Bipartisan Lawmakers & NATO Allies Urge Extension of August 31st Withdrawal Deadline to Ensure Evacuation of Afghan Allies

What’s the story?

• Bipartisan lawmakers and NATO allies are urging President Joe Biden to extend the August 31st deadline he imposed for the completion of the evacuation from Afghanistan amid concerns there won’t be enough time to evacuate all civilians and Afghan allies at risk of reprisal from the Taliban. 
• Biden initially set this withdrawal deadline as September 11th ― the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people ― but moved it up to August 31st in July. State Dept. Spokesman Ned Price told reporters that the decision is ultimately the president’s and that, “Our commitment to the people of Afghanistan will endure long beyond August 31st” without offering specifics on how evacuations would continue following a military pull out. 
• With a week remaining in the month, it’s unknown how many American citizens, citizens of NATO member countries, or Afghan allies and their families remain in Afghanistan. The pace of evacuations has picked up in recent days, but it’s unclear whether it will be enough to evacuate all the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants who worked for the U.S. and face possible execution at the Taliban’s hands. SIV applicants have reportedly been subject to beatings and executions at Taliban checkpoints around Kabul in recent days.
• Beyond the non-combatant evacuees, there are roughly 6,000 American troops plus 600 Afghan security forces and more than 1,000 NATO personnel securing Hamid Karzai International Airport, and it will reportedly take several days to evacuate them once the civilian evacuation phase of the Kabul Airlift ends. Military advisors have reportedly told President Biden he should make a decision by Tuesday about whether the deadline will be extended.
• Meanwhile, a Taliban spokesman said the following to Sky News about the deadline:

“It’s a red line. President Biden announced that on 31 August they would withdraw all their military forces… If the U.S. or U.K. were to seek additional time to continue evacuations ― the answer is no. Or there would be consequences.”

• The British, French, and Germans ― all NATO allies with troops alongside the U.S. Marines and Soldiers at the airport in Kabul ― have urged the U.S. government to extend the deadline. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to use the G7 meeting Tuesday to press Biden on the issue. 
• Lawmakers in Congress received their first in-person classified briefing about the situation in Afghanistan on Monday and several expressed deep skepticism that the evacuation will be completed by August 31st.
• House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) was asked by reporters whether he thinks it will be feasible to conclude the evacuation by August 31st and responded:

“I think it’s possible, but I think it’s very unlikely. Given the number of Americans who still need to be evacuated, the number of SIVs, the number of others who are members of the Afghan press, civil society leaders, women leaders. It’s hard for me to imagine all of that can be accomplished by the end of the month.” 

• Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI), an Army veteran who served in Iraq as an intelligence advisor, told National Review that the U.S. must keep its commitment to the Afghan interpreters and their families:

“Their service was on a promise that if we left we would take them with us. The consequences of not keeping that commitment to them will be dire. There’s obviously the moral and humanitarian consequences of our allies being left to fend for themselves and potentially be hunted down by the Taliban. There’s the degree to which that betrayal of our allies will be internalized and felt by members of our military and veterans’ community, and what that will do to them both psychologically and operationally.”

• Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who served in Iraq as a CIA analyst, tweeted that U.S. is confronting “tough choices” but that the “August 31 deadline must be pushed back” which “entails risk since I understand it was negotiated with the Taliban” and added:

“After 20 years at war, our actions over the next week will leave the most lasting impression around the world - and I want the U.S. to be known as a nation that takes risks for those who risk everything for us.”

• Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a Navy SEAL veteran who was wounded by an IED in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province and lost an eye, urged Biden to extend the deadline in a tweet:

“By refusing to extend the self-imposed Aug 31st deadline, President Biden is turning this disaster into something far worse. It could turn deadly for US citizens left behind. I don’t care what the Taliban says, fight for our people until the job is done.”

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• America’s NATO Allies Criticize Afghanistan Withdrawal - 'Biggest Debacle NATO Has Suffered’ (8/22/21)

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Samuel Ruiz - Central Command Public Affairs / Public Domain)