President Joe Biden has finally announced that he will be cutting his vacation short and addressing the American public about the chaos unfolding in Kabul.
Biden has been facing sharp criticism, including from his own party, for his lack of communication and mishandling of the situation during the withdrawal. He has been on vacation in Camp David, and silent, as the situation unraveled.
His public schedule for Monday had only a closed briefing, nothing else.
Biden's public schedule for tomorrow ––> pic.twitter.com/sBimKVp9RY
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) August 16, 2021
Likewise, there has not been a single word from Vice President Kamala Harris.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has also been under fire, after emails to her were returned with an auto generated response saying that she would be out of the office for the next week.
The Taliban took Afghanistan’s capital on Sunday as Afghan military forces gave up almost immediately.
“President Biden was not prepared to usher in a third decade of war and put U.S. troops in harm’s way, fighting and dying, to try to hold Afghanistan together when its own armed forces would not fight to hold it together,” White House National Security Advisor said during an interview with CBS on Monday, following near silence from the administration on Sunday.
.@JakeSullivan46: "President Biden was not prepared to usher in a third decade of war and put U.S. troops in harm’s way, fighting and dying, to try to hold Afghanistan together when its own armed forces would not fight to hold it together.” pic.twitter.com/4ChT6EvT8L
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 16, 2021
Sullivan also asserted that “we have a proven ability to fight terrorism effectively without having a large military footprint on the ground – and we will hold the Taliban accountable to not allowing Al Qaeda to have a safe haven in Afghanistan.”
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan: We have a proven ability to fight terrorism effectively without having a large military footprint on the ground – and we will hold the Taliban accountable to not allowing Al Qaeda to have a safe haven in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/FTu3Qxla2A
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 16, 2021
The shocking images and videos from the war-torn nation have been eerily similar to those coming from Saigon in 1975.
Saigon 1975
Kabul today pic.twitter.com/JP7SNgq6Ra— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) August 15, 2021
As of Monday afternoon, there has been no announcement on when exactly the address will take place.
