Waltz and Afghanistan

August 2021: Waltz Encouraged Further Military Action In Afghanistan And Claimed American Soldiers Would Return To Afghanistan In “One Way Or Another.” According to an op-ed written by Rep. Mike Waltz for Fox News, “To put a stop to this unfolding strategic train wreck, President Biden will need to find the fortitude to drastically change our strategic direction, now.   First, President Biden can crush the Taliban offensive by committing American air power to support the Afghan Army. The Taliban are in the open and exposed as they maneuver to surround Afghan cities. Just as we did in 2001, small groups of special forces partnered with the Air Force will make a dramatic impact and reverse the Taliban’s psychological narrative that victory is inevitable.  […] Should Afghanistan fall, thousands will die and the homeland will find itself under threat. One way or another, our soldiers will have to go back; but without local bases, far less intelligence, and local allies that have been decimated.” [Fox News, Rep. Mike Waltz, Op-Ed, 8/13/21]

2010: Waltz Co-Founded Metis Solutions, A Defense Contractor That Trained Special Forces In Afghanistan. According to The Intercept, “In 2010, after stints in the military and as an adviser to the Bush administration, Waltz helped found Metis Solutions, a defense contractor that ‘provides strategic analysis, intelligence support, and training,’ with offices in Arlington, Virgina [sic]; Tampa, Florida; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Kabul, Afghanistan. The company grew rapidly to 400 employees.  Led in part by Waltz, the company won coveted contracts to train special forces in Afghanistan, including a controversial program to develop artisanal mining operations in strategic villages.” [The Intercept, 8/20/21]

• Waltz Profited Off Of Metis Solutions Stock While In Congress. According to The Intercept, “Metis Solutions continued to grow even after Waltz stepped down to serve in Congress. In July 2020, shortly before its acquisition by PAE, Metis Solutions was awarded a $26 million contract from the military on ‘counter threat finance.’ The announcement of the award noted that the work would be conducted in Afghanistan and the U.S. Congressional ethics disclosures show that in 2019, Waltz held up to $1 million in equity from Metis Solutions and up to $250,000 in options of Metis Solutions stock. In November 2020, PAE announced that the company was acquiring Metis Solutions in an all-cash deal worth $92 million with the self-proclaimed goal to increase its foothold in the intelligence, analysis, and training space serving government clients. The lawmaker’s subsequent ethics disclosure, filed last week, shows that he earned between $5 and $25 million in capital gains from his stock sales, in addition to up to $1 million from exercising his options.” [The Intercept, 8/20/21]
• 2020: Waltz Made Up To $26 Million After A War Contracting Firm Training Afghan Security Forces Bought Metis Solutions. According to The Intercept, “There’s one crucial part of Waltz’s experience he tends to leave out: Before his successful run for Congress in 2018, he managed a lucrative defense contracting firm with offices in Afghanistan. The company was recently sold to Pacific Architects and Engineers, or PAE, one of the largest war contractors the U.S. has hired to train and mentor Afghan security forces. The deal personally enriched Waltz by up to $26 million, a figure made public by a filing disclosed this month. […] The sale occurred just before the formal announcement by both Donald Trump and Biden to finally end the war in Afghanistan. ” [The Intercept, 8/20/21]

 

Waltz and China

Waltz Called For A Reassessment Of The U.S.’s Involvement In Ukraine In Order To Focus Military Effort On The Pacific. According to Reuters, “On Ukraine, Waltz has said his views have evolved. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he called for the Biden administration to provide more weapons to Kyiv to help them push back Russian forces. But during an event last month, Waltz said there had to be a reassessment of the United States’ aims in Ukraine. ‘Is it in America’s interest, are we going to put in the time, the treasure, the resources that we need in the Pacific right now badly?’ Waltz asked.” [Reuters, 11/11/24]

Waltz Likened China’s Military Buildup To Germany’s In The 1930s. According to the Atlantic Council, “Waltz gave his take on how the United States should ‘think differently’ about its foreign policy. Below are some highlights. On China ‘We’ve never faced [an adversary]—certainly not Germany, Japan, or the Soviet Union—that had an economy that rivaled ours, that had control of so many of our basic elements of production, and now has a navy that’s larger than ours, a space force that’s launching more than we are, and a nuclear arsenal that’s tripling in size. We have not seen this kind of military buildup since Germany in the 1930s.’” [Atlantic Council, 10/28/24]

 

Waltz and the Defense Department

Waltz Encouraged Firing U.S. Defense Department Managers. According to Reuters, “He has also lamented the Pentagon’s failure to fire generals and civilian bureaucrats who fail to perform. ‘We need to get a culture of accountability into that place. No one ever seems to get fired, with these massive cost over-runs, massive waste,’ Waltz told Fox News last week. ‘We don’t need managers there. We need reformers.’ Trump is expected to have a far darker view of his military leaders in his second term, after facing Pentagon resistance over everything from his skepticism toward NATO to his readiness to deploy troops to quell protests on U.S. streets.” [Reuters, 11/11/24]

2024: Waltz Said, “[Trump] Has To Put A Team In That Will Clean House In The Pentagon, Start Firing People And Start Demanding Results.” According to Florida’s Voice, “‘We have to have President Trump back as commander-in-chief, period, and he has to put a team in that will clean house in the Pentagon, start firing people and start demanding results,’ Waltz said.” [Florida’s Voice, 8/12/24]

2023: Waltz Sponsored Legislation To Audit The Military’s DEI Programs, Green Energy Proposals, And Vaccine Mandates. According to the New York Post, “Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) will introduce a bill Thursday that would audit the US military’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, end instruction in critical race theory at service academies, and investigate the effects of the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on troops.  Waltz, a combat-decorated Green Beret, will submit the WARRIOR Act to push back against what he calls left-wing indoctrination in the military after at least one lieutenant colonel was removed from his position in 2021 for claiming DEI training is rooted in Marxism.  ‘Under the Biden Administration, the Pentagon has diverted its focus from lethality and have instead pushed initiatives that have politicized our warfighting ranks and harmed our military readiness,’ Waltz said in a statement.  ‘Our military faces the worst recruiting crisis since the Vietnam War because young Americans don’t want to join what was once a trusted institution that has become overly politicized and hyper-focused on DEI initiatives. ‘The reforms proposed in this legislation will restore a merit-based culture to our ranks, audit unnecessary and political DEI programs, and require cost-benefit analysis reports for green-energy-focused proposals,’ Waltz went on.” [New York Post, 5/10/23]