Tapper presses Biden’s top aide on Afghanistan: “How will you get out of these Americans?”

by

CNN Jake TapperJacob (Jake) Paul Tapper Hill’s Report 12:30 – Presented by AT&T – United States enters Afghanistan in the last hours Afghanistan’s former ambassador to the United States: Afghan women “panic” Romney: Crisis in Afghanistan blames both Biden, Trump administrations MORE Tuesday pressed President BidenJoe Biden: Democratic Progressive Lawmakers Urge Biden to Replace Powell as Fed Pentagon Releases Photo of Last Soldier Leaving Afghanistan Night Defense and National Security: America’s Longest War Ends MOREnational security adviser Jake SullivanJake Sullivan: Trump: The U.S. should take military action if the Taliban do not return billions of equipment. The US intercepts rockets aimed at Kabul airport. on how the administration plans to help the many U.S. citizens who remain in Afghanistan after the U.S. military withdrawal.

Tuesday’s segment came after Biden said Tuesday in a White House speech that the federal government had “no deadline” to help the remaining 100 to 200 U.S. citizens who are still believed to be in Afghanistan. .

Tapper repeatedly asked Sullivan about the issue and asked Biden’s top aide why the rest of the U.S. citizens were unable to make the military evacuation flights from Kabul for the past two weeks.

“How will you get out of these Americans?” Tapper added.

Sullivan reiterated Biden’s comment earlier in the day that the U.S. government had contacted Americans in Afghanistan 19 times since March telling them to “leave the country,” adding that the administration “He offered them financial help so they could leave.”

The national security adviser said that “97 per cent of the people we communicated with arrived at the airport and boarded the planes.”

“There are several reasons why the rest of the people didn’t,” he continued. “Some changed their minds at the last minute, others wanted to bring a large, large family other than Americans who couldn’t get past the checkpoints.”

Sullivan noted that “the question the president finally faced was,‘ How long do I keep U.S. sailors in danger with threats that increase every hour, how many more days do I do that? “

“Ultimately, he decided it was right to end it and move on to a diplomatic mission, and we have a lot of influence with the Taliban to help make the safe passage of any other American who wants to leave Afghanistan,” he added. .

Tapper continued to pressure Sullivan, asking him to provide specific details on how evacuation efforts would continue without the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan for the first time in 20 years.

Sullivan explained that Americans and Afghan allies who meet the requirements to obtain special immigrant visas (SIV) will be able to leave the country by air or travel on foot to nearby countries.

“We are working closely with other countries to make charter flights work in the short term,” he said, adding that the administration is also “working with neighboring countries to be able to accept U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents traveling. by land borders to have them processed and safely removed from the country. ”

Biden has received bipartisan criticism for his handling of the evacuations, and many argue that troops should have remained in Afghanistan until all U.S. citizens were safely transferred.

However, the president defended his decision on Tuesday and noted that his military and diplomatic advisers strongly recommended that the elimination of U.S. soldiers be the safest way to continue evacuations.

.Source