Condi Rice Says Leaving Afghanistan Will Lead To More Terrorism

Those in Congress who would like to see the U.S. begin to pull out of Afghanistan don’t have a supporter in former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In a new interview with Fortune Magazine, Rice offered extremely sharp criticism of the idea of withdrawal and painted the consequences of this course of action with an almost Cheneyesque bluntness.

“The last time we left Afghanistan, and we abandoned Pakistan,” she said, “that territory became the very territory on which Al Qaeda trained and attacked us on September 11th. So our national security interests are very much tied up in not letting Afghanistan fail again and become a safe haven for terrorists.

“It’s that simple,” she declared, “if you want another terrorist attack in the U.S., abandon Afghanistan.”

As the Washington Post reported Monday, Obama is rethinking all aspects of the U.S. strategy in the Afghanistan in light of the disputed presidential election, an increase in U.S. casualties and waning public support here in America.