“They’re going to demand more and more, whether it be cash or legitimacy as the government of Afghanistan.”
As news emerged Sunday that the Taliban is effectively holding hostage six planes full of Americans, many pointed out that President Trump predicated that exactly this situation would unfold.
CBS News reported that congressional and NGO sources, say “multiple planes that are ready to take American citizens and green card holders out of the country are being denied permission to leave by the Taliban.”
The report notes that a State Department email confirms that the flights have permission to land in Qatar “if and when the Taliban agrees to takeoff.”
“The Taliban is basically holding them hostage to get more out of the Americans,” CBS quotes a senior congressional source.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the ranking GOP member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also told Fox News Sunday that the Taliban has initiated a hostage situation.
“We have six airplanes at Mazar Sharif Airport, six airplanes with American citizens on them as I speak, also with these interpreters, and the Taliban is holding them hostage for demands right now,” McCaul said.
“They’re going to demand more and more, whether it be cash or legitimacy as the government of Afghanistan,” McCaul added.
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Meanwhile, more details have emerged of the Biden State Department reportedly blocking the private flights with Americans on board from leaving Afghanistan, purely to save face because they were unable to get them all out.
One source deeply involved with the evacuation efforts told Fox News “This is zero place to be negotiating with American lives. Those are our people standing on the tarmac and all it takes is a f****ing phone call.”
“If one life is lost as a result of this, the blood is on the White House’s hands. The blood is on their hands,” the source further noted, adding: “It is not the Taliban that is holding this up – as much as it sickens me to say that – it is the United States government.”
