As the final U.S. military transports left Afghanistan Monday, they left behind up to 200 Americans and thousands of desperate Afghans who couldn’t reach the airfield. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says the U.S. will keep trying to get them out.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about Afghanistan, at the State Department in Washington, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021.
“We have no illusion that any of this will be easy, or rapid,” said Blinken, adding that the total number of Americans who are in Afghanistan and still want to leave may be closer to 100. McKenzie said there were no citizens left stranded at the airport and none were on the final few military flights out. He said the U.S. military maintained the ability to get Americans out right up until just before the end, but “none of them made it to the airport.”
The terror threat remains a major problem in Afghanistan, with at least 2,000 “hard core” members of the Islamic State group who remain in the country, including many released from prisons as the Taliban swept to control. Back at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, watched the final 90 minutes of the military departure in real time from an operations center in the basement.