‘We will get you home,’ Biden tells Americans in Afghanistan – live | US news

The Pentagon confirmed that some evacuation flights from Kabul will be flown to locations in Europe, due to capacity constraints at the processing center in Qatar.

At a press briefing this afternoon, Pentagon officials specifically named Ramstein Air Base in Germany as one of the potential destinations for evacuation flights.

Evacuation flights from Kabul were paused for hours today because of the space issues in Qatar, as the US military races to meet its August 31 deadline to complete the evacuation mission.

The US Air Force shared photos online showing American troops preparing for evacuees’ arrival at the Ramstein base:

Defense secretary Lloyd Austin reportedly told House members that the Pentagon has heard accounts of Americans being beaten by the Taliban in Kabul, as the US military continues its evacuation mission.

Multiple people on the House briefing call shared details of Austin’s comments with Politico, noting that the defense secretary described the violence as “unacceptable”:

Austin’s comments notably clash with those of Joe Biden, who said this afternoon that his administration had seen “no indication” of Americans being unable to safely reach the Kabul airport.

“We know of no circumstance where American citizens, carrying an American passport, are trying to get through to the airport,” Biden said. “But we will do whatever needs to be done to see to it they get to the airport.”

The president’s claim contradicted reports on the ground of Americans presenting US passports and still being blocked at Taliban checkpoints, preventing them from reaching the airport.

ABC News correspondent Ian Pannell, who has been on the ground in Afghanistan for the past week, said Joe Biden’s claim that Americans have not had trouble reaching the Kabul airport is “totally” false.

Pannell noted the president’s “breathtaking” assertion contradicts the accounts of American citizens who have spoken to ABC News and said they were beaten by Taliban guards at Kabul checkpoints, even after presenting their US passports.

“It just seems the reality and the rhetoric are miles apart,” Pannell said. “I’m not quite sure what advice the president is receiving, but the truth on the ground is that these people who are in fear of their lives can’t get through.”

While taking questions from reporters after his speech, Joe Biden was asked whether he was equally committed to getting Afghan allies out of the country compared to evacuating American citizens.

“Yes, we’re making the same commitment,” Biden said. “There’s no one more important than bringing Americans citizens out, I acknowledge that.”

But the president said special immigrant visa applicants, the Afghans who provided translation services and other assistance to US troops over the past twenty years, are “equally important almost” to the American citizens seeking to leave the country.

Many Afghan allies have reported problems reaching the Kabul airport and proving their credentials to American troops, intensifying concerns that they will be left behind after the US military’s withdrawal mission is completed.

After Joe Biden’s speech, the White House provided an operational update on evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, although some of the details were included in the president’s remarks.

“We evacuated approximately 13,000 people on US military aircraft since August 14, and relocated approximately 18,000 people since the end of July. The US military evacuated 5,700 people in last 24 hours alone. The US military evacuated 3,000 people since last night’s update,” the White House said.

“The Biden Administration is leading an unprecedented and highly complex global effort to coordinate safe transit out of Afghanistan for thousands of US citizens, SIV applicants and their families, vulnerable Afghans, and third-country nationals.

“We have already secured a number of agreements for these passengers to temporarily transit through other countries, and have been working aggressively to secure additional agreements.”

Amid questions about today’s pause in evacuation flights from Kabul, senior White House officials have rushed to tout the number of people evacuated by the US military in the past 24 hours.

Here’s what White House chief of staff Ron Klain said on Twitter in response to a tweet about the flight pause:

After taking several questions from reporters, Joe Biden left the East Room with Vice-President Kamala Harris and secretary of state Antony Blinken.

Reporters tried to shout more questions at the president as he departed, but he did not turn around to answer.

Biden had been scheduled to leave for Wilmington, Delaware, after delivering his speech, but he is now expected to remain in Washington tonight. Stay tuned.

One reporter asked Joe Biden if he would commit to sending US troops into Kabul to help evacuate Americans who have been unable to safely reach the aiport.

The president claimed his administration had seen “no indication” that Americans were having trouble reaching the airport, pointing to an agreement with the Taliban to allow US citizens to go through checkpoints in the city.

“We know of no circumstance where American citizens, carrying an American passport, are trying to get through to the airport,” Biden said. “But we will do whatever needs to be done to see to it they get to the airport.

That claim contradicts reports on the ground in Kabul of Taliban guards refusing to let anyone, including those with American passports, past the checkpoints near the airport.

The US embassy in Kabul has also told American citizens remaining in Afghanistan that the government “cannot ensure safe passage to the airport”.

Joe Biden confirmed the Wall Street Journal’s report that he received an internal state department memo last month warning of the possibility of a swift Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

“We got all kinds of cables, all kinds of advice,” Biden said. “I made the decision. The buck stops with me.”

The president argued he had moved forward with the “consensus opinion” that Kabul would likely not fall to the Taliban until at least later in the year.

Joe Biden is taking reporters’ questions for the first time since the Taliban took control of Kabul, with the exception of the president’s sit-down interview with ABC News on Wednesday.

An AP reporter asked Biden whether he believed the widely criticized execution of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan had harmed America’s reputation on the world stage.

“I have seen no question of our credibility from our allies around the world,” Biden said. “As a matter of fact, the exact opposite I’ve gotten.”

Joe Biden promised that his administration would do everything in its power to evacuate Afghan citizens who provided assistance to the US military and its allies over the past twenty years.

“We’re going to do everything, everything that we can to provide safe evacuation for our Afghan allies, partners and Afghans who might be targeted because of their association with the United States,” Biden said.

That comment represented the US president’s firmest commitment yet to ensuring the safe evacuation of America’s Afghan allies.

However, many vulnerable Afghans are still unable to reach the Kabul airport because of threats of violence at Taliban checkpoints in the city.