President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan last summer was nothing less than a fatal disaster, literally. Scores of Americans and Afghan allies were left behind as U.S. cargo planes made their last flights out of the country that fell under Taliban control.
However, according to Hannity.com, while the U.S. State Department originally claimed roughly 150 Americans and allies were left behind, a new Senate Foreign Relations Committee report indicates that the number is possibly closer to a staggering 9,000 people deserted by the U.S. government.
The report, published on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s website under Sen. Jim Risch’s (R-ID) name, revealed that there were likely between 10,000 and 15,000 Americans and Afghan allies still in Afghanistan on Aug. 17.
Over the following two weeks, only roughly 6,000 were able to get on flights out of the country, leaving as many as 9,000 on the ground, literally stuck behind enemy lines.
Truth revealed
Sen. Risch shared the link to the report on his official Twitter account, making clear that further investigation into the failures by the Biden administration and his top military commanders is most certainly warranted.
While there’s disagreement over the policy to leave #Afghanistan, Americans share outrage over how the admin. withdrew, & what that failure has done to America’s reputation. This morning I released a report that details what went wrong & why.
More.⤵️https://t.co/3KprqWalP1
— Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member (@SenateForeign) February 3, 2022
“Despite countless warnings that the Taliban had the ability to take the country swiftly, the Biden Administration failed to properly plan a coordinated evacuation of U.S. citizens, Afghans, and allied partners,” Risch’s report read in its introduction.
It added: The administration waited until less than a day before Kabul fell to make senior leadership decisions on organizing and executing a withdrawal, which proved to be too little too late. While the Department of Defense and Department of State pulled off a major feat in the number of people evacuated, more of our partners could have been saved if proper planning had been conducted.”
In a follow-up tweet, Risch noted that the withdrawal plan and execution will be debated for some time to come, but concluded by writing, “This report has looked at the ‘how,’ and it is clear the senior leadership of the Biden Administration failed.”
Civilian groups step up
In the weeks and months following Biden’s Afghanistan debacle, a number of privately-funded civilian groups, many of which have contacts in Afghanistan and in the U.S. military, pulled off a number of rescue missions, picking up the U.S. government’s disgusting slack.
As the National Review recently reported, one of those groups, called Project Dynamo, successfully evacuated another 23 American citizens and green card holders out of Afghanistan, who were then flown safely to New York City. Eleven of them were children.
There’s still much work to be done, but thank God we have private citizens who are willing to pick up where Biden seemingly left off. These groups deserve praise and recognition of the highest magnitude, which sadly might have to wait until we have a Republican president in office who can truly appreciate their valiant efforts.
