President Joe Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan stated Monday that U.S. embassy evacuations happen “from time to time” in the wake of the second evacuation in Sudan.
On Saturday, Joe Biden ordered the evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, during fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces.
This embassy evacuation is the second ordered by Joe Biden, preceded by the evacuation of the Kabul, Afghanistan, embassy in 2021. Critics claim the embassy closures are indicative of Biden’s chaotic foreign policy.
During a White House press briefing, Sullivan was asked if he “would respond to the charges…that the Biden administration has now lost two U.S. embassies during the president’s term.”
“I’m not sure what you mean by a ‘charge,’ quote on quote, of losing embassies,” he claimed, by alleging the common occurrence of embassy closures. “The United States has evacuated its personnel. This happens from time to time.”
Sullivan added the closures are insignificant to the number of diplomatic postings throughout the world.
“That’s in the nature of having 270 total diplomatic posts around the world,” he said. “But our goal, as I said before, is to be able to resume operations in Khartoum as soon as we are capable of doing so.”
Last week, the U.S. embassy issued a security alert, warning Americans in the country to “shelter in place until further notice,” hours after the Sudanese army guaranteed evacuation requests made by the Biden administration.
“It is not currently safe to undertake a U.S. government co-ordinated evacuation of private U.S. citizens,” the alert said.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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