Secretary of State Blinken AGAIN blames Americans for staying in Afghanistan after '19 warnings', is trying to get the stranded out out by LAND and dodges question on claims 'majority' of allies were left behind
Secretary of State Antony Blinken provided few details and dodged several questions on State Department efforts to evacuate Americans and Afghans out of the Taliban-controlled country in a lackluster press conference on the subject on Friday.
After his remarks Blinken met with US embassy staff from Kabul Friday afternoon and praised their 'resilience, dedication and professionalism' in a statement on Twitter.
Hours after the military left Kabul on August 30 Blinken admitted that between 100 and 200 US citizens who wanted to leave Kabul were left behind when the last C-17 jet lifted off the tarmac at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Early on in the press conference Friday he said the US State Department issued 19 warnings to US citizens registered with the embassy in Kabul to leave the country - then appeared to blame them when he said many didn't want to leave right away.
He was asked about the status of those Americans today but would not say how many remained.
'We are in very regular contact with a relatively small number of American citizens who remain in Afghanistan and have indicated they are interested in leaving,' he said.
Blinken went out of his way to repeat that the State Department sent out warnings to those Americans it knew were in Kabul before the Taliban took over - seemingly blaming them for not taking the initiative to flee earlier.
Blinken offered numerous assurances over the US's 'diplomatic mission' to get Americans and Afghan allies to safety - but declined to say how many of each were still in Afghanistan
The Secretary of State met with staff from the US embassy in Kabul following his remarks
'For many months, going back to March, we issued 19 different notices to those registered with he embassy, as I said encouraging them and then urging them to leave Afghanistan,' he said.
He claimed those Americans were 'almost exclusively' residing there for years and were hesitant to leave when those warnings were issued and 'it's especially wrenching for them to make the decision about whether to leave or not.'
Blinken stressed the State Department was working with those US citizens based on their 'desire to leave' - implying some could have wanted to stay and live under Taliban rule, despite the world witnessing chaotic scenes at the airport in August as thousands attempted to flee.
He even quantified the number of times his department reached out to them during the evacuation - 55,000 phone calls and 30,000 emails over two weeks - but failed to mention a figure on how many didn't heed the warnings.
As he left the briefing a reporter shouted, 'So no American made it out? Is that what you're answering?'
But Blinken marched out of the briefing room without a word.
Blinken said on Monday that as many as 200 Americans could still be in Afghanistan actively trying to flee, after the US military ended its evacuation that day
A US military transport plane flies over relatives of a man killed by a US drone strike in Kabul
The Biden official told reporters the US was looking at possible routes by land to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies of the US military still stranded in Kabul.
Afghanistan's mountainous territory is infamous inhospitable and would likely pose a number of threats to those exiting - and without US military guard to guide them.
Earlier in the briefing he addressed the thousands of special immigrant visa applicants still stranded in Afghanistan, many of whom have targets on their backs for aiding the US military over its 20-year war.
He said the government was looking at 'alternative' application routes for those individuals so they wouldn't have to wait in the Taliban-ruled country, including potential third-country locations where they can wait in safety.
Blinken also thanked the US veterans working to help stranded Afghans and said the State Department was in contact with those groups on how to get them out.
'Helping these Afghans is more than just a priority for us, it's a deeply held commitment, and it's an ongoing one. We're going to do everything we can to keep it,' he said.
No American civilians were on the last five flights out of Kabul, military officials previously said
An image of the last soldier to leave Afghanistan after 20 years of a constant presence. With the military gone, Blinken said the US is engaged in a new 'diplomatic mission' to get people out
During the briefing Blinken was also asked about the number of SIV applicants left in Afghanistan.
Another State Department official revealed on Wednesday that 'the majority' of SIVs were left behind despite repeat promises from government officials up to President Biden himself that the US would do everything it can to get them out.
Blinken gave a roundabout answer in which he touted the 124,000 people evacuated by US-led flights and said efforts were currently underway to assess how many of the thousands of Afghans at US staging areas or safe haven locations across the Middle East and Europe were SIV applicants or other vulnerable Afghans.
He again declined to provide a specific number of how many people were abandoned.
'What I can tell you is this: of the roughly 124,000 people who have been evacuated, the vast majority - 75, 80 percent - are Afghans at risk. And of those, some significant number will be SIVs,' Blinken said.
He assured there was 'no deadline' to the diplomatic stage of the evacuation.
No comments