As we reported earlier, the Biden team is saying that there may be up to 10,000 Americans who still need to be rescued from Afghanistan. I wrote previously about how they were begging people like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) for help because our government wasn’t responding and had just told them to shelter in place and fill out a form.

But it may be even worse than that, according to Bush Assistant Secretary of State Robert Charles. According to Charles, he said there was a tally and it was between 15,000 and 40,000 people still waiting to be told when they’ll be saved.

‘It’s hard for me to properly present the extent of this foreign policy failure. This is a cascading national security failure.

‘There’s a document in the embassy called the F-77. I am told the F-77 of Afghanistan indicates there are 15,000 potentially, upwards of 40,000 Americans scattered around Afghanistan right now.

‘The Taliban has given a two week grace period for them to get out but most of them have been told to shelter in place by the State Department,’ Charles told Fox and Friends.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Ned Price claimed there was no “tally.” So which is it?

Charles was referencing an apparent uneasy understanding between the Taliban and the U.S. military that they can get some people through to the airport.

US troops must negotiate with Taliban fighters on who is able to pass through safely into the airport. Taliban has agreed to a ‘two week grace period’ for foreign countries to remove their people. But many are dubious about how long it may last.

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) August 17, 2021

But the Taliban has encircled the airport and has all the access points covered, and the Americans and the allies who need to be rescued are spread out all over the country.

A member of Taliban (C) stands outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. REUTERS/Stringer pic.twitter.com/mEM3bc8fdJ

— Abdulsatar Bochnak (@AbdulsatarBoch1) August 17, 2021

How are we even going to begin to do that? The US claims it’ll remove 5,000/day despite only rescuing 1,400 since Sunday. But if there are 40,000 Americans plus thousands more allies, how are you going to be able to get those people out now?

America faces Dunkirk challenge in Kabul. Up to 40,000 Americans are still stranded in Afghanistan yet today no sign of any US planes at Kabul Airport. US controls airport but it is circled by Taliban.

— Andrew Neil (@afneil) August 17, 2021

Are the Taliban really going to let them get the allies who they are looking to kill through Taliban checkpoints? What we’re talking about now is many incredibly dangerous missions, possible hostage-taking, and people getting killed all because Biden left us in the lurch on all this, because he failed to even consider or even care about any of these questions until now.

Taliban fighters shoot Afghans trying to jump Kabul airport wall pic.twitter.com/rNNmOAfDaS

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) August 16, 2021