Afghan passengers crowd at the airport as they wait to leave from Kabul on August 16, 2021. (Shakib Rahmani/AFP/Getty Images)
The ramp’s at the airport are overwhelmed with people trying to leave …..
American military C-17 and C-5 cargo aircraft are laid to the gills with people….
Germany, France and the British send even more aircraft to join the mass evacuation’s….
The American and NATO troops try to handle the masses while President Biden defends his decision against HEAVY criticism across the board with images of a modern day reprise of the fall of Saigon .
Biden remains at Camp David as he endures his first Foreign Affairs beatdown in office far from the media….
His haste dropped the military into rushed reaction’s to events instead of measured planning efforts…..
Any more withdrawals should be planned better and maybe he’ll listen to the experts who urge caution in doing things….
Desperate Afghans crowded around at least one U.S. Air Force plane as it struggled to take off, and there were reports of people falling from aircraft to their death.
It was not immediately clear how others at the airport were killed. U.S. forces previously fired in the air to warn unauthorized people from trying to board military flights, according to numerous reports early Monday.
The State Department said Sunday that U.S. forces have secured control of the airport’s perimeter. The American military presence will swell to nearly 6,000 by early this week, with troops having the sole mission of helping U.S. and allied personnel depart the country….
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National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that President Biden stands by his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and insisted that the chaos playing out following the takeover of the country by the Taliban was not a “worst-case scenario.”
“Actually, I think the worst-case scenario for the United States would be a circumstance in which we were adding back in thousands and thousands of troops to fight and die in a civil war in Afghanistan when the Afghan army wasn’t prepared to fight,” Sullivan said during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show. “That was the alternative choice Joe Biden faced.”
“If we stayed one more year, or two more years, or five more years, or 10 more years, no amount of training or equipment or money or lives lost by the United States was going to put the Afghan army in a position to be able to sustain that country on its own,” Sullivan added.
Sullivan said Biden faced “bad choices” but stands by the one he made. He acknowledged that the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban was faster than envisioned and blamed that on a lack of “will” by the Afghan army….
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British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace appeared to break down during an interview Monday as he discussed the fate of those attempting to flee the Taliban in Afghanistan.
During an interview with radio station LBC, Wallace outlined plans to evacuate those still on Afghan soil and said the government and armed forces were risking their lives to process the relevant documentation before people could leave the country.
“It’s a really deep part of regret for me,” Wallace said before pausing. “That some people won’t get back.”
“Some people won’t get back,” he repeated, seemingly choking back tears….
Update….
The US military has temporarily suspended air operations at Kabul airport while US troops try to clear Afghans who have flooded onto the airfield in a desperate rush to escape the Taliban, a US defense official told CNN.
The suspension comes amid reports of chaos at the airport, where the US has moved all its embassy personnel. Some Afghans have reportedly rushed departing planes, making frantic attempts to scramble onto and then cling to the aircraft as they took off. Gunfire has been reportedly heard around the airport as well. CNN has not been able to independently confirm these reports, but the military is now moving to clear and secure the runways.
The suspension is in effect “while we make sure the airfield is secure,” the US defense official told CNN….
Update….
White House aides on Monday said President Biden will address the nation “soon” on the situation unfolding in Afghanistan, where the U.S. has dispatched thousands of troops to ensure the safe evacuation of U.S. personnel and civilian allies from the country.
Biden had no public events on his schedule Monday as Republicans in particular call on him to return from Camp David and address the nation over the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan….
It’s being reported that a top US military officer has met with Taliban military leader to try to get assurances ther will be not action against the Kabul airport….
Update….
U.S. troops have fatally shot two armed men at Kabul’s airport, while images of Afghan civilians frantically trying to leave the country now under Taliban rule have dominated news coverage.
A Pentagon spokesman confirmed the two shootings Monday, but said it was not clear if the two men killed were affiliated with the Taliban.
“There have been security incidents at the field involving armed individuals shooting at U.S. forces. I want to reiterate that while our mission is not offensive, our forces have the inherent right of self defense, and they will respond accordingly to threats and attacks,” the Pentagon spokesperson told reporters Monday. “So in two separate incidents, U.S. forces did respond to hostile threats that resulted in the death of two armed individuals.”
The Hill
Update….
That number maybe up to 7 now…
More than 700 Afghan soldiers fled to Uzbekistan aboard military aircraft and on foot over the weekend as the Afghan government and allied security forces collapsed in the face of a sweeping Taliban offensive, Uzbek officials said Monday.
The fleeing troops arrived on dozens of military planes and helicopters, including one aircraft that collided with an Uzbek fighter jet, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the office of Uzbekistan’s prosecutor-general….
More…