As the Biden administration focuses on paying non-residents who broke our laws, the State Department admits that perhaps 14,000 legal permanent U.S. residents remain stuck in Afghanistan.
This revelation comes 11 long weeks after President Joe Biden said, “If there are American citizens left, we’re going to stay until we get them all out.”
That was a lie, since 77 days later, there are still Americans trapped in Afghanistan — including two dozen schoolchildren.
Related: American Children Are Still Trapped in Afghanistan
In some excellent reportage this week, Foreign Policy magazine notes that the State Department “faces increasing scrutiny from Congress about the status of U.S. citizens and green card holders that are still stranded in the Taliban-controlled country.”
Embattled Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently told CNN that the administration struggles to get a precise figure of how many Americans were left in Afghanistan because more and more are coming forward to request help getting out.
On #CNNSOTU @SecBlinken defends US efforts to evacuate Americans from Afghanistan in an interview with @DanaBashCNNhttps://t.co/dkjPmvUgMg
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 31, 2021
“There were some small number of Americans in Afghanistan who didn’t want to leave who’ve now seen that we’ve successfully been able to get some of the few remaining Americans out who’ve now come forward and said, we do want to leave. And there are a couple of hundred of those who are ready to leave.”
That’s your job, Tony.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said this week that 377 U.S. citizens and 279 lawful permanent residents have departed.
That brings the grand total to 659 U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who escaped Afghanistan since Sept. 1, which of course is quite different from the “100 to 200 Americans” remaining in the country that Biden referenced during the final day of our chaotic military evacuation.
Over at HotAir Friday, Ed Morrissey rightly asked: “where are national media outlets on this issue? Local news outlets have provided some reporting on abandoned Americans in Afghanistan… Even though Joe Biden pledged on national television not to leave until ‘American citizens’ all got out and clearly lied, US media outlets have not bothered to report on this at all. Biden’s disgrace has become their disgrace as well.”
You’re correct, Ed, and don’t hold your breath.
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