J.J.Sefton
AoSHQ The Morning Report
August 31, 2021
President Biden has decided not to extend an Aug. 31 deadline to remove all American troops from Afghanistan, a U.S. official tells Fox News.In Other News
The development comes shortly after a Taliban spokesperson – following a meeting between leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and CIA Director William Burns in Kabul – said there will be "no extensions" to the Biden administration’s Aug. 31 date.
Defense Dept. Press Secretary John Kirby said Tuesday that the White House is still "aiming toward the end of the month" for a complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
During a Wednesday press briefing, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan has the capability to extract some Americans in extreme circumstances, but not to gather up large groups of Americans who cannot get to the U.S.-controlled airport in Kabul after the Taliban seized near-total control of the country over the weekend.In Other News
Asked if U.S. forces would “extract” Americans not able to reach the Kabul airport for fear of being stopped or taken by the Taliban, Austin responded, “I would draw a distinction between extracting someone in an extreme condition or circumstance versus going out and collecting large numbers of American citizens.”
“We don’t have the capability to go out and collect large numbers of people,” Austin added.