Biden Administration Finally Estimates How Many Americans Are Still in Afghanistan

 According to the Biden administration, there could be at least 1,000 Americans in Afghanistan with no way out.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave an estimate of

 1,500 Americans in Afghanistan. Blinken said the administration was in 

contact with about 500 of them and is making plans to evacuate them by 

its self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline, which the Taliban has threatened the

 administration to adhere to.

He suggested some Americans may not want to leave.

The Washington Post reported some Americans have said they will stay in 

Afghanistan unless they can bring along Afghan family members.

“From the list of approximately 1,000, we believe that the number of 

Americans actively seeking assistance to leave Afghanistan is lower, and

 likely significantly lower,” Blinken said, according to a transcript of his 

remarks.

Blinken said the State Department is “aggressively” trying to contact the 

remaining Americans in Afghanistan, but a senior official told reporters

 that “in many cases, we have not heard back from them,” according to

 CNN.

CNN reported that during a Senate briefing Wednesday, an aide told the

 outlet the State Department said 4,100 Americans were trying to get out 

of Afghanistan.

Blinken’s portrayal of an orderly, if frenzied, process for evacuating 

Americans was at variance with information Fox News said came from an

 unnamed American in Kabul.

The man told the outlet on Tuesday he could not get to the airport on

 multiple occasions because the crowd of “thousands” made the trip “

impossible.”

“One time, I got myself to the gate, but I was bleeding and had bruises all 

over my body at that time because I had to pass through all those people,

 pushing and pushing,” he said.

“They saw my passport in my hand, and they’re telling me, ‘Just wait.’ 

I don’t have time to wait. People are pushing from behind and these guys

 are hitting me. How am I going to wait?”

Getting out of Afghanistan was complicated by a warning issued by the 

U.S. Embassy advising Americans to avoid the airport.

“U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now 

should leave immediately,” the statement from the embassy said, according

 to The New York Times.

The Times reported a “senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of

 anonymity,” claimed the U.S. was aware of a “specific” and “credible” 

threat of an attack at the airport by the Islamic State in Afghanistan.

In announcing the official number of Americans inside Afghanistan,

 Blinken offered the hope that the carrot of economic assistance from the 

United States would motivate the Taliban to let Afghan allies flee the country, something the Taliban has said it will not allow.

“[W]e will use every diplomatic, economic assistance tool at our disposal 

working hand-in-hand with the international community, first and foremost

 to ensure that those who want to leave Afghanistan after the 31st are able 

to do so, as well as to deal with other issues that we need to be focused on, 

including counterterrorism and humanitarian assistance, and expectations 

of a future Afghan government,” Blinken said, according to the transcript

 of his remarks.

“[W]e got 114 countries around the world to make clear to the Taliban the

 international expectation that people will continue to be able to leave the

 country after the military evacuation effort ends.  And we certainly have 

points of incentive and points of leverage with a future Afghan government 

to help make sure that that happens.”