Americans in Afghanistan cannot reach Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul before the August 31 deadline set by the Biden administration, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) said on Monday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow.
Zeldin remarked, “The U.S. government is telling Americans in Afghanistan, ‘You have to get yourself to the airport in Kabul. You have to do that by August 31st. If you can get to the airport, then we’ll get you home,’ but the problem is that you can’t get Americans to the airport by August 31st.”
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 19: House Republican Israel Caucus members, including Co-Chair Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) (C) hold a news conference to talk about the military conflict between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza outside the U.S. Capitol on May 19, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
He continued, “The head-scratcher there is that [the Biden administration] made this decision to withdraw, and it decided to do it in a way that makes little sense, like vacating Bagram [Air Base], pulling our military out before [evacuating] all these Americans.”
On Wednesday, Biden committed that the U.S. will keep troops in Afghanistan beyond the August 31 deadline if such a step is needed to get Americans out of the country, and that if the evacuation of Afghanistan is not completed by the end of August, the U.S. will see who is left, and if there are “American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out.”
In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, Marines assist with security at an evacuation control checkpoint during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)
Zeldin, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and related subcommittees, said President Joe Biden’s recent description of a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan as “highly unlikely” was contrary to years of assessment he had received from officials in the Department of Defense and intelligence apparatus.
President Joe Biden speaks from the East Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
He said “every estimate” he received from the national security apparatus assessed the likelihood of a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan as “something other than ‘highly unlikely.'”
Breitbart News Daily broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
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