Doomed to repeat it, Joe. Doomed to repeat it.
The Biden Administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was nothing short of a complete and utter failure. The facts are well trodden, and have been covered extensively by The Drill Down, in particular. So let’s just say this: the Biden Administration still doesn’t know how many people they left in Afghanistan. Their story: a couple hundred. A recent Senate investigation discovered the number was closer to 10,000.
And now, with a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine imminent, the White House just isn’t sure how many Americans are in the potential war zone —they’re being “tight lipped,” as they say.
But here’s what they are saying: if you’re there, get out now.
“If you stay, you are assuming risk with no guarantee that there will be any other opportunity to leave and there is no prospect of [a] U.S. military evacuation in the event of a Russian invasion,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. “If a Russian attack on Ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to their nationality.”
“A subsequent ground invasion would involve the onslaught of a massive force with virtually no notice,” he continued. “No one would be able to count on air or rail or road departures once military action got underway,” Sullivan added.
According to Fox News, the State Department did not answer questions regarding the number of American citizens currently in Ukraine, and instead pointed to a January briefing when press secretary Ned Price said, “We typically don’t provide numbers of U.S. citizens living in or traveling to another country.”
“Price said that estimates they received from the embassy in October suggested there were anywhere between 6,000 – 16,000 U.S. citizens in Ukraine, including American tourists and visitors.”
“But reports have surfaced with estimates ranging from 23,000 – 30,000 Americans believed to be in Ukraine,” Fox News reports. That’s a big discrepancy. And Sullivan’s advice?
“What I can do is stand before the world media and send a very clear message to all Americans and to any American who’s in Ukraine,” Sullivan said Friday. “Take advantage of a commercial option to get out.”
Let me make sure I have this right. The Biden Administration is flying migrants from the southern border —for free —and dropping them safely at hotels that the taxpayers are footing the bill for, but American citizens in potential war zones are on their own?
That about the gist of it, Mr. Sullivan?
“The president will not be putting the lives of our men and women in uniform at risk by sending them into a war zone to rescue people who could have left now but chose not to do so,” the national security adviser said.
Got it. Thanks for nothing. Oh, and speaking of “nothing,” a new CNN (liberal) poll shows that 56% of Americans like “nothing” that Joe Biden and this Administration have done.
I have a feeling the situation in Ukraine presents an opportunity for that number to skyrocket faster than the out-of-control inflation.
