'Outnumbered' panel discusses Vice President Harris' lack of media availability amid fallout from the Afghanistan withdrawal.
FIRST ON FOX: Americans engaged in the rescue of U.S. citizens, SIVs and green card holders left behind by President Biden in Afghanistan are horrified by what they describe as inexplicable delays from the State Department that are preventing evacuation flights from leaving the country.
The
State Department's delays are recklessly endangering American lives,
three different individuals involved in the private evacuation effort
told Fox News.
Rick Clay, who runs the private rescue group
PlanB, told Fox News that the State Department is the only thing
preventing the flights he's organizing from leaving Afghanistan.
Two
other American individuals separately involved in evacuation efforts,
whom Fox News is not naming to avoid jeopardizing ongoing rescue
efforts, similarly said that the State Department is the sole entity
preventing their charter flights from leaving Afghanistan.
"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,"
one of those individuals, who has been integral to private evacuation
efforts from Afghanistan, told Fox News.
"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," that individual said, 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."
That individual suggested that the
State Department's obstruction is motivated in part by embarrassment
that private individuals are rescuing Americans whom the U.S. government
left behind.
Those seeking clearance to land in Qatar were
informed by military channels that they must first go through the State
Department to gain approval, an email reviewed by Fox News shows.
Clay
has a manifest of 4,500 names of U.S. citizens, green card holders,
SIVs and refugees trying to get stateside. So far, they've given the
State Department 800 names for a first round of flights. Fox News has
reviewed that manifest, which confirms Clay's account.
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"It
is imperative that we get into Doha where there [are] other refugee
centers," the PlanB founder told Fox News in a text message. "That is
where I've asked for clearance."
Clay told Fox News that his
organization is "having problems getting permission" from the Biden
State Department "to land on the return flight" from Afghanistan in a
neighboring country.
The State Department "is not allowing any
private charters carrying refugees [to] land anywhere" in nearby
countries if they are coming out of Afghanistan and is making different
"excuses" as to why, such as pointing to the lack of air traffic
controllers and radar issues, Clay told Fox News this week. The two
other individuals separately involved in private evacuation efforts
confirmed Clay's account.
"If we can get aircraft in and pick up
people and bring them out, why can’t we take them to Doha to the refugee
center or other refugee centers?" Clay remarked. "This makes no sense."
"We still have Americans we can get out," he added.
After
making little to no progress with the State Department, Clay's group
turned to senators from both parties: Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Richard
Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have all sought to help
PlanB and other organizations secure the approval they need to get the
evacuees safely out of Afghanistan, organizers and Senate staffers told
Fox News.
Clay received word on Thursday that their flights out
of Afghanistan would eventually receive approval following the State
Department's review of their manifest — a task that could take several
days even as just the initial 800 names are subjected to the vetting
process.
As
of Sunday evening, the State Department had yet to give PlanB the green
light to land any of its flights in any countries neighboring
Afghanistan.
The two other Americans involved in another private
evacuation effort told Fox News that the State Department has secured
them clearance to land in a neighboring country and that the Taliban has
given them the green light to take off, dependent on State Department
approval – which hasn't come.
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Meanwhile, Taliban fighters are reportedly carrying out executions against those who helped American troops during the war.
Clay shared some of the messages that he has received from a family on the PlanB manifest list that he has been in contact with.
"Please
save us as soon as possible," one message said. "My family and I are
facing a lot of problems. My children’s health is deteriorating day by
day due to many worries."
"On the other hand, there are reports
that the Taliban have recruited people in the Ministry of Technology and
Communications to find people who will cooperate with US forces," the
person said. "If they find out anything about me, they will kill me and
my family."
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