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Biden State Dept. Claims They Have No Resources To Rescue Trapped Flights, Americans In Afghanistan

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


The Biden administration is claiming that they have “no resources” to rescue trapped Americans and flights in Afghanistan.

The U.S. State Department claimed that it has few resources available to facilitate the evacuation and that they have no “reliable” information about the trapped flights.

“Individuals associated with an organization handling the flights that the State Department is the only obstacle to the chartered planes leaving the airport, but sources close to the situation told the Daily Wire Sunday that while the State Department is not negotiating landing zones, the Taliban is also making significant demands, effectively creating a “hostage situation” on the ground in Afghanistan,” the Daily Wire reported.

A State Department official reportedly said their hands are tied and that they do not have any resources on the ground to get trapped American home.

“We do not have personnel on the ground, we do not have air assets in the country, we do not control the airspace—whether over Afghanistan or elsewhere in the region,” the official told the Free Beacon. “We understand the concern that many people are feeling as they try to facilitate further charter and other passage out of Afghanistan.”

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A spokesman added, “Given these constraints, we also do not have a reliable means to confirm the basic details of charter flights, including who may be organizing them, the number of U.S. citizens and other priority groups on-board, the accuracy of the rest of the manifest, and where they plan to land, among many other issues.”

The ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Sunday that the Taliban were holding Americans “hostage” by preventing them from leaving aboard a half-dozen planes that are ready for departure because they “want something” in return.

“We have six airplanes at Mazar Sharif Airport, six airplanes with American citizens on them as I speak, also with these interpreters, and the Taliban is holding them hostage for demands right now,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said during an interview with “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace.

“State has cleared these flights, and the Taliban will not let them leave the airport,” he continued, referring to the State Department.

Wallace continued to press the Texas Republican, which led McCaul to declare that the development is “turning into a hostage situation.”

“Well, they are not clearing airplanes to depart. They’ve sat at the airport for the last couple days, these planes, and they’re not allowed to leave,” McCaul said. “We know the reason why is because the Taliban want something in exchange.”

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“This is really, Chris, turning into a hostage situation where they’re not gonna allow American citizens to leave until they get full recognition from the United States of America,” McCaul added.

The ranking Foreign Affairs Committee member is not the first Republican to broach the subject.

McCaul’s Texas colleague, Rep. Ronny Jackson, formerly the White House physician, also said that the Taliban was currently blocking Americans from flying out of the country.

“They’ve already been manifested on flights,” he told “Greg Kelly Reports” before adding that the Taliban leadership wants something in return for allowing the Americans and their Afghani allies to leave, such as cash or recognition as the country’s legitimate government, which would be a major public relations feat.

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“The airplanes are there. Everything is ready to go. They can’t get out, and the reason they can’t get out is because the Taliban won’t release the flight until Sept. 9 because they want to be recognized as an official government,” Jackson said.

“They want to be officially recognized as a legitimate government,” he continued.

“And I guarantee you these hostages, they’re hostages right now, are being held until the American, until the United States, until the Biden administration recognizes the Taliban as a government,” Jackson noted further.

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