White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Joe Biden’s response to the anniversary of the bombing at the Kabul airport that resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghan civilians.
The president issued a statement on Friday morning honoring their loss, saying in part, “Today, I am praying for the families of those 13 fallen warriors, who lost a piece of their soul one year ago. Our nation can never repay such incredible sacrifice — but we will never fail to honor our sacred obligation to the families and survivors they left behind.”
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Jean-Pierre defended Biden’s remarks while taking questions from reporters at Friday’s briefing, one of whom asked about an unnamed service member’s family member who said it was inappropriate for Biden to be taping a segment for Jay Leno’s show the same day as the anniversary.
“The president put out a statement earlier today, and as you all probably saw the statement that was released. He named each of the 13 troops who were tragically, tragically killed on that day,” she explained. “The president feels deeply about the loss that was suffered one year ago, and as he said in that statement, he feels strongly that we owe their families support for the rest of their lives.”
“Again, this is something that’s very personal to the president,” the spokeswoman said in response to what she’d say to the father of one of the Marines who believes the president was insensitive to film a segment with Leno on the anniversary. “It was a tragic killing on that day — 13 members were lost, more than 170 [Afghan civilians].”
Some of the families expressed frustration with the administration in interviews leading up to the anniversary of the bombing.
“We didn’t hear one single word from the administration — not a single word — and still [haven’t]. … Not that we would take it because of the way that this happened. Six months into it … the administration sent out letters to the families. And it was a canned letter. Everybody’s was exactly the same. They photocopied it, or it appears as though they photocopied it, and then just stamped Mr. Biden’s name to it. And that was it. Nothing personal,” Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover’s father, also named Darin, said. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz’s father, Mark, said, “The word ‘Afghanistan’ has allegedly [been] banned from the White House. They don’t even want to talk about that word, that country, none of it.”
The president, while speaking to reporters leaving the White House, said he hadn’t spoken to any of the families on the anniversary but had previously.
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The State Department re-upped its $10 million reward for information related to the perpetrators of the bombing.
“Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on those responsible for the August 26, 2021 terrorist attack at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan,” the State Department said. “A suicide bomber attacked the airport as the United States and other governments undertook large-scale evacuation efforts of their citizens and vulnerable Afghans. At least 185 people were killed in the attack, including 13 U.S. service members supporting evacuation operations.”
