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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today issued the following statement regarding Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s inauguration and the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement:

“I congratulate President Ashraf Ghani on his inauguration and the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement today in Kabul. This is an important milestone in the U.S.-Afghan relationship. The United States has invested significantly in Afghanistan’s future, with thousands of Americans making the ultimate sacrifice to give the Afghan people the opportunity to reclaim their country from extremists.

“We need to realize that Afghanistan’s stability is still threatened. Despite what we’ve been told repeatedly by this administration, the core of al Qaeda is not defeated. Their partners, the Taliban, are increasing their efforts to sow violence and chaos.

“I call on President Obama to learn the lessons of his ill-fated withdrawal from Iraq and ensure that our drawdown is conditions-based. If requested by the Afghan government, the United States should continue to train and assist our Afghan partners after 2016.

“As we have learned from the disastrous consequences of the President’s failure to heed warnings from his own intelligence community about the threat posed by ISIL, ignoring the situation in Afghanistan will only allow our hard-won gains to be lost and lead to greater peril in the future. We cannot allow that country to go the way of Iraq and again become a safe haven for those who wish to attack us.”