U.S. President Joe Biden is answering questions about the ongoing military evacuations of vulnerable U.S. and Afghan citizens in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 20, 2021.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden said Sunday that the United States has “a long way to go and that many could go wrong” amid the chaotic evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies from Kabul after the Taliban took Afghanistan a week ago .
“The evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul will be hard and painful, regardless of when it started, when we started,” the president said during a press conference at the White House.
“It would have been true if we had started a month ago or a month ago. There is no way to evacuate so many people without pain,” Biden said.
The Biden administration faces criticism for its treatment of the global withdrawal from the United States from Afghanistan. The withdrawal, announced earlier this year, has been plagued by chaos.
Thousands have flocked to Kabul airport and some even crashed to death after clinging to the outside of a U.S. military plane as they tried to leave the country. According to the British army, seven Afghan civilians were killed in crowds trying to enter Kabul airport.
The president said U.S. forces continue to advance in Kabul evacuations. As many as 33,000 people have been evacuated since July, including 28,000 since August 14 and 11,000 over the weekend, Biden said.
The president reiterated that Americans are the number one priority for the evacuation of Afghanistan, promising that “any American who wants to return home will return home.”
Biden also defended his decision to withdraw the US from the country, arguing that it was the “logical, rational and correct decision to make”.
U.S. defense officials said Sunday that the military is looking for alternative ways to get people to the airport safely amid specific ISIS threats against the airport. The U.S. embassy in Afghanistan on Saturday warned U.S. citizens not to travel to the airport because of security threats outside the gates.
The Pentagon on Sunday ordered U.S. commercial airlines to provide planes to transport people who have already left the country for military bases in Europe and the Middle East.
The president stressed that planes taking off from Kabul do not fly directly to the United States, but land at military bases and processing centers around the world. He added that there are security projections in these places for anyone who is not a U.S. citizen.
Biden’s job approval ratings have fallen amid the current crisis in Afghanistan. An NBC News poll released Sunday shows a large majority of adults surveyed say they disapprove of the president’s treatment of the situation in Afghanistan, with only 25% approving of her approach.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during an interview with Fox News, said Sunday that 8,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul on 60 flights in the past 24 hours.
The U.S. has also reached an agreement with about two dozen countries on four continents that are helping or will soon help relocate people from Kabul, Blinken said.
– CNBC Leslie Josephs i Brian Schwartz has provided reports