White House sent scrambling by US’s bloodiest Afghan day in a decade

In total, only the first two items included on the White House’s original Thursday schedule, included below, occurred as planned:

• 8:30 AM — The President receives the President’s Daily Brief
• 9:15 AM — Thee President meets with his national security team to hear intelligence, security, and diplomatic updates on the evolving situation in Afghanistan on the evolving situation in Afghanistan
• 10:30 AM — Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and public health officials
• 11:30 AM — The President participates in a bilateral meeting with His Excellency Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of the State of Israel
• 11:55 AM — The President will participate in an expanded bilateral meeting with His Excellency Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister of Israel
• 12:00 PM — Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki
• 3:00 PM — The President meets virtually with a bipartisan group of Governors from across the country who have raised their hands to temporarily house or help resettle vulnerable Afghans and welcome them to their new communities

Furthermore, the Biden administration canceled the State Department’s scheduled press briefing, and the Pentagon delayed its own briefing, originally scheduled for 10:30 a.m., to 3 p.m.

12 US SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED IN TWIN TERROR ATTACKS OUTSIDE KABUL AIRPORT

Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the U.S. Central Command commander, confirmed to reporters at the Pentagon briefing that 12 U.S. service members were killed in the pair of terror attacks, while 15 others were injured.

The total casualties, believed to be more than 100, remain unknown.

The confusion and chaos at the White House stemmed from the evolving situation in Kabul. The president spent nearly the entire day in the White House Situation Room being briefed on the by-the-minute situational updates.

Senior administration officials explained to the Washington Examiner that, due to the evolving situation, the White House did not issue preliminary statements to avoid misrepresenting the situation or getting ahead of any announcements the president might make later that day. Officials also stressed that Pentagon press secretary John Kirby delivered updates through Twitter throughout the day.

The Washington Examiner asked if Biden would deliver national remarks, and though White House officials did not directly answer the question, the press office announced just after the conclusion of the Pentagon briefing that the president would speak at 5 p.m. and would be followed by a full briefing by press secretary Jen Psaki.

During his remarks, Biden called those service members killed on Thursday the “backbone of America.”

“The lives we lost today were lives given in the service of liberty, the service of security, and the service of others and in the service of America. Like their fellow brothers and sisters in arms who have died defending our vision and our values in the struggle against terrorism, of the fallen this day, they are part of a great noble company of American heroes,” Biden said. “To those who carried out this attack as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command.”

Biden vowed to act with “precision” to target ISIS-K assets and leadership, adding that the terror attacks would not prevent the U.S. from seeing the humanitarian evacuation to its completion.

Near the end of his solemn, subdued remarks, Biden called on the nation to hold a moment of silence in remembrance of the 12 service members killed on Thursday. He did not, however, offer insight on what caused the nearly 10-hour delay on issuing a statement on the attacks.

Still, what White House officials chalked up to “fluid” and “flexible” scheduling choices resulted in the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany all making announcements on their involvement in the humanitarian evacuation before the public was able to hear from Biden.

Both the U.K. and France announced that the Thursday attacks would not influence their attempts to evacuate at-risk Afghans, and Germany opted instead to terminate its involvement in the mission.

“I utterly condemn the barbaric terrorist attack in Kabul in which Afghans and members of the U.S. military lost their lives,” U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of the attacks in a statement. “The threat of terrorist attack is one of the constraints we’ve been operating under, but our evacuation effort continues with over 12,000 extracted so far.”

Even former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence released statements before Biden addressed the nation.

“Melania and I send our deepest condolences to the families of our brilliant and brave Service Members whose duty to the U.S.A. meant so much to them,” Trump wrote in his statement. “Our thoughts are also with the families of the innocent civilians who died today in the savage Kabul attack.”

Pence added that he felt “shocked and saddened by the loss of 11 Marines and a Navy corpsman in the terrorist attack at Kabul Airport.”

Members of both parties criticized the Biden administration’s shepherding of the situation on Thursday.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, attacked the president’s decision to trust the Taliban throughout the evacuation process.

“As we wait for more details to come in, one thing is clear: We can’t trust the Taliban with Americans’ security,” Menendez wrote. “This is a full-fledged humanitarian crisis, and the U.S. government personnel, already working under extreme circumstances, must secure the airport and complete the massive evacuation of American citizens and vulnerable Afghans desperately trying to leave the country.”

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An even greater number of Republicans blamed Biden, including Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who called for Biden’s resignation.

“To say that today’s loss of American lives in Kabul is sickening does not begin to do justice to what has happened. It is enraging. And Joe Biden is responsible,” he tweeted. “It is now clear beyond all doubt that he has neither the capacity nor the will to lead. He must resign.”