Under orders from the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon, the troops on the ground in Afghanistan presided over a partial, chaotic, and awful evacuation of American citizens and Afghan allies in the last days before the U.S. withdrew its military and diplomatic presence entirely from Afghanistan.  Since then, private organizations have been trying desperately to rescue Americans, Afghan allies, and Afghans who converted to Christianity.  The last two groups face imminent death.  On Tuesday afternoon, Fox News reported that the State Department is refusing to grant approval for those charter flights.

According to Fox News, the State Department is withholding the necessary approval that will allow privately chartered flights from Afghanistan to land in third countries.  The administration is saying it's too dangerous to let these planes land at Defense Department airbases:

The State Department refused to grant official approval for private evacuation flights from Afghanistan to land in third countries, even though the department conceded that official authorization would likely be needed for planes to land in those nations, an email reviewed by Fox News shows. 

Furthermore, the State Department explicitly stated that charter flights, even those containing American citizens, would not be allowed to land at Defense Department (DOD) airbases. U.S. officials have pointed to possible security threats from landing charter planes at military bases, saying that they lack the resources on the ground to fully verify flight manifests.

The Biden administration's delaying of private evacuation efforts has been a widespread source of frustration, infuriating rescue organizers and even a prominent Democratic senator. 

That sounds very noble, doesn't it?  The State Department is making sure that Americans, at home and abroad (except for those abroad in Afghanistan) are safe.

This newfound nobility is a stark contrast to the way in which the Biden administration, whether in the White House, the State Department, or the Pentagon, managed the evacuation before it the military took its last boots off the ground in Afghanistan.  Although the administration claims that only 100 or so Americans remain in Afghanistan, Rep. Darrell Issa believes that the real number is closer to 500–1,000 Americans whom the U.S. abandoned in Afghanistan.

I would posit that even more remain behind because, before the pullout, Biden himself admitted that there were 10,000 to 15,000 Americans trapped in Afghanistan.  In the end, those planes leaving Afghanistan before the U.S. pulled out carried only 6,000 Americans.  I'm not good at math, but that tells me that 4,000 to 9,000 were left behind.

The numbers are even worse for those Afghans who legitimately allied themselves with the Americans and are now at risk of imminent death.  Of the 20,000 or so who applied for SIVs (which rounds up to about 75,000 people when one considers their families), only 8,500 hundred were evacuated.  The State Department either gave to or lost to the Taliban biometric and other identifying information for those left behind, and the Taliban will hunt them down.

So that means that fewer than 15,000 people who are American citizens or Afghan allies got on those flights.  Except the Biden administration has boasted that it got 116,000 people out during those last frenzied days.  So where were the remaining 100,000?  We have no idea.  About 500 are known terrorists, but how many are "unknown" terrorists?  Again, we have no idea.  It didn't matter.  The Biden administration willingly took in over 100,000 people from a country in which 99% of the people support sharia law.

My point in retelling this information is that this is a fine time for the U.S. suddenly to get squeamish about letting planes fly out of Afghanistan onto American soil (whether in America or at military bases abroad).  This is especially true because those who are being individually rescued are vouched for by congresspeople, religious groups, or other organizations seeking specific people.

Once again, one is left wondering whether it's possible for the Biden administration to be so stupid, incompetent, and cruel by accident or if there is a method to its madness.

Image: Afghans crammed on planes.  Note the number of young men.  Air Mobility Command.

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