Psaki defends not allowing charter flights from Afghanistan to land at US bases
By: Kyle Morris (Fox News)
Now border security is important? We've been allowing hundreds of thousands of unvetted migrants across our southern border for years. But charter flights of hundreds of unvetted Afghans landing on military bases pose too great a risk? The Biden administration just doesn't want another Benghazi to tarnish their public relations campaign.
The planning for the withdrawal from Afghanistan has been the same as planning for a migrant rush at the southern border. There has been no plan. The Biden administration has invested more political effort in controlling the narrative than it has for planning and execution of those plans. Joe Biden doesn't care about governing; Biden's concern is about building a legacy that can be spotlighted in a Presidential library.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected because we were told that words matter more than anything else. The voters wanted a President that could exude empathy, sympathy, and unity. Biden and Harris could pluck the heartstrings, stoke the home fires, and make us feel good about ourselves.
It's a little too late to discover that the Biden administration has been hollow from the beginning; nothing but words and public relations campaigns.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday during a briefing that President Biden's administration is "not going to allow" charter flights with unvetted passengers from Afghanistan to land on American military bases, due to safety concerns.
According to Psaki, the Biden administration continues to "press the Taliban" over the issue of evacuation flights, many of which contain Americans, not being allowed to leave Afghanistan.
"We don't have a role in preventing flights from taking off," Psaki told reporters. "We are not on the ground, so that is not something that the U.S. government is doing. At the same time, some of these planes and some of the issues [include] where are they going to land."
Psaki noted that "a number of these planes" seeking to depart Afghanistan may have a "handful of Americans, but they may have several hundred individuals" who do not have proper documentation of identity.
"They may have several hundred individuals where we don't have manifests for them, we don't know what the security protocols are for them, we don't know what their documentation is," Psaki said, describing the situation as one of the "hard choices you face in government."
"Are we going to allow a plane with hundreds of people where we don't know who they are, we don't know what security protocols have been put in place, to land on a U.S. military base," Psaki stated, noting that there are "some charter planes taking off."
Psaki's comments come less than two weeks after thousands of Americans and Afghan allies, some of which had not been thoroughly vetted before arriving in America, fled Afghanistan due to the Taliban's takeover.
As previously reported, 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.
Last week, State Department spokesman Ned Price addressed the security risks of allowing the charter flights onto military bases.
"If these charters are seeking to go to a U.S. military installation, for example, we have to weigh not only the threat to those who may be on board - especially if they're American citizens, LPRs, other Afghans to whom we have a special commitment - but also to the safety and security of State Department personnel, U.S. military personnel, Department of Homeland Security personnel, other U.S. personnel on U.S. military installations," Price said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a news conference from Qatar on Tuesday and said the issue of vetting passengers and following security protocols for those fleeing the Taliban's control in Afghanistan is a "challenge."
"Without personnel on the ground, we can't verify the accuracy of manifests, the identities of passengers, flight plans, or aviation security protocols," Blinken said. "So this is a challenge, but one we are determined to work through. We're conducting a great deal of diplomacy on this as we speak."
Last week, U.S. officials told Fox News that Afghan refugees who don't pass the initial round of vetting will be sent to a U.S. military base in Kosovo, located in Europe.
The Associated Press also reported last week that a small number of refugees without any apparent eligibility for U.S. relocation - as at-risk Afghans who were able to make it on planes during the chaotic U.S. military evacuation at Kabul airport between Aug. 15 and Aug. 31 - will require further investigation.
"Before anyone who is evacuated from Afghanistan comes to this country, they undergo a rigorous vet," Price told reporters. "Unless and until they complete that vet, they will not be in a position to come to the U.S."
Others have noted that thousands of unvetted immigrants are crossing America's southern border each month.
Last month, Border Patrol Union president Brandon Judd joined "Your World" and discussed the border crisis, providing insight that he believes each American "needs to know" regarding their safety after several of those that entered America illegally begin to fill American communities.
"We're going to exceed 200,000 apprehensions in the month of July," Judd said at the time. "Forty percent of those people were released into the United States to spread throughout our communities, a lot of whom very well could have COVID."
