Washington – President Biden warned on Sunday of his administration’s efforts to evacuate thousands of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from Kabul after the The rapid capture of the Taliban of the country was going to be “hard and painful,” regardless of when the mission began, as work to get the people out of Afghanistan increased.
“Make it clear, the evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul will be hard and painful, no matter when it started, when we started, it would have been true if we had started a month ago or a month from now,” Mr. Biden said in statements about the ongoing chaos in Afghanistan. “There’s no way to evacuate so many people without pain.”
The president went on to stress the “first priority” of his administration in Kabul: to evacuate U.S. citizens “as quickly and safely as possible,” and said discussions are underway to maintain forces. Americans in Afghanistan after August 31, the deadline to complete the withdrawal from the United States. .
“Our hope is that we don’t have to linger, but I suspect there will be discussions about how far we are in the process,” Biden said.
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
The president met with members of his national security team throughout the weekend to discuss efforts to get the U.S. and Afghan allies out of the country, canceling a trip to Delaware to stay in Washington.
In the past 36 hours, 11,000 people have been expelled from Kabul, Biden said, an “extraordinary amount.” Since mid-August, 28,000 have been evacuated from the country and the president said his administration expects the pace to continue.
The president estimated in an interview with ABC News last week that there are between 10,000 and 15,000 American citizens remaining in Afghanistan.
“After all, if we weren’t leaving Afghanistan now, when were we leaving? Another 10 years? Another five years? Another year?” Biden said, defending his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from the country, in response to a question from Ed O’Keefe of CBS News. “I’m not about to send your son or daughter to fight in Afghanistan.”
From The Afghan government collapsed last week, that caused chaos outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport which caused several deaths, the Biden administration has struggled to speed up the evacuations of US and Afghan citizens, including those who have applied for special immigrant visas and they face threats from the Taliban.
The U.S. embassy in the capital warned Americans on Saturday not to travel to the airport and avoid airport gates because of ongoing security threats and the president acknowledged that the “environment Security “is changing rapidly.
“We know terrorists can try to exploit the situation,” he said, adding that the U.S. maintains “constant surveillance” to control and disrupt threats.
To assist in evacuation efforts, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin authorized the use of 18 commercial aircraft from six U.S. airlines to transport evacuees from places outside Afghanistan. Secretary of State Antony Blinken he told “Face the Nation” on Sunday, the United States has agreements with more than 24 countries to serve as transit points for those evacuating from Afghanistan, where they will be sent to process them before traveling to their final destinations.
Biden said those who are not U.S. citizens will undergo security checks in those countries before moving on to their final destination in the United States or another country.
“Once examined and erased, we will welcome these Afghans who helped us in the war effort for the past 20 years in their new home in the United States of America. Because that is who we are,” he said. Biden.
Blinken said the United States has also been in “direct contact” with Americans trying to leave Afghanistan and is giving them instructions on the best way to Kabul airport and where and when to go.
Biden said his administration is contacting U.S. citizens in Afghanistan by phone, email and “other means” to find out about his whereabouts and “is executing a plan” to move groups of Americans safely to the compound. from the airport.
The president did not delve into what these plans entail, but reiterated that “any American who wants to return home will come home.” In addition, the military has “increased rational access” to the airport to allow more people to arrive safely.
Biden also headed for tropical storm Henri, who touched down along the Rhode Island coast around 12:15 p.m. In anticipation of the storm, the president approved emergency declarations for New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island, unblocking access to the states ’federal resources.
“We don’t know the full degree of the impact of the storm today, but we are acting to prepare ourselves and avoid as much damage as possible,” he said.
Biden said the storm, although it went from a hurricane to a tropical storm, has the potential for “widespread consequences” across England, including major flooding and power outages.
“We are now doing everything we can to help those states prepare, respond and recover,” he said.