The Biden administration is asserting that it has planned for every contingency. So, the question must be asked: Which plan accounts for the roughly 10,000 Americans stranded in Afghanistan?
According to national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the U.S. forces at the airport in Kabul are proof that the White House planned for every contingency “over the course of months.” That would suggest that a full Taliban takeover necessitating the evacuation of Americans was planned for. So, how are a large number still stranded?
We aren’t even sure how large the number is. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby estimated that there were between 5,000 and 10,000 U.S. citizens still in Afghanistan. White House press secretary Jen Psaki then said that number was 11,000. Former Assistant Secretary of State Robert Charles said he was told that embassy documents indicate there are 15,000 Americans in Afghanistan, with the possibility that there are “upwards of 40,000” scattered throughout the country.
But if this was all planned for, why is it that President Joe Biden is sending 7,000 troops to Afghanistan to aid in the evacuation process? How is it that all contingencies were planned for but Americans still in Afghanistan are being told that the United States can’t guarantee their safety as they make their way to the airport to evacuate?
The below note went out this afternoon to American citizens requesting to be evacuated from Afghanistan, @alanacbs reports. It instructs people to come to Hamid Karzai Intl Airport in Kabul, but says the US govt cannot guarantee their safety as they make the trip. @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/rgEyjGup4K
— Sara Cook (@saraecook) August 17, 2021
Every contingency was planned for, and yet neither Psaki nor Sullivan can guarantee the safety of any Americans that may be left behind after the Aug. 31 deadline. Our contingency plan evidently relies on the goodwill of the Taliban.
None of this suggests that Biden and his team planned for this. This is a frantic, last-second evacuation with all the chaos that that entails. Much like the other excuses Biden and his team are peddling, the assertion that this mess was planned for would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so serious.