At three U.S. military bases in Europe - Ramstein, Germany; Sigonella, Italy; and Rota, Spain - the FBI, Customs and Border Protection and NCIS have hundreds of agents overseeing the screening of about 17,000 Afghan evacuees.
An estimated 100 Afghan refugees headed from Afghanistan to the United States have been flagged for potential ties to terrorist organizations, including the Taliban, according to a recent report from NBC News.
Fox News' Peter Hasson, Jennifer Griffin and Jessica Chasmar contributed to this article.
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Joe Biden wasn't rude, crude, xenophobic, or divisive like Donald Trump. Biden ain't Trump. How's that been working out?
Very well.
Biden brought our troops home, supports women's rights, and he listens to science. That is a definite improvement.
Results don't matter? Biden should be applauded for a participation award?
Who said anything about results? You're the one trying to compare Trump and Biden. Like you, I simply pointed out some of the differences.
Then you are only repeating what I've already said.
No, you pointed out some Trump traits. I pointed out some of Biden's. Now we can make a better comparison.
Are you comparing words or results? Is your citing of "Biden brought our troops home, supports women's rights, and he listens to science" about what Biden has said about those issues or about the results that Biden has achieved on those issues?
Biden won the election over words; Biden didn't run on his record of results. Biden claimed words matter. But do words matter more than results?
Biden can say a lot of things about a lot of issues. Biden can speak in empathetic and sympathetic tones that make us feel better about ourselves. Biden can be emotionally comforting, unlike Trump. But is that what is really important about being President?
Abandoned US citizens and those that aided us in Afghanistan. Funny how the left always leaves that out. In fact they ignore it to no ends.
Armed the Taliban, and by extension Al Qaeda, ISIS/ISIL, and ISIS-K with advanced US weapons that he left behind.
Made Russia and China exceedingly happy as they will now have numerous US drones left behind to reverse engineer.
He support women by sniffing their hair, holding onto hugs for far longer than appropriate, and blowing in their ears. He likes little girls even better; and supports them even more.
Which is proven by his Administration's completely dysfunctional response to Covid. They have taken every position under the sun; and departments have contradicted each other repeatedly on policy. Along with keeping the largest super spreader event going at our Southern border will all of the illegals crossing. But at least we are once again a part of the Paris Climate Agreement, so US tax payer dollars will once again be given to third world shit holes in the hopes that the money will actually be put towards clean energy. But at least the Democrats have two massive porkulus "infrastructure" bills to try and pass. 5 trillion dollars hitting an already inflated system; that should make the US dollar completely worthless and set off hyper inflation.
Your definition of improvement sucks.
Who's ignoring it? The situation surrounding withdrawal is well known. While Biden will bear the responsibility for it, it's a significant fail on military logistics and planning. So placing the entirety of the blame on Biden is disingenuous.
I see you can't actually address the point and prefer to engage in a smear.
That sounds more like the previous administration.
As does your obvious partisanship.
Both. Biden has brought US troops home from Afghanistan. About time too! He says he supports women's rights, which makes his position on the matter clear. He can't do much on that outside of executive purview. As for science, he encouraged people to get vaccinated, he stated he listens to science, and he wears masks as an example. All this is contrary to the words and actions of the previous administration.
That describes every politician running for office. Trump was quite verbose during (and after) his campaign.
See previous statement.
Funny how Biden didn't give a damn about Afghans having proper papers when he was running the evacuation. The majority of those evacuated under his watch weren't US citizens, nor were they special VISA holders. If you managed to get into the airport they evacuated you, no vetting done.
As the seed states.
"An estimated 100 Afghan refugees headed from Afghanistan to the United States have been flagged for potential ties to terrorist organizations, including the Taliban, according to a recent report from NBC News."
The charity running the current evacuation has offered the Biden Administration all of the passports and VISAs for those they are trying to move on a manifest. Seems that isn't enough for Biden now. But at least three flights have departed Afghanistan today. Of course Biden is trying to take credit; while thanking the Taliban no less.
Thank you to those that voted for putting dementia Joe in the White House. Only in his alternate world could the Taliban ever get credit for anything other than be terrorists.