Afghanistan Withdrawal 'Heartening' to Vladimir Putin, Warns Dem Rep. Sent to Ukraine

Rep. Tom Malinowski has said the fallout from the U.S withdrawal from Afghanistan has been "heartening" to President Vladimir Putin of Russia because it dents America's reputation on the world stage.

Malinowski, a Democratic lawmaker who recently traveled to Ukraine as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation investigating the possibility of a Russian invasion, appeared on BBC World News to discuss the crisis that has engulfed Afghanistan since Kabul fell to Taliban fighters when the U.S pulled out in August 2021.

Malinowski, who represents New Jersey's 7th congressional district, said he hoped the White House would deal with the country's "humanitarian crisis," as the population faces starvation and women and girls are again stripped of rights.

The congressman, who was an assistant secretary of state under former President Barack Obama, was also asked if the "shambolic" withdrawal from Afghanistan had emboldened the likes of Putin.

"These are very different situations, that's what the Biden administration would say," Malinowski said.

"But the reality is that in the minds of leaders like Putin or Xi Jinping in China, the victory of the Taliban and the American and NATO withdrawal was certainly heartening to them.

"It was not a great advertisement for American strength in the world right now, let's put it that way."

Asked if the withdrawal from Afghanistan had done "damage" to America's reputation, Malinowski replied: "I was one of the members of Congress who urged the president not to do it. But here we are.

"There's always an opportunity, looking forward, to do the right thing."

The withdrawal from Afghanistan—and the deaths of 13 U.S. military personnel in a suicide blast at Kabul airport last August—is often described as the lowest point of President Joe Biden's first year in office.

Polls have cited his handling of the Afghanistan situation as one of the causes of his plummeting approval ratings.

The president's supporters and his critics are now watching to see how he will respond if Russia does attack Ukraine—his next major foreign policy problem.

Elsewhere in the BBC interview, Malinowski said he feared that the international community had "come close to washing its hands of Afghanistan" five months after Taliban forces reclaimed the country.

"There is a tendency to try not to think about these uncomfortable things that are happening in the country we left behind," he said.

"The United States was there for 20 years, and we didn't promise to stay forever. But when you are so deeply embedded in a society for that long period of time, when you have so much impact on its development, for better or worse, that does come with moral responsibilities.

"We've learned the hard way that when Afghan society collapses, when extremists take hold, the whole world can be endangered. So, we have both a huge humanitarian obligation and a strong self-interest in continuing to care about this."

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.