The last U.S. Military plane carrying evacuees out of Afghanistan has taken off and is almost out of Afghanistan airspace, ending the U.S. Military’s presence in Afghanistan, even as numerous American citizens remain trapped behind enemy lines.
General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., the Commander, United States Central Command (CENTCOM), said at a press conference that the Biden administration was still in the process of trying to get American citizens out of Afghanistan, even though the U.S. now no longer has a presence there.
Gen. McKenzie: "I'm here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan & the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third country nationals, & vulnerable Afghans. The last C-17 lifted off from [HKIA] this afternoon at 3:29 East Coast Time." pic.twitter.com/GSF0ZrSgKC
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 30, 2021
Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference earlier in the day that the Biden administration does “not anticipate a military role” in the effort of trying to get additional U.S. citizens out of Afghanistan.
McKenzie said that he thinks that the number of Americans still trapped in Afghanistan numbered in the “low hundreds” and that there were no American citizens that were evacuated on the last U.S. Military planes to leave the country.
General McKenzie: “We were not able to bring any Americans out" on the last jets to leave Afghanistan because "none of them made it to the airport" pic.twitter.com/3dpfNkPBjT
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 30, 2021
Democrat President Joe Biden claimed during an interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos a couple of weeks ago that U.S. troops would remain on the ground in Afghanistan until all Americans had been evacuated:
STEPHANOPOULOS: All troops are supposed to be out by August 31st. Even if Americans and our Afghan allies are still trying to get out, they’re gonna leave?
BIDEN: We’re gonna do everything in our power to get all Americans out and our allies out.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Does that mean troops will stay beyond August 31st if necessary?
BIDEN: It depends on where we are and whether we can get– ramp these numbers up to 5,000 to 7,000 a day coming out. If that’s the case, we’ll be– they’ll all be out.
STEPHANOPOULOS: ‘Cause we’ve got, like, 10,000 to 15,000 Americans in the country right now, right? And are you committed to making sure that the troops stay until every American who wants to be out–
BIDEN: Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: — is out?
BIDEN: Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Are you committed to making sure that the troops stay until every American who wants to be out is out?
BIDEN: Yes. … if there’s American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out.pic.twitter.com/OgOowoNIES
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) August 18, 2021
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- U.S. CENTCOM Issues New Statement On ISIS-K Strike: ‘We Are Investigating’ Reports Of ‘Civilian Casualties’ From Drone Attack
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