In an abrupt about-face, President Joe Biden has asked defense officials to put together “contingency plans” for keeping American forces on the ground in Afghanistan beyond the end of this month — despite claiming earlier Tuesday that the White House would abide by the Taliban’s “red line” of a full withdrawal by Aug. 31.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that while Biden had asked for the backup plans, he believes the US is “on track to accomplish our mission” by the Aug. 31 deadline he set to have all American forces out of the country after two decades of conflict.
Psaki also admitted that the evacuations of Americans, Europeans and their Afghan allies would have to stop sometime before the 31st in order to buy time for US forces to leave the country safely along with their equipment.
“There would need to be time to wind down the presence,” the press secretary said.
Earlier Tuesday, Biden met virtually with leaders of the G7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) as well as the European Union, NATO and the United Nations.
Psaki said in a statement that the president had told US allies that the American mission in Kabul “will end based on the achievement of our objectives” and added that troops were “currently on pace to finish” their mission at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug 31.
America’s European allies have called on Biden to extend US forces’ stay beyond the end of this month to ensure that as many people as possible can get out of Afghanistan — amid the Taliban warning President Biden that extending the Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw would bring “consequences.”
According to the White House, Biden told world leaders that American troops were under increased risk of attack from the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan. The same statement noted that completion of the mission “depends on continued coordination with the Taliban.”
Biden estimated in an interview last week that between 10,000 and 15,000 Americans were in Afghanistan, which was reconquered by the Taliban earlier this month. Earlier Tuesday, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that approximately 4,000 “American passport holders” had been flown out of Afghanistan along with their families.
However, lawmakers from both parties have said that not enough time remains to get every American out of Afghanistan before the deadline.
“We have a moral obligation to ensure that we get American citizens out and our Afghan partners out,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a veteran of the Afghan war. “There are more of those folks in the country in Afghanistan right now than we have the capability to evacuate between now and the end of the month.”
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August 25, 2021 at 01:46AM
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Watch live: Biden to speak about Afghanistan evacuation amid criticism - New York Post
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