Dem lawmakers push Biden to ignore Afghanistan withdrawal deadline

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Politico

Top Democratic lawmakers are urging President Joe Biden to ignore an Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, arguing that it would be nearly impossible to evacuate all American citizens and Afghan allies from the country before that date.

The pressure campaign ignited as administration officials brief lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week about the deteriorating situation in Kabul, where the U.S. military is racing to evacuate as many people as possible from the Taliban-controlled country. Members of the House Intelligence Committee emerged from a briefing on Monday increasingly pessimistic about the prospects of a successful operation.

“I don’t see a scenario under which we get our folks out” by Aug. 31, said Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), an Intelligence Committee member and former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan. “The bottom line is, these are our people. These are our citizens. These are our Afghan partners, and we have to make a commitment to get them out.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who chairs the Intelligence panel, told reporters Monday night that the U.S. should “maintain a military presence as long as is necessary to get all U.S. persons out, and to meet our moral and ethical obligation to our Afghan partners.” He agreed with Crow that it isn’t possible to complete the evacuations before the end of the month.



Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/dem-lawmakers-push-biden-to-ignore-afghanistan-withdrawal-deadline/ar-AANGQHO?li=BBnbcA1

[Historic NY]

1. And if the taliban get really agressive and this turns into a firefight

we can't take the entire population out.

[Ray Bruns]

5. If the Taliban get agressive, they can shut down the entire operation.

WE only hold the airport. If the taliban decide to shut it down, they can just start shooting down our C-17's out of the sky.
Images of Dien Bien Phu come to mind.

[scipan]

10. They can also bomb the runway..

I read there is only 1. Not sure if that's true.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

13. Its true

Crater the runway or disable or a destroy a plane while it's on it and that's that for evacuation via planes.

[futem]

2. Biden needs to stick with the deadline

If the taliban start attacking and we take a any casualties than he will have a real problem!

[George II]

3. I think this is muckraking on the part of the media, again. The original estimate was about 70,000..

....needed to be evacuated.

Somewhere around 60,000 (some estimates as high as 64,000) were evacuated in 15 days. There are 8 days left. I don't see why it can't be completed in that time.

[FBaggins]

8. You think they invented the quotes from senior Democrats?

[George II]

9. No, but neither pushed Biden to ignore the withdrawal deadline....

Schiff said we should “maintain a military presence as long as is necessary to get all U.S. persons out", which Biden feels will happen by August 31. Crow said “I don’t see a scenario under which we get our folks out” but again, the man directing the operation thinks it will.

There was a military analyst, retired from the military I think, on CNN a few minutes ago that said we're on a pace to get 150,000 people out by August 31. That's double the original estimates of how many needed to be evacuated.

But it's all moot now - Biden announced a little while ago that he's sticking to the deadline.

[PoliticAverse]

11. "Biden announced a little while ago that he's sticking to the deadline." - Not quite...

he has asked for contingency plans in case he determines at a later date the US needs to remain in the country for longer.

[madville]

12. That was the low hanging fruit

Now the challenge is getting thousands of people out that can't safely get to the Kabul airport. Logistical nightmare to pluck a few individuals up hundreds of miles from the airport, requires mission planning for each sortie and they potentially have thousands of stragglers well outside of Kabul that need rescuing.

[futem]

4. President Biden is showing that he a real leader!!

President Biden is showing us what real leadership is. It's hard to make tough decisions and not to do what is easy and just do what you know is right.

[33taw]

6. Why are there so many Americans in Afghanistan? Are the contractors?

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

7. I've heard its a mix

Contractors, aid workers, other NGO people, and people visiting family or trying to help get them out.

[dreamland]

14. WTF! Biden should stick to deadline!

We as a country need to rebuild trust with the world. DEMs cannot break a promise. How is it that we we talk about DEM candidates we need to hold a high moral ground and yet when it comes to dealing with other countries we should do as we please?! You can't call that leadership.