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President Joe Biden and senior U.S. military officials are defending ongoing U.S. military evacuation efforts in Afghanistan amid ongoing chaos in Kabul.
During a national address on Sunday, Biden said officials knew the efforts would be difficult.
“Evacuation of thousands of people from Afghanistan was going to be hard and painful, no matter when it started,” the president said. “That would have been true if we had started a month ago or a month from now.
“There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss of heartbreaking images you see on television. It’s just a fact.”
About 33,000 U.S. citizens and Afghan allies have been evacuated since late July, including more than 10,000 in the past few days. Tens of thousands are seeking to leave the country since the Taliban took control.
Active-component and Army National Guard units have deployed to assist the evacuations and to provide security at the airport in Kabul. They include elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, two Marine infantry battalions and a Minnesota Army Guard combined-arms battalion.
The Biden administration and defense leaders have come under attack for the decision to pull U.S. troops from the country. The withdrawal was delayed from an earlier plan proposed by President Donald Trump.
Senior military leaders have said the recent news in Afghanistan was personal given the blood lost and sweat shed on numerous past deployments, according to The Associated Press.
“All of this is very personal for me. This is a war that I fought in and led. I know the country, I know the people, and I know those who fought alongside me,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, a retired four-star Army general who previously served as a commander in Afghanistan and led U.S. Central Command. “We have a moral obligation to help those who helped us. And I feel the urgency deeply.”
Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also commanded troops in Afghanistan.
“For more than 20 years, we have prevented an attack on the U.S. homeland. 2,448 lost our lives, 20,722 were wounded in action, and many others suffered the unseen wounds of war. To each of them, I want you to know, personally, that your service matters,” said Milley. “As the secretary said, for both he and I, this is personal. And I know it’s personal for each and every one of you.”
A steady stream of C-17s transport planes have supported the evacuations. On Sunday, Austin also ordered the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to activate, requesting 18 aircraft from civilian airliners to help. It was only the third time in history that military officials have mobilized U.S. airlines to aid in an evacuation.
