A Democrat U.S. Senator
said he was “furious” at the Biden administration over the government’s “delay and inaction” over efforts to get stranded Americans out of Afghanistan.
Sen. Dick Blumenthal (D-Conn.) released a statement expressing his frustration and anger on Monday.
“I have been deeply frustrated, even furious, at our government’s delay and inaction,”
said Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“There will be plenty of time to seek accountability for the inexcusable bureaucratic red tape that stranded so many of our Afghan allies. For now, my singular focus remains getting these planes in the air and safely to our airbase in Doha, where they have already been cleared to land,” he added.
“I expect the White House and State Department to do everything in their power – absolutely everything – to make this happen,” Blumenthal concluded. “These are Americans citizens and Afghans who risked everything for our country. We cannot leave them behind.”
Republican Rep. Michael McCaul said on “Fox News Sunday” that there were Americans being held hostage by the Taliban at an airport outside of Kabul.
“In fact we have six airplanes at Mazar-i-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,” said McCaul.
President Joe Biden has been excoriated by critics over the
disastrous military withdrawal and evacuation from Afghanistan. The debacle has hit Biden squarely in the polls, many of which show a steep drop in approval from Americans.
On Friday Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma accused the State Department of thwarting his mission to save Americans from Afghanistan. He went on to say that he was personally in contact with many Americans who were stranded in Afghanistan and were desperate to get out.
The Biden administration has estimated that between 100 and 200 American citizens who wanted to leave Afghanistan remained in the Taliban-controlled country, but critics are skeptical that the actual count may be much higher.
Here’s more about Biden’s evacuation debacle:
State Dept accused of blocking evacuation flights from Afghanistan
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