While U.S. forces have flown out of the airport with the Taliban at the gates, unfortunately, there are Americans still trapped in Afghanistan.
When everything fell apart yesterday, and the airport was being fired upon, the U.S. government advised Americans to “shelter” in place and file a form online with the government. What a horrible thing to do to desperate people.
— Dr. Nickarama (@nickaramaOG) August 15, 2021
They had no idea what to do next. So if they didn’t disregard that advisory from the government and go to the airport, they are now stuck behind enemy lines. According to a Fox News live report just now, only a few hundred got away on the planes. There were thousands at the U.S. Embassy, not to mention other American citizens not working at the embassy.
But the government is still telling people to stay in place today.
US embassy in Kabul still urging Americans to shelter in place amid crush at airport "until you have been informed by email that departure options exist." https://t.co/9AWO0sclaU
— Conor Finnegan (@cjf39) August 16, 2021
Some of the people stuck have been appealing to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) to help them, while Joe Biden appears asleep at the switch. If they tried to get Jen Psaki, they’d just get her email auto-reply saying “out of the office.”
Cotton spokesman says that their office has heard from multiple US citizens in Kabul trapped behind Taliban checkpoints, who can’t safely reach the US perimeter and have no clear option for what to do. https://t.co/rY5QTSPLKd
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 16, 2021
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) blames President Biden, saying Americans are trapped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan:
“All he had to do, perhaps, was wait a few more months to get into the winter months…” pic.twitter.com/siCZHhrYaI
— The Recount (@therecount) August 16, 2021
He’s not the only one. People have also been appealing to other senators. Why? Because they’re not hearing anything back from the embassy or the government.
Multiple Americans trapped in Afghanistan have reached out to US Senators (we know of at least 3 Republican senators who received calls) begging for help reporting that they are trapped and can’t make it to the airport and no one from the US embassy is responding to them. https://t.co/cR7lJCYlBT
— Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) August 16, 2021
More than one hundred American journalists working for our own government radio stations were also apparently left behind, according to the New York Times.
More than a hundred journalists employed by the American government’s own radio stations remain in Afghanistan as the Taliban take power…"
“Journalists are being left behind."https://t.co/DjqhRs2pN3
by @benyt
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) August 16, 2021
Meanwhile, Biden has had to order 7000 troops back into the country including the military sent in over the weekend. So we withdrew 2500 only now to have to put back in 7000. Will they be able to get people out now, with the way this has all come down? It’s anyone’s guess. A blind, one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest could have done a better job at this withdrawal than Biden did. But the horrible thing is it can still get far worse if we start losing Americans because of the incompetence. We are also surely going to lose thousands of allies.
The latest word is that the U.S. has secured the military side of the airport and the control tower. The Taliban have the civilian side. The U.S. troops had to shoot two armed Afghans who tried to storm their planes. Eight people are believed to have been killed including people who fell from the planes when they took off after they were clinging on the outside.
LIVE FROM KABUL: @RichardEngel reports the Taliban has "taken over the civilian side of the airport" while the U.S. military is evacuating from the military side. #MTPDaily
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) August 16, 2021
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