Tate Zeigler (202-224-5972) or Kevin Bishop (864-250-1417)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), John McCain (R-Arizona), and Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) today released the following statement on the news that the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan C. Crocker, will step down this summer:

 

“The recent announcement by Ambassador Ryan Crocker that he will be departing his post in Kabul is a great loss to the United States and Afghanistan, but we fully understand his decision.  We are grateful beyond words to Ryan for his decision to come out of retirement at the President’s request to serve our country one last time in one of the most challenging jobs in the world. When the history of the past decade is written, Ryan Crocker will rightly be recognized as one of the genuine American heroes of this era. We have never met a finer, more capable, or more dedicated diplomat than Ryan Crocker.

 

“Ambassador Crocker arrived in Afghanistan at a critical moment in the relations between our two countries. Thanks to his efforts, we believe that the Afghan-U.S. relationship is now on a much better path. In the last year, Ambassador Crocker and General Allen, working with our Afghan and NATO partners, successfully negotiated a Strategic Partnership Agreement. If properly implemented, this Agreement could be the ultimate guarantee that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban will never again control Afghanistan. For this, and for so much else in his long and distinguished career, Ryan Crocker deserves the respect, gratitude, and admiration of all Americans. We will miss him greatly, and look forward to welcoming him back home to the United States.”

 

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