The Biden administration confirmed on Tuesday that Joe Biden will not extend the Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, giving authorities just seven days to evacuate thousands of American citizens and Afghan allies still stranded on the ground.
A Taliban official on Monday warned that there would be “consequences” if U.S. troops remained in the country beyond the deadline.
The Daily Mail characterized Biden’s decision not to extend the deadline as a “snub” to his international allies, and complained that the regime is “dismissing the desperate pleas of G7 leaders to extend the Kabul evacuation beyond August 31.”
According to reports, the G7 nations had an agreement in place to tell the Taliban the G7 nations would be staying in Afghanistan past the deadline to continue evacuation efforts, but Biden “undercut” the plan, giving the Taliban the upper hand.
https://twitter.com/thejcoop/status/1430221258722062342?s=20
Reportedly, the regime has a contingency plan in place in case it needs more time “to finish the mission.”
President to speak at 2pm.
Senior official says the president told DoD to continue to have a contingency to stay longer if needed to finish mission" because of concerns about a terror attack that shuts down airport or if the Taliban interferes "then we may need more time. "
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) August 24, 2021
In a video message to Biden on Tuesday, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said that her constituents in Fort Campbell are very upset over Aug. 31 deadline.
“There is no way we are going to get all of our citizens, our partners, our Afghan partners out of Afghanistan,” Blackburn lamented. “Mr. President please, please, do not abandon these individuals behind enemy lines.”
Joe Biden is leaving Americans behind enemy lines. pic.twitter.com/Drx02Up1cC
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) August 24, 2021
CIA Director William Burns reportedly held a secret meeting with Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday. He was the highest-ranking Biden administration official to meet with Taliban leadership.
According to Fred Fleitz, former Trump National Security Council official, current President and CEO of the Center for Security Policy, sending Burns to Afghanistan to talk to the Taliban leader was a rare bright spot in Biden’s otherwise dismal handling of the crisis.
“William Burns is a seasoned and experienced US diplomat. While I did not always agree with Burns when we worked together at State in the 2000s , I found him to be honest and principled. He is by far the best member of President Biden’s national security team,” Fleitz told American Greatness.
“Sending Burns to meet with the Taliban means Biden finally did something right in this crisis. Hopefully, Biden realized his top two national security advisers — Blinken and Sullivan — were woefully unqualified for such a deadly serious task,” he said.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid reiterated on Tuesday that they see August 31 as a firm deadline, telling reporters that there is sufficient time to get foreign nationals out before then.
Fleitz told American Greatness he was worried the Taliban and al Qaeda would not even honor the 8/31 date.
“The Taliban is calling the shots,” he said. “The world knows this. US credibility has taken a huge hit due to Biden’s incompetence.”
Heartbreaking news footage on Tuesday showed a crying boy and girl stuck in the huge crowds desperately trying to flee the Taliban. The two children were reportedly separated from their parents outside Kabul airport in the scramble to be evacuated from the war-torn country.
“Mr. Biden, you did this! You planned this. You made the deal with the Taliban. This is the consequences of it!” an incensed Afghan man cried. “You were always against Trump, now we are against you!” the man added. “Go to hell Biden!”
https://twitter.com/TheFirstonTV/status/1430222830545903621?s=20
In a statement Tuesday, former President Donald Trump blasted the Biden regime for surrendering Afghanistan to terrorists and pulling out U.S. Military personnel before American citizens.
“Now we are learning that out of the 26,000 people who have been evacuated, only 4,000 are Americans,” Trump said in his statement.
You can be sure the Taliban, who are now in complete control, didn’t allow the best and brightest to board these evacuation flights. Instead, we can only imagine how many thousands of terrorists have been airlifted out of Afghanistan and into neighborhoods around the world. What a terrible failure. NO VETTING. How many terrorists will Joe Biden bring to America? We don’t know!
Biden was scheduled to deliver remarks on the Afghanistan crisis at noon ET Tuesday, but the presser was pushed back to 4:30.
Update:
The U.S. military has started withdrawing from Afghanistan, Fox News reported Tuesday.
BREAKING: The U.S. military has started withdrawing from Afghanistan reducing troop presence: U.S. officials
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) August 24, 2021
“Things have departed,” an official said about the beginning of the withdrawal. “We can still defend the airport,” the official said.
There are fewer American troops at the airport in Kabul today than there were yesterday.
It was notable at the top of the Pentagon new conference that the number of U.S. troops on the ground was not mentioned. For days, the number of American troops flooding into Kabul airport was part of the daily release of information.
“We are still able to get Americans out who want to evacuate,” one official said.
The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan reportedly sent out a “final message” to Americans still trapped behind enemy lines, telling them that they should be prepared to arrange their own departure without help from the U.S. government. The embassy recalled the message 30 minutes after it was sent out.
This message has been recalled, per @RichardEngel https://t.co/dfV6f3zdpo
— Catie Edmondson (@CatieEdmondson) August 24, 2021
At 4:45 pm ET, Biden still hadn’t appeared to deliver remarks on the Afghanistan situation that were originally scheduled to take place at noon, then rescheduled to 2:00, then pushed back again to 4:30.
Biden began the press conference at approximately 5:00 ET.
Happening Now: President Biden delivers remarks on our ongoing efforts in Afghanistan. https://t.co/YuEdUml7rE
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 24, 2021
Trump’s Save America PAC released a powerful video Tuesday, taking Biden to task for lying to the American people and failing in Afghanistan.
https://twitter.com/parscale/status/1430282528926183439?s=20