Blowback may delay US withdrawa
Reversal of earlier ns, US may keep ops in Afghanistan ond August 31 dline to pull out
US President Joe n said he is committed to ing troops in Afghanistan every American is evacufrom the country, even if it ns maintaining a military ence there beyond his ust 31 deadline for complete drawal. den pushed back against ism that the US should have more to plan for the evacuand withdrawal, which has marked by scenes of violence and chaos as thousands attempted to flee while the Taliban advanced.
In an interview on Wednesday with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, Biden said the US will do “everything in our power” to evacuate Americans and US allies from Afghanistan before the deadline.
Pressed on how the administration would help Americans left in the nation after August 31, Biden said, “If there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay till we get them all out.”
Up to 15,000 Americans remain in Afghanistan after the Taliban took full control of the nation in recent days.
US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier on Wednesday that the US military does not have the forces and firepower in Afghanistan to expand its current mission from securing the
Kabul airport to collecting Americans and at-risk Afghans elsewhere in the capital and escorting them for evacuation.
The question of whether those seeking to leave the country before Biden’s deadline should be rescued and brought to the airport has arisen amid reports that Taliban checkpoints have stopped some designated evacuees.
“I don’t have the capability to go out and extend operations currently into Kabul,” Austin said. “And where do you take that? How far do you extend into Kabul, and how long does it take to flow those forces in to be able to do that?”
He said the state department was sending more consular affairs officers to speed up the processing of evacuees. “We’re not close to where we want to be” in terms of the pace of the airlift, Austin said.
He said he was mainly focused on the airport, which faced “a number of threats” that must be monitored. “We cannot afford to either not defend that airfield or not have an airfield that’s secure, where we have hundreds or thousands of civilians that can access the airfield,” he said, adding that talks with the Taliban were continuing to ensure safe passage for those evacuating.
Austin said there were about 4,500 US troops at the airport, maintaining security to enable the state department-run evacuation operation that has been marked by degrees of chaos and confusion.
Biden, however, told ABC that there wasn’t anything his administration could have done to avoid such chaos. “The idea that somehow, there’s a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don’t know how that happens,” he said.
US suspends all arms sales to Afghanistan
The Biden administration has suspended all arms sales to the government of Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the country.
In a notice to defence contractors posted on Wednesday, the US state department’s political and military affairs bureau said pending or undelivered arms transfers to Afghanistan had been put under review in the wake of the latest developments.
“In light of rapidly evolving circumstances in Afghanistan, the directorate of defence sales controls is reviewing all pending and issued export licences and other approvals to determine their suitability in furthering world peace, national security and the foreign policy of the United States,” it said.
The notice elaborated that it would issue updates for defence equipment exporters in the coming days.
Poll: Afghanistan war unpopular amid pull-out
A significant majority of Americans doubt that the war in Afghanistan was worthwhile, even as the US is more divided over Biden’s handling of foreign policy, according to a poll from The Associated PRESS-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly two-thirds said they did not think America’s longest war was worth fighting, the poll shows. Meanwhile, 47% approve of Biden’s management of international affairs, while 52% approve of the US president on national security.