OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The State Department has, again, contradicted Joe Biden in a press conference a day after his own.
On Thursday Politico reporter Lara Seligman said that “U.S. officials gave the Taliban a list of names of U.S. citizens, green card holders & Afghan allies to grant entry into the outer perimeter of the city’s airport, prompting outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials.”
SCOOP: U.S. officials gave the Taliban a list of names of U.S. citizens, green card holders & Afghan allies to grant entry into the outer perimeter of the city’s airport, prompting outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials. https://t.co/WHHzStyynk
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) August 26, 2021
Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw said that if it were true then it would be tantamount to “treason.”
“If true, this qualifies as borderline treason. We need to find out who is responsible for giving the Taliban a hit list and they need to go to prison,” he said on Twitter.
If true, this qualifies as borderline treason. We need to find out who is responsible for giving the Taliban a hit list and they need to go to prison. https://t.co/WTkeRytHmN
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) August 26, 2021
The word “if” is a two-letter word with a big meaning, which is why a reporter put the question to Biden during a press conference on Thursday.
“There are reports that U.S. officials provided the Taliban with names of Americans and Afghan officials to evacuate. Were you aware of that? Did that happen?” the reporter said.
“With regard to — there are certain circumstances where we’ve gotten information — and quite frankly, sometimes from some of you — saying, ‘You know of such and such a group of people who are trying to get out and they’re on a bus, they’re moving…’ — from other people — ‘and this is their location,’” Biden responded.
“And there have been occasions when our military has contacted their military counterparts in the Taliban and said, ‘This…’ — for example, ‘This bus is coming through with X number of people on it, made up of the following group of people. We want you to let that bus or that group through.’ So, yes, there have been occasions like that.
“And to the best of my knowledge, in those cases, the bulk of that has occurred — they’ve been let through. But I can’t tell you with any certitude that there’s actually been a list of names. I don’t — there may have been, but I know of no circumstance. It doesn’t mean it’s not — it didn’t exist, that, ‘Here’s the names of 12 people; they’re coming. Let them through.’ It could very well have happened,” he said.
But not long after that press conference on Friday State Department spokesperson Ned Price denied the Biden’s acknowledgment that the United States government “may have” given the Taliban a list of names.
“I wanted to ask about the reports that have come out about the U.S. sharing information from – about Americans’ names who are trying to get to the airport, other information, and their coordination with the Taliban. Can you speak to those reports? Is the – are U.S. diplomats providing that level of detail to the Taliban?” a reporter said to Price.
“What I can say is that the idea that we are providing names or personally identifiable information to the Taliban in a way that exposes anyone to additional risk, that is simply wrong. Simply wrong,” he said. “What we have developed, what we have been doing, we have implemented effective tactics – and again, you need only look at the evacuation metrics in recent days for a proof point of the effectiveness. But we have developed and implemented effective tactics to be in a position to facilitate the safe passage of individuals to the Kabul airport. That includes American citizens. It includes our LES. It includes SIVs, P-1, P-2. Again, I said just at the top of this briefing that now the vast majority of our locally employed staff are safely on the airport compound. These are individuals who one might expect the Taliban would seek to exact some degree of retribution, might seek to. But again, we have developed these tactics. We have implemented them effectively.”
