‘Up to 40,000 Americans are still stranded’ in Afghanistan

There are still as many as 40,000 Americans stranded in Afghanistan waiting to be put on US military evacuation flights but there was no sign of the planes at Kabul Airport on Tuesday despite defense experts and ex CIA directors emphasizing the urgency of getting them out before it’s too late.  

There were no signs of US jets at the airport on Tuesday morning as Indian, French and British cargo jets loaded passengers onto flights to be taken out of the fast-escalating violence in Kabul. 

Former CIA Director and retired General David Petraeus said on Tuesday: ‘This might be termed I think a Dunkirk moment.  

‘We need to do everything humanly possible to get all of our American citizens out of Afghanistan and also to get those in particular who qualify for the special immigrant Visa and their family members who served two years on the ground as battlefield interpreters for our soldiers alongside our men and women.’ 

The Taliban claimed the city on Sunday, bringing a sudden and inglorious end to a 40-year conflict in the region, and just a month after US forces pulled out of Bagram. 

On Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price claimed he had no ‘tally’ for the number of Americans still in Afghanistan. 

But Bush’s Assistant Secretary of State Robert Charles said there was a tally and it was between 15,000 and 40,000 people still waiting to be told when they’ll be saved.  

‘It’s hard for me to properly present the extent of this foreign policy failure. This is a cascading national security failure. 

‘There’s a document in the embassy called the F-77. I am told the F-77 of Afghanistan indicates there are 15,000 potentially, upwards of 40,000 Americans scattered around Afghanistan right now.

Afghan security guards try and maintain order as hundreds of people gather outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021.  There are now ‘three rings’ around the airport and the Taliban controls the outer ring, Charles 

A man holds a certificate acknowledging his work for Americans as hundreds of people gather outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. There was no sign of any US plane on Tuesday and there remain 40,000 Americans and 30,000 Afghan refugees in need of rescue

A man holds a certificate acknowledging his work for Americans as hundreds of people gather outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. There was no sign of any US plane on Tuesday and there remain 40,000 Americans and 30,000 Afghan refugees in need of rescue 

Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint near the US embassy that was previously manned by American troops, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021

Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint near the US embassy that was previously manned by American troops, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021 

Former CIA Director and retired General David Petraeus (left) said on Tuesday: 'This might be termed I think a Dunkirk moment.' Former Asst. Sec of State Robert Charles, right, said: 'This is a cascading national security failure.'

Former CIA Director and retired General David Petraeus (left) said on Tuesday: 'This might be termed I think a Dunkirk moment.' Former Asst. Sec of State Robert Charles, right, said: 'This is a cascading national security failure.'

Former CIA Director and retired General David Petraeus (left) said on Tuesday: ‘This might be termed I think a Dunkirk moment.’ Former Asst. Sec of State Robert Charles, right, said: ‘This is a cascading national security failure.’ 

‘The Taliban has given a two week grace period for them to get out but most of them have been told to shelter in place by the State Department,’ Charles told Fox and Friends. 

He added many were in far more remote parts of the country like Kandahar and Jalalabad, where it is harder to reach them. 

The Biden administration’s disastrous handling of the withdrawal and his subsequent failures to give basic details on how everyone will be removed safely has stunned the world.  

John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman fronting many of the questions for the catastrophe, said on Tuesday morning that those people sheltering in place in Kabul had been told when to go to the airport but that he wouldn’t say when.  

‘The State Department has issued a message to those, giving them cues for when and how they can start to assemble at the airport. 

‘We want to be careful talking about this with any kind of specificity when the situation is so tense,’ Kirby said on Tuesday. 

But at a press briefing on Monday night, State Department officials were deliberately vague on just how many Americans remain waiting to be rescued. 

BRITAIN: British soldiers evacuating foreign nationals and dual nationals on military jets in Kabul on Tuesday. There was no sign of any American plane

BRITAIN: British soldiers evacuating foreign nationals and dual nationals on military jets in Kabul on Tuesday. There was no sign of any American plane

INDIA: Indian nationals were rescued from the airport on Tuesday on one military jet. The Indian military is also using C-17 planes

INDIA: Indian nationals were rescued from the airport on Tuesday on one military jet. The Indian military is also using C-17 planes

INDIA: Indian nationals were rescued from the airport on Tuesday on one military jet. The Indian military is also using C-17 planes

INDIA: Indian nationals were rescued from the airport on Tuesday on one military jet. The Indian military is also using C-17 planes

SPAIN: A Spanish Air Force A400M jet on Tuesday, August 17, waiting to evacuate foreign nationals and refugees

SPAIN: A Spanish Air Force A400M jet on Tuesday, August 17, waiting to evacuate foreign nationals and refugees 

FRANCE: French soldiers at Kabul Airport in the early hours of Tuesday August 17 waiting to evacuate people

FRANCE: French soldiers at Kabul Airport in the early hours of Tuesday August 17 waiting to evacuate people 

There are some 30,000 Afghan refugees waiting to be rescued. 22,000 will come to America to be housed on airbases, the government says, but there's still no clear plan for how they'll be flown out or when

There are some 30,000 Afghan refugees waiting to be rescued. 22,000 will come to America to be housed on airbases, the government says, but there’s still no clear plan for how they’ll be flown out or when 

MONDAY: There was mayhem at the airport on Monday as US troops fired shots in the air and flew helicopters to disperse crowds

MONDAY: There was mayhem at the airport on Monday as US troops fired shots in the air and flew helicopters to disperse crowds

Desperate Afghans tried to cling on to a US military jet on Monday as it made its way out of Kabul. Three died falling from the planes' wheels

Desperate Afghans tried to cling on to a US military jet on Monday as it made its way out of Kabul. Three died falling from the planes’ wheels

When asked how many Americans remain in Kabul, State Department spokesman Ned Price said: ‘It is not a tally that we keep in the context of Afghanistan or any other country.

‘We have files – the Embassy has been in touch with many of these individuals.

‘But it is not a figure that is readily available to us, precisely for the reason that you mentioned. It is incumbent on Americans in any given country to reach out to the embassy, to notify the embassy of their presence.

‘There are many dual nationals, who are also part of the equation, as well. So we’re just not in a position to give a firm figure.’ 

At Kabul airport, the scenes on Tuesday were less chaotic than the previous day, when eight people died trying to escape. 

Three were crushed beneath the wheels of a US C-17 jet. Two were shot dead by troops and another three died falling from the wheels of a jet they had clung to as it took off in the deluded hopes that they might survive the flight.  

But there was no sight of any US plane or even troops in the same way that seen on Monday. Biden’s administration claims there are 3,500 American troops at the airport securing it.  

President Joe Biden spoke briefly on Monday to say he didn't regret his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan but he didn't take any questions on the subject then he went back to Camp David. State Dept. spokesman Ned Price, right, said on Monday night the State Dept 'doesn't have a tally' for how many Americans are in Afghanistan

President Joe Biden spoke briefly on Monday to say he didn't regret his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan but he didn't take any questions on the subject then he went back to Camp David. State Dept. spokesman Ned Price, right, said on Monday night the State Dept 'doesn't have a tally' for how many Americans are in Afghanistan

President Joe Biden spoke briefly on Monday to say he didn’t regret his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan but he didn’t take any questions on the subject then he went back to Camp David. State Dept. spokesman Ned Price, right, said on Monday night the State Dept ‘doesn’t have a tally’ for how many Americans are in Afghanistan

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