The situation in Afghanistan is so bad that Psaki is blaming just about anyone in her attempts to protect Biden. There were reports that the Taliban had been holding six planes full of Americans in their airport hostage. Psaki claimed there was no hostage situation and that it was just conservative rhetoric. But the State Dept admitted they messed up and don’t have anyone on the ground to tell them what’s actually happening.
Psaki blamed the GOP during a recent press briefing.
Reporter: (Inaudible) the hostage situation, what’s happening right now on — with those airplanes?
Psaki: “Oh, I thought you were talking about — so that’s an important thing, obviously. I thought you were talking about the Build Back Better agenda.
No, that is not what we would characterize it as. Those were points — that was — those were comments made by a Republican congressman this weekend.
So let me be very clear: We’re in touch with American citizens. We’re working to get them out. There are four who were able to depart overland. Our Secretary of State is in Qatar right now working on a range of options, including getting flights up and operational and going.
And what we have seen is that individuals who have documentation are able to depart, or that — that is what we have seen. But again, we don’t have a great deal of understanding of every individual on these manifests.”
Secretary Blinken however claims the planes are being stalled because Afghan refugees are mixing in with documented Americans that are trying to fly out.
“The flights out of Afghanistan have seemingly been held back, Blinken said, as those eligible evacuees remain intermixed with other people who are seeking to flee the country but are not in possession of the necessary documentation.
“There are groups of people who are grouped together, some of whom have the appropriate travel documents — an American passport, a green card, a visa — and others do not,” Blinken told reporters at a news conference in Doha, Qatar.
“It’s my understanding that the Taliban has not denied exit to anyone holding a valid document, but they have said that those without valid documents at this point can’t leave,” Blinken said. “But because all of these people are grouped together, that’s meant that flights have not been allowed to go.”
The original claim about the six planes included demands, so it could be that the Biden Admin paid the Taliban off and are just trying to play it cool. Recently the Biden Admin tried to take credit for the four Americans rescued from the Taliban-ran country when they had nothing to do with the rescue. It sounds like the Biden Admin is desperate for a win after this disaster, but this evacuation was supposed to be a layup and they made it into a full-blown catastrophe. So it’s likely this is just the first of many disasters to come.