By Teaganne Finn - NBC News
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden faced harsh criticism from Republicans in Congress when the Taliban stormed Kabul on Sunday, the culmination of a months-long offensive that began after the United States began withdrawing troops this year.
"What we are seeing right now in Afghanistan is what happens when the United States withdraws from the world," Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, told ABC.
[The war in Afghanistan "is an absolute failure", says a veteran before the new advance of the Taliban]
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday, declaring he feared bloodshed.
US forces rushed to evacuate all remaining personnel from the Kabul embassy, as Taliban fighters appeared on the verge of seizing power.
The US government announced that it will deploy an additional 1,000 troops to help with the deteriorating security situation in Kabul, two Defense Department officials said Sunday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said the US withdrawal was "sloppy."
[Biden announces that the US will leave Afghanistan on August 31 despite the risk of civil war and the resurgence of the Taliban]
The departure, "including the frenzied evacuation of vulnerable Americans and Afghans from Kabul, is a disgraceful failure of the US leadership," McConnell said in a statement.
Some hard-wing Republicans in the party also opposed former President Donald Trump's attempts to withdraw from Afghanistan.
They order the destruction of sensitive material from the US embassy in Afghanistan so that it does not fall into the hands of the Taliban
Aug. 14, 202100: 29
The Taliban ordered their fighters to enter Kabul because they believed the police had deserted all their positions, a Taliban spokesperson told NBC News, the sister network of Noticias Telemundo.
NBC News could not confirm the claims.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina echoed his Republican colleagues and posted a tweet saying that Biden "seems oblivious to the terrorist threats that will come from a Taliban-run Afghanistan."
[The US Army leaves the main air base in Afghanistan, after almost 20 years]
Cheney added that Biden is "absolutely" responsible for the decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, "as is Trump and his Administration."
"It's not just that people predicted this would happen. They were warned," he added.
Biden announced the total withdrawal of US forces in April.
The rapid advance of the Taliban across the country had left the government on the brink of collapse, confusing US officials, who had not anticipated that the capital would fall so quickly.
Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, has harshly criticized President Joe Biende for the US exit from Afghanistan.Jim Bourg / Pool via AP
"This is an absolute disaster of epic proportions," said Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, on CNN news.
"This will be a stain on Biden's presidency, and I think his hands are going to be stained with blood from what they did," he added.
The Biden administration "totally screwed this up" and completely underestimated the strength of the Taliban, said McCaul, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
[US Government Expands Afghan Refugee Program]
A White House official said Sunday that Biden had spoken with members of his national security team "about the situation in Afghanistan" and that he would continue to receive updates during the day.
Biden has continued to defend his decision.
"I was the fourth president to preside over the White House with US troops in Afghanistan: two Republicans, two Democrats.
I would not pass, nor will I pass this war on to a fifth president,"
Biden said in a statement Saturday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, praised Biden and continued to express her support for his decision.
"The president should be commended for the clarity of the purpose of his statement on Afghanistan and his action. The Taliban should know that the world is watching their actions," Pelosi said in a statement.