Biden Decides to Keep August 31 Deadline to Withdraw From Afghanistan

 

The Taliban has warned there would be 'consequences' if foreign troops stay beyond August 31

by Dave DeCamp Posted onAugust 24, 2021CategoriesNewsTagsAfghanistan

President Biden has decided to stick with the August 31st Afghanistan withdrawal deadline after consultations with his national security team on the matter, CNN reported on Tuesday.

The White House confirmed later on Tuesday that President Biden told G7 leaders in a meeting that he intends to complete the evacuation and withdrawal by August 31st despite pressure from US allies to extend the deadline. The White House said that meeting the deadline relies on the “continued coordination with the Taliban.”

CNN cited an unnamed administration official who said Biden made the decision mindful of the security risk that would be created if he decides to keep troops beyond the withdrawal deadline. However, Biden did ask for “contingency plans” if he changes his mind and decides to stay for longer.

The decision comes a day after the Taliban warned there would be “consequences” if foreign troops stay in Afghanistan after August 31st. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the issue is a “red line” for the group. The Taliban reiterated the warning on Tuesday and also called on the US to stop evacuating skilled Afghans, such as engineers and doctors.

Biden had previously said that he would extend the deadline if not all US citizens who want to leave Afghanistan were evacuated by that date. But on Monday, the Pentagon reported the biggest day of airlifts and evacuations, as flights out of the Kabul airport have stepped up in recent days.

On Tuesday, the White House said that since the airlift began on August 14th, the US has evacuated or facilitated the evacuation of about 58,700 people. It’s not clear how many Americans are still in Afghanistan or exactly how many more Afghans want to leave. Last week, estimates put the number of Americans between 10,000 to 15,000 and the number of Afghans between 50,000 to 65,000. If the numbers are accurate and the US continues the pace of flights out of Kabul, that means the evacuations should be done by August 31st.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/08/24/biden-decides-to-keep-august-31-deadline-to-withdraw-from-afghanistan/