Republican Lawmakers Demand Biden Use ‘All Means Necessary’ to Evacuate Americans from Afghanistan

Over a dozen Republican lawmakers are calling on President Joe Biden to use “all means necessary” to evacuate Americans from Afghanistan as administration officials admit they have no idea how many American citizens are currently stranded in the country.

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to Biden alongside 15 of his colleagues, detailing the U.S. government’s duty to get “American civilians and Afghans who have aided us out of the country as quickly and safely as possible.”

“The situation in Afghanistan has gone from bad to worse in a matter of weeks, and we are facing the worst-case scenario – a total Taliban takeover in Afghanistan,” they wrote, blasting the president’s administration for failing to “establish a coherent plan” to do so. They wrote:

This must be our top priority. Not only should we protect American citizens in Afghanistan, we must also uphold our promise to the thousands of Afghans who put their lives on the line to work with us to advance our shared security goals. Otherwise, they will face a tragic and deadly fate.

The letter added they are “particularly perturbed” that Biden’s administration continues to fail to “guarantee the safety of Americans and our Afghan partners still in the country.”

They continued:

Press reports indicate that while American citizens are being urged to make their way to Hamid Karzai International Airport, the United States government cannot guarantee their security, and has offered no support or guidance other than wishing them luck. Furthermore, your administration has articulated that the mission to remove Americans and our Afghan partners from Afghanistan will last until August 31 – without regard to whether all are safely evacuated. Your recent comments that U.S. troops would remain past August 31, if necessary, to ensure the removal of Americans are more reassuring, but we must maintain and project an uncompromising resolve to do whatever it takes to rescue our citizens and Afghan partners. It is our solemn responsibility to evacuate all American citizens and Afghan partners without respect to arbitrary timelines dictated by the Taliban.

“It is our understanding the Taliban has established a barricade around the airport, making it extremely dangerous for many to try and make their way to the airport,” they continued.

It is unacceptable that there is currently no plan or process to safely and securely recover these individuals. We urge you to use whatever means necessary to provide safe and secure passageway through any Taliban barriers for all American citizens and all eligible Afghan partners to appropriate evacuation points and then move them via safe corridors to exit the country.

the lawmakers added, deeming it “unconscionable to leave any behind.” The letter continued:

You must devote all means necessary to ensure every American citizen and all eligible Afghan partners are successfully evacuated,” they added, urging Biden to make it clear to the jihadist organization, as well as other terrorist groups, that they “will face severe consequences if they attempt to interfere with this process.

In addition to Inhofe, signers include Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Hoeven (R-ND), James Lankford (R-OK), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).

Meanwhile, Biden’s State Department has been utterly unable to say, definitively, how many Americans are left in Afghanistan.

When asked “How many more Americans are left in Afghanistan” during a Thursday press conference, State Department Spokesman Ned Price dodged the question. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also said he did not know the number of Americans trapped in Afghanistan.