President Joe Biden said when pressed Wednesday that U.S. troops were 'going to stay' in Afghanistan until they get American citizens out, even if it means running through an August 31 deadline order.
He made the statement despite his own order that U.S. troops will leave by an August 31 deadline, acknowledging the effort could run over if American citizens are still stuck in Afghanistan amid security and bureaucratic hurdles.
'We've got like 10 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 is out?' George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Biden in an interview airing Wednesday and Thursday.
'Yes,' Biden replied.
'So Americans should understand that troops might have to be there beyond Aug. 31st?' the Good Morning America host asked him.
President Joe Biden said U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan to get all U.S. citizens out of Afghanistan, suggesting they would stay even beyond an August 31 deadline if necessary
'No,' Biden dodged. 'Americans should understand that we're going to try to get it done before Aug. 31st.'
Stephanopoulos pressed him. 'But if we don't,' Stephanopoulos said, 'the troops will stay? he asked.
'If we don't, we'll determine at the time who's left,' Biden responded, prompting his interviewer to make one more stab at an answer.
'And?' Stephanopoulos asked him
'And if you're American force – if there's American citizens left, we're going to stay to get them all out,' Biden responded.
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos grilled President Biden on an August 31 deadline for withdrawing American troops
He was less direct on the fate of allied Afghans, putting their number at between 50,000 and 65,000, and scoffing at a higher estimate by his interviewer.
'The commitment holds to get everyone out that, in fact, we can get out and everyone who should come out. And that's the objective. That's what we're doing now. That's the path we're on. And I think we'll get there,' Biden said.
His answer comes after reporters have repeatedly tried to get top Pentagon officials to say what would happen if the U.S. runs up against the deadline, amid partially empty flights out of the country, even amid capabilities to get thousands out each day.
All remaining Americans in Afghanistan are being told to make their own way to Kabul airport now to be flown home and are being told that it is safe for them to make the journey despite widespread fears on the ground that the Taliban will stop them, hold them hostage or kill them.
There are still some 11,000 Americans in Afghanistan waiting to be flown home. Some are at the airport but some are too afraid to make their way there through Taliban-controlled streets. Some say they have tried and have been turned away at checkpoints.
There are also tens of thousands of Afghan nationals desperate to get out but who do not want to present themselves to the terrorists they worked against for years.
The only way anyone in Kabul can get to the airport is if the Taliban lets them through.
On Wednesday afternoon, the State Department updated its guidance to tell all remaining US citizens to make their way to the airport but it couldn't guarantee anyone's safety on the journey.
At a Pentagon press briefing a short time afterwards, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed troops would not go to collect anyone, saying: 'We don't have the capability to go out and collect up large numbers of people.'
At a separate press conference, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Ruth Helman insisted that she'd heard it was safe on the ground for Americans, and that the Taliban was holding up their end of the bargain.
She noted the thousands of Afghans who have made their way to the airport and said Americans should have no problem getting there.
'The Taliban made a commitment to safe passage for Americans... it appears the commitment has been solid. We have heard all of the stories that many journalists are reporting about checkpoints, harassment, difficulties, jammed traffic.
'We are trying to work through those issues but I will tell you this. In spite of the obstacles, many, many Afghans are finding their way to the airport,' she said.
The Taliban - which has promised 'amnesty' and that it won't interfere with any country trying to evacuate its people - has already abandoned its revamped image and is reverting to medieval punishment in the streets. Already there is evidence of people being beaten, shot and humiliated in the streets.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that troops on the ground don't have the 'capacity' to go and collect people around the country of Afghanistan. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Ruth Helman said it is safe for Americans to go to the airport in Kabul and that they should have no problem getting there since so many Afghans have managed it
Taliban fighters patrol in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. The group is becoming increasingly violent, abandoning promises to be peaceful, and their cooperation is what the evacuation mission is relying on
There is confusion over who is being allowed through.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price suggested that the Taliban would allow anyone who wanted to get to the airport.
'We are telling them civilians should be afforded safe passage. No one's movements should be restricted,' he sad.
But people on the ground say they aren't getting through without paperwork like visas or tickets for flights.
General Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs Chairman, said on Wednesday that 500 people were being processed every hour to go on planes.
But overnight, US jets that could have taken 600 each flew out of Kabul with just 100 on board. Eighteen C-17 US Air Force jets were sent to remove US citizens, Afghan refugees and others, but they left carrying 2,000 people in total including 365 Americans.
One of them that was filmed by a CBS journalist on board was carrying around 300 people including translators, women and children. It leaves 1,700 that were removed on the remaining 17 jets - an average of 100 per flight.
