President Joe Biden will address the nation again on Sunday afternoon to provide an update on the withdrawal from Afghanistan as well as the response to Hurricane Henri.
Mr Biden is meeting with his national security team in the Situation Room at the White House on Sunday morning to hear intelligence, security, and diplomatic updates on the evolving situation in Kabul.
The president will then speak to the American people at 4pm from the Roosevelt Room about the latest on the evacuation of citizens, special immigration visa applicants and their families, and vulnerable Afghans.
This will be the third time Mr Biden has appeared on TV concerning the chaos that began to unfold in Kabul after the Taliban retook the Afghan capital and desperate people attempted to flee via the airport.
At a rally in Alabama on Saturday night, former President Donald Trump criticised Mr Biden throughout his remarks, saying that Democrats “stealing” the 2020 presidential election led to the fall of Kabul.
“This will go down as one of the great military defeats of all time,” Mr Trump said. “This was not a withdrawal. It was a total surrender.”
Mr Trump also defended his peace deal with the Taliban and his negotiations with the organisation’s leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
“I said Abdul, anything happens, we are going to rain terror upon you,” he said, noting how he and the Taliban had a conditions-based agreement on withdrawal. “And then we had a rigged election and a new president and the new president came into office and he dropped to his knees and he said ‘come on in and take everything that we have’.”
The Biden administration, and even some former Trump administration officials, have blamed the former president’s negotiations with the Taliban for the complete collapse of the Afghan government.
In turn, the former president praised the Taliban while also criticising the Biden administration for not knowing the precise number of Americans in Afghanistan.
According to figures released by the White House on Sunday morning, from 21 August at 3am to 22 August 3am EDT, there were 23 US military flights (14 C-17s, 9 C-130s) evacuating approximately 3,900 personnel, and 35 coalition aircraft (including partners, foreign military, and commercial airlines) evacuating approximately 3,900 personnel.
There have been approximately 25,100 personnel on both military and coalitions flights evacuated since 14 August. Since the end of July, there have been approximately 30,000 personnel evacuated.
The White House also announced on Sunday morning that Mr Biden will meet virtually with G7 leaders on 24 August.
“The meeting will build on President Biden’s calls this week with G7 leaders Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France, and Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy,” the White House says.
They will discuss “continuing our close coordination on Afghanistan policy and evacuating our citizens, the brave Afghans who stood with us over the last two decades, and other vulnerable Afghans”.
Also on the agenda are plans to provide humanitarian assistance and support for Afghan refugees.
Source: Independent
