With Afghanistan reconquered by the Taliban, the White House has exchanged unconditional defeat in Afghanistan for the honorific that Joe Biden has ended America’s longest war.
But beyond the 65 airplanes, 22,174 Humvees, 64,363 machine guns, and other billions of dollars of military resources we left behind for our enemy to use, the State Department has conceded we left at least 250 Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan. The claim is not that we could not help them flee to safety, but rather we chose not to after they failed to reach the Kabul airport in time for the administration’s arbitrary evacuation deadline.
The fact the Biden administration has admitted we’ve left at least 250 Americans behind is damning enough, considering the president promised not two weeks ago to stay in Afghanistan until every American was evacuated. It’s even more egregious when you consider just how many people may not be included in that 250-person estimation.
Let’s start with the administration’s own estimations. When Kabul fell, the Pentagon asserted around 10,000 Americans remained in Afghanistan. Within 24 hours, the White House said it was 11,000, and the State Department told Senate staffers the real figure was 15,000.
Last week, Antony Blinken tacitly amended that figure to 6,000, with the secretary of state claiming that after having evacuated 4,500 Americans, just 1,500 remained. Even based on that most conservative estimate from the Pentagon, the Biden administration revised the estimate downward by nearly 50%. What gives?
Then there’s the matter of what goes unsaid by the White House. When Kabul fell to the Taliban, they closed off the city to the rest of the country, meaning any American outside is likely unaccounted for by the State Department. Furthermore, the official figure fails to include American green card holders or permanent residents, SIVs, and our other allies who risked their lives to work with us.
If there are even just 250 Americans remaining, that would indeed be a national disgrace. But should our global allies ascertain a different figure, the real number could prove a scandal of international proportions.
