Macgregor said. "I'm telling you now, I want our troops out. That's why we voted for him. He needs to do it."
Carlson outlined the number of lives lost, the billions of dollars wasted and lack of strategy in Afghanistan before calling on "someone" to pull the troops out of the conflict.
"We need someone brave enough to stop what's happening there for the sake of this country," Carlson said.
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As for the argument that there must be a pullout strategy so that the U.S. doesn't lose its footing in the region, Macgregor claimed any such strategy would ultimately be futile.
"The truth is, it doesn't make any difference when we leave. It's all going to fall apart," he said. "But the good news is that once we're out, at least we will no longer be subsidizing the corruption and we will no longer subsidize Afghanistan as the global engine of heroin production, which it has become under our watch."
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