Marine Questions Sherrill on Afghanistan Withdrawal

RANDOLPH – When it came time for questions at Mikie Sherrill’s town hall Thursday evening, one of those asking was Joseph Labarbera, the Republican chair in very “red” Sussex County.

For one thing, it showed that the event was not “scripted.”

Labarbera, a Marine, brought up the U.S. military pullout from Afghanistan two years ago this August.

He told Sherrill, a Navy vet, that if either one of them had been involved in such a botched operation, they likely would have been court martialed. He said the whole episode still sticks in his craw.

The Afghanistan departure and a terrorist attack that killed 13 U.S. soldiers was a foreign policy disaster by any measure.

It also was a political calamity for the Biden Administration – and one that Republicans keep raising. Some of the relatives of the fallen soldiers appeared at last month’s GOP convention.

Sherrill more or less agreed with Labarbera’s summation.

“I think it is still something that sticks in all our craws,” she said.

Labarbera had brought up the military equipment left behind. Sherrill acknowledged that, but said it’s also “about the people.”

She spoke of many Afghans who risked their well-being, or even their lives, to help the U.S. military during its 20 years in the country. She said the U.S. has gotten many of those people out, but there’s more to be done.

The congresswoman also spoke with regret about the plight of young Afghan women who under the Taliban have lost the relative freedom they had growing up.

Another topic that popped up – not surprisingly – was immigration.

Border crossings have been down of late, but this remains a key issue for the GOP – just like abortion rights is a key issue for the Dems.

Sherrill said any immigration reform, which she hopes will finally come next year, must include a number of factors:

Border enforcement so that we know who is coming across.

A pathway to citizenship for those who have lived and worked in the U.S. for years without any legal problems.

And an acknowledgement that the country needs migrant or guest workers, She said strong deportation measures in Congress have been opposed by rural farms who need the labor that migrants provide.

Sherrill has criticized the so-called SALT cap since arriving in Congress in 2019. This limits the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes to $10,000.

Republicans are unlikely to budge on the cap, which came about via the Trump tax reform bill in 2017, but there is some hope ahead.

That act included a “sunset clause” that kicks in next year.

So the plan is to “let the cap lapse,” she said.

Sherrill has had a number of town halls during her tenure and most have been well attended. This one at County College of Morris drew about 250 and was also streamed on Facebook Live. Randolph in Morris County is on the western edge of Sherrill’s 11th District.

The congresswoman is seen as a 2025 gubernatorial candidate, but no one asked her about that.

But she is running for reelection this fall against Republican Joseph Belnome, who was in attendance.

Belnome, actually, put himself in the first row, but was not selected to ask a question.

 

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11 responses to “Marine Questions Sherrill on Afghanistan Withdrawal”

  1. The title of this is grossly misleading. I don’t think anyone, least of all Mr. Labarbera or Rep. Sherrill, would be surprised that a Republican chair tried to get her with a gotcha question. If you want to refer to him as a Marine I don’t see why Rep. Sherrill shouldn’t be referred to by her branch of service: “Marine confronts Navy pilot”

  2. Point of order:
    Trump and not Biden negotiated directly with the Taliban excluding the Afghan Government.
    Trump and not Biden drew down US forces from 36,000 to 2600.
    Trump and not Biden facilitated the release of 5,000 Afghan fighters from prison. One of which actually became Afghanistan’s leader .
    Trump and not Biden wanted to invite the Afghans , the enemy, to Camp David on the anniversary of 911.
    Trump and not Biden agreed to a May 1 exit from Afghanistan . Then bragged that he didn’t need an exit strategy from Afghanistan.
    Trump and not Biden refused to brief the incoming Biden transition team on the Afghanistan situation.
    Trump snd not Biden recently boasted that the withdrawal time line that he had set could not be changed.

    Facts Matter.

  3. Stewart Resmer, well said, well written.

    I read this recently.
    While being interviewed, Trump was questioned about a lie. After the mic was turned off, he replied,
    if you say it, they believe it.

    So, yes, FACTS DO MATTER!

  4. Matt M- your aspersion is incorrect- that was not a “gotcha” question and I was pleased with the Congresswoman’s response. I believe we actually found common ground in that we both recognize that bad foreign policy and flippant decisions with Troops lives has detrimental echoes through time which harm not just our national credibility but damages the good faith of those who fought. As far as blaming Trump (the other comment) that is incorrect- Trumps plan was for a phased withdrawal based on conditions, Biden (or whoever his handler was) decision to just cut and run was the epitome of blunder. It caused the horribly corrupt Afghan president (instilled under Obama) to grab the huge amounts of cash we gave him (begun with Bush) and then his cowardice inspired the entire corrupt government to pull and run, leaving the grunts in the Afghan Army holding the bag with no ammo or support.

  5. Stewie Resmer: Where do you get your talking points? From the DNC. Trump’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was supposed to be orderly and the military would be the last to go. Instead, the Biden Administration told the military to get out and damn the civilians still there. That’s a fact Jack. You can take it to the bank by asking the 13 families whose sons and daughters were murdered by a personal IED; and by proxy, they were murdered by the Biden Administration for failing to follow Trump’s directives for an orderly withdrawal and in keeping BAGRAM AIR BASE.

    The Biden Administration turned over the Air Base to the Taliban, who gave it to the ChiComs. This Air Base was a strategic location that Trump wanted to keep for National Security purposes because it was only 1,000 miles from Chinese nuclear weapons facilities. But, then the incompetent, anti-Trump Biden Administration botched that issue also and gave up a strategic base in the region.

    So, instead of attempting to gaslight people with our left-wing, communist narrative, you should do your research before spreading false propaganda and defamation.

  6. Michael Schnackenberg: When are you going to impart anything of substance based on facts and information instead of making personal ad hominem attacks on people. We know all about you in Sussex County, and you’re nothing more than a shrill “useful idiot” who has been discredited in the county. Instead of talking and saying nothing, how about a real debate with facts and figures???????

  7. Jefferson, when you start using your real name, maybe I’ll lower myself to having a debate with you. In the meantime, you don’t know shit about me, so go troll your right wing crapola to the MAGA scum.

  8. When it comes to Trump and the military he’s actually way off to the Left, but he has his weirdos believing hes strong because he waves the flag and hugs it too. Start with his draft dodging, then his attack on veterans and Gold Star families, to his total distrust of military leaders which is well documented. The withdraw from Afghanistan was never going to be easy, but it was the right call, albeit 10 years too late.

  9. Anon poster tj, no. I get those from real events and repeat them as a point of order.

    Trump and not Biden negotiated directly with the Taliban excluding the Afghan Government.
    Trump and not Biden drew down US forces from 36,000 to 2600.
    Trump and not Biden facilitated the release of 5,000 Afghan fighters from prison. One of which actually became Afghanistan’s leader .
    Trump and not Biden wanted to invite the Afghans , the enemy, to Camp David on the anniversary of 911.
    Trump and not Biden agreed to a May 1 exit from Afghanistan . Then bragged that he didn’t need an exit strategy from Afghanistan.
    Trump and not Biden refused to brief the incoming Biden transition team on the Afghanistan situation.
    Trump and not Biden recently boasted that the withdrawal time line that he had set could not be changed.

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