The planes are fitted to take 150 soldiers and heavy cargo loads but in disaster situations like the one unfolding in Afghanistan, they can be used take 600 people without surpassing weight limits.
On Sunday, one of the jets took 640 Afghans out of Kabul and in 2013, a different ones as used to remove 670 people from a typhoon in the Philippines. And while the near-empty flights took off on Sunday, thousands of people were at the gates of the airport in Kabul, screaming, crying and begging to be saved from the Taliban.
Flights bound for Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, France and Italy also took off on Wednesday with just a few dozen people on board despite having capacity to take hundreds.
In one shocking case, a German plane with room for 150 departed Kabul on Tuesday with just seven on board.
A CBS reporter was on board one of the US jets that took off on Tuesday night. She said there were 300 people on board - half the number that were removed on the same type of jet on Sunday
One of the flights had some 300 Afghans on board. All brought luggage and there was enough room for people to lie down, stretch out and stand-up
FLASHBACK - On Sunday, a single C-17 was used to get 640 Afghans out (left). In 2013 (right), 670 were removed from a typhoon in the Philippines
This is the scene at the city entrance to the airport in Kabul. It is being controlled by the Taliban and US forces are on the inside but the people waiting to fly out can't get through the fighters at the front, and are being given no help by the State Department
In scenes of utter desperation at Kabul airport today, people began passing babies to guards at the northern entrance hoping they will be put on flights out of the country and escape Taliban rule
Women were filmed pleading with US troops that the 'Taliban are coming' in footage that appeared to have been taken at Kabul airport this morning as thousands of desperate Afghans try to flee Islamist rule
The Taliban turned on the crowd at Kabul airport on Tuesday, driving the hundreds back from the airport perimeter as they pushed to flee the country. They had promised to be peaceful but have already given up on it
A young woman was shot dead for allegedly refusing to wear a hijab by marauding jihadists when they captured the northern town of Taloqan in Takhar province last week. She is seen lying in a pool of blood as her distraught parents crouch beside her body in an image shared by the Afghan Ambassador to Poland Tahir Qadry who denounced the 'butchering of civilians.'
A man cries as he watches fellow Afghans get wounded after Taliban fighters use gunfire, whips, sticks and sharp objects to maintain crowd control over thousands of Afghans who continue to wait outside Kabul airport for a way out
A Taliban fighter patrols in Wazir Akbar Khan in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. Americans cannot get to the airport, which is surrounded by Taliban fighters, and the only area where troops are is inside
Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021
Taliban fighters have now encircled the airport in Kabul and are deciding who gets to come in and who has to stay out. Checkpoints have been set up on both the civilian south side of the airport and the military north side, with gunshots fired in both locations to keep crowds back
At a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Dept. Secretary of State Wendy Ruth Sherman suggested that Americans shouldn't have a problem getting to the airport because so many Afghans have managed to.
'The Taliban has said that the roads are open, that people can move. We've heard all of the stories about checkpoints, harassment, difficulties, jammed traffic, we're trying to work through those issues.
'I will say, in spite of the obstacles, many, many afghans in all of the categories are finding their way to the airport,' she said.
She said the US has processed 4,800 Americans to get them out, but it's unclear if that number includes people who have already left before. Another 800 Afghans have been processed to be removed.
'Our focus is on getting the people out of Afghanistan to safety.'
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby briefed reporters over the phone on Wednesday and admitted he hoped getting people to the airport would go more 'smoothly'
At a conference call briefing with journalists on Wednesday, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby talked about the ongoing 'processing' issues and delays in getting people their necessary paperwork.
He admitted that he didn't know how many Americans were still stuck in Kabul and said he 'couldn't predict' how many would leave overnight.
'I cant tell you the numbers of people coming and going. Our force flow gets smaller as we get more troops on the field. I cant predict how many people will be evacuated,' he said.
'We're still working on the processing here...We're not unaware that there has been issues out in town and harassment of individuals, that's one of the reasons we're in touch with the Taliban to try to make sure that doesn't happen.
'I don't have a specific next step. We are in communication with the Taliban. We want to see this go more smoothly, we want to see this go faster,' he said.
There are at least 11,000 US citizens still stuck in Afghanistan and tens of thousands of Afghans who helped the US in the war and are trying to get Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) to be removed before the Taliban gives up on the goodwill and kills them.
There are now thought to be around 50,000 people - mostly Afghans - gathered outside two entrances to Hamid Karzai airport - the civilian south side and military north side, both of which are under Taliban control.
US troops controlling the military side fired warning shots into crowds on Tuesday night to stop the increasingly desperate people from overrunning the airfield again.
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