On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Cuomo Primetime,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) said the Taliban is “hunting” those still in Afghanistan, and Congress hasn’t seen the Biden administration’s plan to leverage the safe passage of American citizens and allies in Afghanistan. Moulton added that because Congress doesn’t know the plan, “people who are left behind are trying to figure out what they do next. We don’t even know what to tell them.”
Moulton said, “They are hunting these people, and I know that from firsthand accounts. And so, this is the second big thing that we need to do, Chris, is, one, we need to take care of the refugees in these camps. Two, let’s not forget that there are a lot of people that we left behind, a few hundred American citizens, but thousands of allies that we weren’t able to rescue. And the whole idea is that we’ll have some leverage with the Taliban to ensure their safe passage down the road now that the Taliban controls the country and we don’t have any presence there whatsoever. But as a member of Congress, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, we haven’t seen that plan yet. And one of the reasons why we need to keep asking questions is to understand exactly how this is going to work. You know, I’ve spent so many sleepless nights, as have so many veterans in America, over the past couple weeks getting people out, often coordinating directly with troops on the ground to get them over the wall or through the gate. And I told my wife the other day that I would finally get a full night’s sleep once the withdrawal was complete, but I was up all night trying to get people out now. Because the people who are left behind are trying to figure out what they do next. We don’t even know what to tell them. So, there’s still a lot of work to do to uphold our promises.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett