President Joe Biden delivered rare Sunday remarks to update the American people on the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, as well as Tropical Storm Henri, which made landfall near Westerly, Rhode Island, earlier in the day.
Biden said that 11,000 people were evacuated from Kabul in a 36-hour period over the weekend.
“As of this morning, we have evacuated nearly 28,000 people since Aug. 14, on both U.S. and coalition aircraft, including civilian charters,” Biden said Sunday, an increase from 17,000 on Saturday.
The efforts continued to accelerate into Monday. Over a 24 hour period that ended early Monday morning, 28 U.S. military flights evacuated approximately 10,400 people from Kabul, according to a White House official. In addition, they noted, 61 coalition aircraft evacuated about 5,900 people.
Per the official, the total since Aug. 14 stands at approximately 37,000 people. About 42,000 have been evacuated since July.
Earlier Sunday, Biden met with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as other members of his national security team to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
“Our first priority in Kabul is getting American citizens out of the country as quickly and as safely as possible,” Biden said, vowing: “Any American who wants to get home will get home.”
“Let me be clear,” Biden continued. “The evacuation of thousands of people from Kabul is going to be hard and painful, no matter when it started, when we began. It would have been true if we had started a month ago.”
“There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss and heartbreaking images you see on television,” Biden said, adding: “My heart aches for those people you see.”
Biden said that he would not share plans for moving Americans safely at Kabul airport, citing security concerns, but touted the large number of evacuations in recent days, praising the efforts of diplomats and those on the ground.
“We are proving that we can move though thousands of people a day out of Kabul,” Biden said. “We are bringing our citizens, NATO allies, Afghanis who had helped us in the war effort.”
But, Biden warned, “we have a long way to go, and a lot could still go wrong.”
President Biden clarified that planes from Kabul are not going directly to the United States; rather, they are are being flown from Afghanistan to places like Germany, Qatar and Spain. There is security screening for everyone who is not a U.S. citizen or resident, Biden said.
“Anyone arriving in the United States will have undergone a background check,” Biden said, noting that after the screening, Afghan allies will be able to come to United States.
“Once screened and cleared, we will welcome these Afghans who helped us in the war effort over the last 20 years to their new home in the United States of America,” Biden said. “Because that is who we are.”
Biden noted that the United States is extending the ‘safe zone’ around Kabul airport to improve access for Americans and Afghans who are trying to leave the country. The president acknowledged that the rapidly changing security environment and crowds around the Kabul airport increase the chances for attacks from terrorist groups, including ISIS-K.
The president said that “there are discussions going on” about staying in Afghanistan beyond the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline, but said that “our hope” is that they will be able to meet the deadline.
The president continued to defend his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, saying that he “decided to end the war.”
“I had a basic decision to make: I either withdraw America from a 20-year war,” Biden said. “I either increase the number of forces there, or end the war.”
“My job is to make judgments,” the president continued. “My job is to make judgments no one else can or will make. I made them, and I am convinced I am absolutely correct in not deciding to send more young women and men for a war that is no longer warranted.”
“I think that history is going to record that this was the logical, rational, and right decision to make,” Biden said about the decision to withdraw.
“Nothing about this effort is easy,” Biden added, pledging: “I’ll keep you informed every day as we move forward.”
Biden also said that he supports sanctions against the Taliban if warranted.
The president began his remarks by discussing the ongoing weather situations in the northeast with Tropical Storm Henri and the catastrophic flooding in Tennessee.
Henri was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm earlier in the morning as it made its way toward landfall, but millions across New York’s Long Island and in southern New England braced for heavy rains, high winds, flooding and the possibility of power outages and downed trees.
“We are taking it seriously, because of the size, storm surge and rain fall that it is producing,” Biden said. “We’re doing everything we can now to help those states prepare, respond, and recover.”
The president said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has prepositioned resources and equipment in the area to “speed our ability to respond,” including preparations to address significant power outages. Biden also said that thousands of crews from other states, as well as Canada, are on their way to help.
President Biden approved emergency declarations for New York and Connecticut ahead of the storm making landfall on Sunday, and approved a similar declaration for Rhode Island the day before.
Biden urged Americans to listen to authorities, and implored people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, calling vaccinations a “vital part” of emergency preparations.
“Get vaccinated now,” Biden said. “Protect yourself and your family against COVID-19. It’s going to be a vital part of emergency preparedness this year.”
The president also expressed his “deepest condolences for the sudden and tragic loss of life” due to flash flooding in Tennessee, where at least 22 people were killed.
“We’ve reached out to the community and we stand ready to offer them support,” Biden said.
