President Joe Biden will pressure the Taliban to keep their promise to offer safe passage for people hoping to flee Afghanistan, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
“The Taliban have informed us that they are prepared to provide the safe passage of civilians to the airport,” Sullivan told reporters Tuesday. “We intend to hold them to that commitment.”
The Taliban will have to “prove to the international community who they ultimately are going to end up being,” he added. The White House did not explain how it planned to ensure the Taliban’s assurances.
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The United States has secured Hamid Karzai International Airport near the capital of Kabul so that the airfield can resume military and commercial flights for Americans, as well as Afghan and ally citizens, out of the country after the Taliban took over the capital last weekend. The U.S. evacuated roughly 700 people on Monday, including 150 Americans, but the White House expects that number to increase to between 5,000 and 7,000 a day before a self-imposed deadline of Aug. 31. The problem is that the U.S. is not helping those people, including up to 10,000 U.S. citizens and 22,000 special visa applicants, get to the airport.
Sullivan would also not comment on the possibility of a longer U.S. presence if the extraction process takes longer than anticipated.
Hamid Karzai International Airport was overrun last weekend by Afghan people surprised by the speed at which the Taliban seized control of the capital. Some of them died after they clung to a departing U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, which had about 640 people aboard.
“Yes, there were chaotic scenes yesterday, but as Admiral Kirby said, even well-drawn plans don’t survive first contact with reality,” Sullivan said, referring to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
Sullivan conceded Biden hadn’t yet spoken with a world leader after Afghanistan’s collapse and that he was responsible for what has transpired over the last week. The White House will conduct a “hot wash” review of its handling of the events, according to Sullivan.
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“When you conclude 20 years of military action in a civil war in another country, with the impacts of 20 years of decisions that have piled up, you have to make a lot of hard calls, none with clean outcomes,” he said.
