Republicans are furious and some Democrats are stirring up the ongoing chaos to evacuate Americans and allies from Afghanistan.
Lawmakers, advocates and ad hoc teams from evacuation task forces exploit the Biden administration, saying government officials have not helped and have even hampered efforts to evacuate priority people.
Meanwhile, administration officials stress the need for diplomacy to ensure the safe passage of those who want to flee the Taliban-controlled country.
secretary of state Anthony Blink
Antony Blinken: Blumenthal “frustrated, even furious” over delays in Americans’ departure from Afghanistan After the disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan, questions remain from the State Department that it has “no reliable means” to confirm if the Taliban prevent the Americans from leaving Afghanistan MORE on Tuesday he pushed back claims that the Taliban are holding hostage basically Americans and Afghan allies by landing planes at an airport operating in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, a cargo led by the representative. Michael McCaul
Michael Thomas McCaul Blumenthal “frustrated, even furious” at the delays in getting Americans out of Afghanistan The U.S. helped citizens and families escape from Afghanistan to the neighboring country. The Hill’s Morning Report – Posted by Facebook – Questions on Biden’s agenda; unemployment benefits end MORE (R-Texas), the top Republican in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, during an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”
“I understand that the Taliban have not denied exit to anyone with a valid document,” Blinken told a news conference in Qatar on Tuesday, where he visited U.S. and Qatar officials who have helped transit most of the evacuees from Afghanistan.
“We are not aware that anyone is detained on a plane or any hostage situation in Mazar-i-Sharif.”
However, Blinken’s additional explanation has attracted criticism from members of President Biden
Joe Biden Spotlight addresses GOP McCarthy on January 6th. Biden’s investigation visits the union hall to commemorate Labor Day.own party.
The secretary said the administration cannot verify the identity of the passengers on the planes, a remark that sparked a quick push from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s office. which endorses at least two aircraft. full of American citizens, Afghan allies at risk and their families, including young children.
“The information we provided to the State Department is higher than what is normally required to travel to Afghanistan,” Blumenthal spokeswoman Maria McElwain wrote in an email to The Hill in response to the secretary’s statements. in Qatar.
McElwain said the senator’s office provided the State Department with the planes’ manifestos as early as Aug. 30, with continuous updates through Monday, and that Blinken “was wrong” in saying the identities could not be verified. of passengers.
He also called it “clearly problematic” for the State Department to rely on the Taliban to individually verify “extremely vulnerable Afghans on these flights.”
Sayara International, the organization working with Blumenthal on charter evacuation flights, said in a statement on Tuesday that it is “discouraged by the misinformation and inaccurate rhetoric surrounding our scheduled charter flights to leave Mazar-i-Sharif “and that its passenger states” have been examined and approved by the United States government. “
The dispute over charter flights underscores the challenges facing the Biden administration following the withdrawal of the US military on 31 August.
Although the administration managed to evacuate more than 124,000 people late last month, its efforts have shifted to talks with the governments of Qatar and Turkey to help the Taliban reopen Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport and ensure land routes for border crossings.
But frustration is spreading among Washington critics who say the administration fails on multiple fronts in its commitment to evacuate any American who wants to leave.
Blinken is expected to testify before the House and Senate Foreign Affairs Committee next week in response to questions from lawmakers about Afghanistan.
Although the administration claims there are just over 100 U.S. citizens in the process of evacuation, they have not provided any account to the green card holders, to the Afghan allies who have completed or are in the process of sunbathing. application for special visas for immigrants (SIV) and other Afghans at risk who are targets of the Taliban.
The White House said Tuesday it would go to Congress to ask for funds to bring and resettle up to 95,000 Afghans to the U.S., but some independent estimates say the number of SIV applicants and their families could exceed 100,000.
Her. Jeanne Shaheen
Cynthia (Jeanne) Jeanne Shaheen After the disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan, questions remain that Romney exploits Biden about those left in Afghanistan: “Take them home” The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by AT&T – Defiant Biden defense the departure of the United States from Afghanistan MORE (DN.H.), a member of the Senate Armed Services and External Relations Committee, sent a letter to Blinken on Friday asking for answers from thousands of Afghans his office is following and the administration’s plan for those they are still trapped in Afghanistan or waiting for third parties. countries.
“My office has sent more than 2,200 names to the Department, many of whom … got enough documentation but still couldn’t evacuate and women and girls who fear the Taliban’s pay to seek basic human rights,” Shaheen wrote in the letter.
“While some people have shared the status of their evacuation with my office, I don’t have confirmation of many cases that have come out successfully. Also, I have questions about the next steps for people staying in the “Afghanistan and third countries waiting for a path to security.”
A congressional aide who was on a call last week with the State Department discussing efforts to address visas for Afghans said Republican and Democratic office staff were “incredibly frustrated and unhappy with the responses.” that we received, they were simply unacceptable. “
At the top of the list of frustrations are the Catch-22 bureaucrats faced by SIV applicants who cannot finish visa applications because they need a face-to-face interview. The solution indicated is that applicants must go to a third country to have the necessary interview to obtain a visa in the US.
But leaving Afghanistan and going to a third country is almost impossible.
“I’m sure there are people who work 24 hours a day, 7 days a day in the State Department, trying to clean up the mess that their elders have caused,” said the congressional source, who added that the offices are looking for ways Congress can help the State Department in these efforts.
“I don’t want to use hyperbole when it’s unnecessary, but at every step of the government it seems like there are few or no ways to help anyone. Even now they still can’t give us the full information of who came out and how many are left behind. we can’t get any information. It’s incredibly frustrating, “the aide said.
A State Department spokesman responded to a request for comment from The Hill, saying, “As a general matter, don’t comment on communications with Congress.”
Updated at 6:18 p.m.