Dem Sen. Blumenthal: Austin Gave ‘No Real Responses’ on Evacuating Citizens, Allies Because There Aren’t Any, ‘There Is Nobody in Charge’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stated that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin “provided no real responses to my questions” on evacuating American citizens and Afghan allies from Afghanistan. “Because, at the moment, there aren’t responses. There is nobody in charge.” And that the “tens of thousands of Afghan allies” still in the country are “at risk of murder and torture. They’re in hiding. And their situations are increasingly desperate.”

Blumenthal said, “There really was no clarity, and with all due respect to the Secretary of Defense, he provided no real responses to my questions. Because, at the moment, there aren’t responses. There is nobody in charge. And, undeniably, and he knows, and so does every member of that panel, there’s a moral imperative here. There are tens of thousands of Afghan allies, the former interpreters and translators, guards, security officials, who went into combat with our troops. They protected our diplomats. They put themselves and their families at risk and now they have targets on their back. They’re at risk of murder and torture. They’re in hiding. And their situations are increasingly desperate. My office turned into a kind of mini-evacuation center. My senior staff and I were making phone calls. I called some of the very top officials in the White House and the State Department. And members of the State Department pointed to the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense pointed at the White House. Nobody in charge, and it’s a continuing challenge that we need to face. Because lives are at stake, lives of people who put their lives on the line for us.”

He added, while discussing evacuating U.S. allies, “I think what I’ve been told is inadequate so far. Fortunately, and I will emphasize this point, our State Department and Department of Defense are moving in the right direction, and they’ve recognized the crisis that we face.”

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