GOP wants Taliban labeled terrorists

A number of Republicans are urging the Biden administration to designate the Taliban a foreign terrorist organization.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to make the designation in a letter signed by GOP Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Fox News reported on Wednesday.

“Since reestablishing control of Afghanistan, the Taliban resumed the same murderous and oppressive habits that characterized their leadership tenure prior to the arrival of U.S. forces in 2001,” the senators wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News.

“Even as the administration concluded the withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces from Afghanistan, we saw public attacks on individuals, beatings of women and girls, and search teams actively pursuing allies and partners,” the letter says.

They say the most troubling aspect of the fall of Afghanistan “is that among those beaten and chased by Taliban forces were American citizens and their families still living in Afghanistan.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is expected to introduce legislation Wednesday demanding that the Biden administration and Congress designate the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization and the newly installed Afghan government as a state sponsor of terrorism, Fox News reported.

The legislation, according to the report, would ban federal departments and agencies from recognizing the Taliban’s claim of sovereignty over Afghanistan.

It would also compel the State Department to put together an annual report on the countries that have “diplomatic relations” with the Taliban and whether any foreign persons “knowingly” give aid to the jihadist group.

The legislation also is supported by GOP Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Sullivan and Tuberville.