Biden says evacuations from Afghanistan “difficult and painful” as he considers extending August 31 withdrawal deadline

Washington – President Biden on Sunday warned his administration’s efforts to evacuate thousands of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from Kabul in the wake of the Rapid takeover of the Taliban The country was going to be “difficult and painful” regardless of the start of the mission, as the work to get people out of Afghanistan intensified.

“Be clear, the evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be difficult and painful, no matter when it started, when we started, it would have been true if we had started a month ago, or in a month, “Mr. Biden said in remarks on the ongoing chaos in Afghanistan.” There is no way to evacuate so many people without pain. “

The president continued to stress that the “first priority” of his administration in Kabul is to evacuate American citizens “as quickly and safely as possible”, and said that discussions were underway on the maintenance of American forces. in Afghanistan after August 31, the deadline for completing the US withdrawal. .

“Our hope is that we won’t have to prolong it, but there are going to be discussions, I guess, on the progress of the process,” Biden said.

The president met with members of his national security team throughout the weekend to discuss efforts to get Americans and Afghan allies out of the country, canceling a trip to Delaware to stay in Washington.

In the past 36 hours, 11,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul, Biden said, an “extraordinary amount”. Since mid-August, 28,000 people have been evacuated from the country, and the president said his administration expects the pace to continue.

The president estimated in an interview with ABC News last week that there were between 10,000 and 15,000 US citizens remaining in Afghanistan.

“At the end of the day, if we haven’t left Afghanistan now, when did we leave? Another 10 years? Five more years? Another year? Biden said, defending his decision to pull US troops out of the country, in response to a question from CBS News’s Ed O’Keefe. “I am not about to send your son or daughter to fight in Afghanistan.”

Since Afghan government collapses last week, which sparked chaos Outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport which has left several dead, the Biden administration rushed to speed up evacuations of U.S. citizens and Afghans, including those who applied for special immigrant visas and are threatened by the Taliban.

The United States Embassy in the capital on Saturday warned Americans not to go to the airport and avoid airport gates due to ongoing security threats, and the president acknowledged that ” the security environment “is changing rapidly.

“We know terrorists can seek to exploit the situation,” he said, adding that the United States maintains “constant vigilance” to monitor and disrupt threats.

To aid in the evacuation efforts, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the use of 18 commercial jets from six U.S. airlines to transport evacuees from locations outside of Afghanistan. State Secretary Antony Blinken said “Face the Nation” On Sunday, the United States reached agreements with more than 24 countries to serve as transit points for evacuees from Afghanistan, where they will be sent for further processing before proceeding to their final destination.

Mr Biden said those who are not U.S. citizens will undergo security checks in those countries before traveling to their final destination in the United States or another country.

“Once vetted and cleared, we will welcome those Afghans who have assisted us in the war effort for the past 20 years to their new home in the United States of America. Because that is what we are,” Mr Biden said.

Blinken said the United States was also in “direct contact” with Americans trying to leave Afghanistan and instructing them on the best way to get to Kabul airport, and where and when to get there.

Mr Biden said his administration was contacting American citizens in Afghanistan by phone, email and “by other means” to find out where they were and “executing a plan” to move groups of Americans safely to the airport.

The president did not specify what the plans entailed, but reiterated that “any American who wants to go home will go home”. In addition, the military has “increased rational access” to the airport to allow more people to get there safely.

Mr Biden also addressed Tropical Storm Henri, which hit the ground along the Rhode Island coast around 12:15 p.m. In anticipation of the storm, the president approved emergency declarations for New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island, unlocking access to federal resources for the states.

“We don’t know the full extent of the storm’s impact today, but we are taking action to prepare and prevent as much damage as possible,” he said.

Mr Biden said the storm, although downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, has the potential to have “widespread consequences” across New England, including major flooding and blackouts.

“We are doing all we can now to help these states prepare, respond and recover,” he said.