{"id":16868,"date":"2021-08-22T21:14:51","date_gmt":"2021-08-22T21:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/08\/22\/chaotic-evacuation-from-afghanistan-was-inevitable-biden-insists\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:50:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:50:35","slug":"chaotic-evacuation-from-afghanistan-was-inevitable-biden-insists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/08\/22\/chaotic-evacuation-from-afghanistan-was-inevitable-biden-insists\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan was inevitable, Biden insists"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=9efea2a7-daad-4be1-9591-1564020970e4\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-9efea2a7-daad-4be1-9591-1564020970e4.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;Help, help&#8230; Taliban coming for me!&#8221; A young woman please for admittance to the Kabul airport amid frenzied scenes in the Afghan capital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/08\/20\/inside-the-mission-to-rescue-169-americans-from-a-hotel-outside-the-kabul-airport\/\" target=\"_blank\">week of chaos<\/a> outside the Kabul airport, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/08\/20\/biden-vows-to-evacuate-all-americans-foreign-allies-from-afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\">President Joe Biden<\/a> again defended the American evacuation effort in Afghanistan during a national address on Sunday, saying the work was going to be difficult no matter the circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvacuation of thousands of people from Afghanistan was going to be hard and painful, no matter when it started,\u201d Biden said in his third national address in six days on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/08\/19\/few-answers-for-afghan-evacuees-seeking-safe-passage-to-kabul-airport\/\" target=\"_blank\">deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.<\/a> \u201cThat would have been true if we had started a month ago or a month from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss of heartbreaking images you see on television. It\u2019s just a fact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 33,000 American citizens and Afghan allies have been evacuated from the country since late July, 11,000 in the last few days alone. The moves come as tens of thousands more are seeking to escape the country amid the fall of the democratic government there and the return to Taliban rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/08\/22\/pentagon-asks-airlines-for-help-moving-evacuees\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"236\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/C17.jfif_.jpg?w=236\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pentagon asks airlines for help moving evacuees<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has activated the initial stage of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Biden has faced significant criticism in recent days for the turbulent withdrawal effort, which comes three months after he announced a full drawdown of all American military personnel from the country after nearly 20 years of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One week ago, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country as Taliban fighters advanced on the capital city of Kabul, leading the remainder of the U.S.-backed Afghanistan military to walk away from fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republican lawmakers have attacked Biden for the decision to pull out all U.S. troops despite the threat posed by Taliban fighters and terrorist groups there, and Democratic leaders in Congress have promised hearings on the missteps in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 6,000 U.S. military personnel are deployed to the Kabul airport to help with securing the area and processing of refugees out of the country. Earlier in the day, during an appearance on Meet the Press, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan left open the possibility of increasing that total in coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advocates have said that thousands of would-be evacuees are trapped in the region just outside the Kabul airport, blocked from the safety of American protection by Taliban checkpoints or paperwork problems preventing their entry to the airfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Biden said that in recent days \u201cwe\u2019ve been able to significantly increase the number of people who are getting through\u201d but again repeated his vow to get all Americans and Afghan allies out of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt my direction, the State Department continues to reach out to the remaining Americans we have identified by phone, email, and other means to ascertain their whereabouts and their plans to move to safety,\u201d he said. \u201cI will say again today what I have said before: Any American who wants to get home will get home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier on Sunday, White House officials announced plans to activate the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, asking to borrow 18 aircraft from major American airlines to help transport refugees from foreign holding points outside of Afghanistan to other locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They also acknowledged threats against the airport (and the crowds gathered around it) from groups connected to Islamic State terrorists. Biden said that has added even more urgency to the evacuation effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery day we have troops on the ground [in Afghanistan], these troops and innocent civilians of the airport face the risk of attack,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re working as hard and as fast as we can to get people out. That\u2019s our mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/08\/21\/islamic-state-threat-forces-us-changes-to-evacuations-at-kabul-airport\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6789607.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Islamic State threat forces US changes to evacuations at Kabul airport<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Potential Islamic State threats against Americans in Afghanistan are forcing the U.S. military to develop new ways to get evacuees to the airport in Kabul.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Biden declined to elaborate on what new security measures have been taken for those trying to get to HKIA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat I\u2019m not going to do is talk about the tactical changes we\u2019re making to make sure we maintain as much security as we can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. military officials have said that the evacuation mission is slated to run through Aug. 31. When asked if that deadline may be extended, Biden said that \u201cour hope is we will not have to extend, but there have been discussions\u201d about a possible extension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The American president also praised outside advocates who have helped with the evacuations so far. Many have been working around the clock with federal officials to identify individuals trapped behind Taliban lines and ensure housing and support after they have safely left the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve been touched by the outpouring of support that we\u2019ve seen from communities across America, mobilizing to support these efforts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo many of these Afghans stood bravely by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. And now, the United States, including veterans groups, refugee settlement agencies, religious organizations and so many others, are standing with our Afghan allies. It exemplifies the best of America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A new NBC News poll released Sunday found that 60 percent of individuals surveyed disapproved of Biden\u2019s handling of the Afghanistan situation thus far, versus 25 percent who approve of his work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About 11,000 individuals have been evacuated from the country in the last few days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":38773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-16868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"W6V4GXULKBGNDCQUKTWIVW3NBE","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/afghanistan\/2021\/08\/22\/chaotic-evacuation-from-afghanistan-was-inevitable-biden-insists\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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