Facing intense criticism from all sides over the incompetent effort to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan, President Joe Biden addressed the nation Friday to give an update on the evacuation effort.The president said that nearly 6,000 troops were deployed on the ground in Kabul and have secured the airport and enabled international flights out of the country to resume. He would not commit, however, to using U.S. troops to go into Kabul and extract Americans who have not been able to reach the airport. In fact, he claimed that there was "no indication" American citizens were having trouble reaching the airport, a claim that is not based in reality.
"This is one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history. And the only country in the world capable of projecting this much power on the far side of the world, with this degree of precision, is the United States of America," Biden boasted.
"We've already evacuated more than 18,000 people since July and approximately 13,000 since our military airlift began on August the 14th. Thousands more have been evacuated on private charter flights facilitated by the U.S. government," the president said.
"The United States stands by its commitment to these people," Biden added.
Flights from the Kabul airport were briefly paused on Friday after a facility in Qatar where refugees were being transported for processing reached capacity. But Biden said that flights out of Afghanistan had resumed by the time he began speaking, as his administration had worked to set up a new space where refugees could be processed in Bahrain.
The president reiterated that the U.S. government does not know exactly how many Americans were in Afghanistan when evacuation efforts began. He said his administration was working to count how many Americans have been evacuated and how many remain.
"We're going to do everything, everything that we can to provide safe evacuation for our Afghan allies, partners, and Afghans who might be targeted because of their association with the United States," Biden said.
"Let me be clear: Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home," Biden promised, before hedging expectations. "Make no mistake: This evacuation mission is dangerous. It involves risks to our armed forces and its being conducted under difficult circumstances. I cannot promise what the final outcome will be or that it will be without risk of loss, but as commander-in-chief I can assure that I will mobilize every resource necessary and as an American I offer my gratitude to the brave men and women of the U.S. armed forces who are carrying out this mission."
The president said his administration is in "constant contact" with the Taliban to ensure the safe passage of Americans to the airport. Answering a question from a reporter, Biden said there was "no indication" that any American with a U.S. passport has not been able to get to the airport safely.
ABC News Senior Correspondent Ian Pannell, reporting from the ground in Afghanistan, said Biden's claim is "just totally not" what is happening.
"Last night on 'World News' we had American citizens who had exactly that experience. They tried to get to the airport, they had waved their American passports ... they were beaten by the Taliban with the rubber fan belt from a vehicle," Pannell said.
Reports indicate that the Taliban has also been blocking Afghans from reaching the airport, breaking their commitments to the U.S. The Biden administration said Thursday it was aware of "congestion" around the airport hampering evacuation efforts, an interesting way to describe Taliban soldiers using gunfire to disperse crowds of people.
Facing demands to go get the trapped Americans, Biden would not commit to sending U.S. troops into Kabul to extract U.S. citizens who have not been able to reach the airport, as British and French forces have done for their citizens.The president vowed that any attack by the Taliban on U.S. forces working to secure the evacuation of American citizens "will be met with swift and forceful response."
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