WASHINGTON — President Biden is cheering the fact that the U.S military’s evacuation operation from Afghanistan saw roughly 124,000 people evacuated out of Kabul airport in the last week.
“No nation has ever done anything like this in all of history,” Biden said in an address Tuesday night. “Only the United States had the capacity and the will to do it and we did it today.”
The number of those who were evacuated included several thousand Americans. An estimated 100-200 Americans are thought to have remained in Afghanistan as the President said some Americans, many of whom he said are dual citizens, chose to stay.
Congressional Republicans are outraged with the president that Americans were left behind in Kabul.
“The fact of the matter is that this administration still has no idea how many Americans they have left behind, behind enemy lines, in Afghanistan as they ended the evacuation mission,” said Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana.
Banks was one of many lawmakers from both political parties calling for President Biden to extend the deadline for U.S. forces to be out of Afghanistan in order to get any remaining Americans out.
“I was not going to extend this forever war,” Biden said. “And I was not extending a forever exit. For those remaining Americans, there is no deadline. We remain committed to getting them out if they want to come out.”
Rep. Jim Baird of Indiana was also among Republicans admonishing President Biden on Tuesday. His focus, as is the focus of most House Republican veterans, is on looking for ways to get any remaining Americans out of Afghanistan.
“One of our guiding principals is to leave no one behind,” said Baird on Tony Katz Today. “We have veterans organizations that are working behind the scenes and are working to get (Americans) extracted.
The President stressed that the U.S. is committed to continuing to help Americans who want to leave Afghanistan.
