U.S. officials reportedly provided the Taliban with a list of people to grant entry to at Hamid Karzai International Airport — a decision with potentially deadly consequences.
With the U.S. military relying on the Taliban to conduct the outer security of the airport where evacuations have been taking place for the last two weeks, officials provided the militant group with a list of American citizens, green card holders, and Afghan allies approved for evacuation, according to Politico.
The Pentagon declined to comment. The goal behind sharing the names with the Taliban was to expedite the process at the airport.
President Joe Biden denied knowledge of such a list but said he could not be certain they did not exist.
“Yes, there have been occasions like that. The best of my knowledge, when that has happened the bulk of people have been let through,” he said, explaining the United States has informed the Taliban when there were evacuees who needed to be let through, but he was not sure any names were provided.
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Sharing those names could ultimately cost lives, as the Taliban have a history of murdering Afghans who have worked with the U.S. and Western countries. The militant group has already begun going door to door looking for Afghans who worked with the U.S. or the former Afghan government.
“Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,” one defense official told the outlet. “It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean.”
Both the U.S. military and the Taliban lost soldiers when ISIS-K detonated two bombs on Thursday. Marine Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., commander of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters 12 U.S. troops died and 15 others were injured.
McKenzie said he doesn’t believe the Taliban had anything to do with the attack because they have “a practical reason for wanting us to get out of here by 31st of August … We want to get out by that day too … So, we share a common purpose.”
Biden was asked on Sunday if he trusted the Taliban, and he answered, “I don’t trust anybody.”
“So far, the Taliban has not taken action against U.S. forces. So far, they have, by and large, followed through what they said, in terms of allowing Americans to pass through, and the like,” he said. “We’ll see whether or not what they say turns out to be true.”
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There has been bipartisan criticism aimed at the Biden administration for working with the Taliban.
“As we wait for more details to come in, one thing is clear: We can’t trust the Taliban with Americans’ security,” said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menendez. “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.”
Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, called anyone who would share these names an “utter fool.”
“The Senate Intelligence Committee needs to investigate who came up with this brain-dead idea, whether our intelligence agencies were given a chance to warn against it, and who decided to hand over the list to the Taliban,” he said.
