According to an email obtained by Fox News, the Department of State refused to issue government permission for private rescue operation flights from Afghanistan to land in foreign countries.
This comes despite the fact that the State Department admitted official approval will indeed likely be required for aircraft to land in those nations. Moreover, the State Department said unequivocally that commercial flights, including those carrying Americans, would not be permitted to land at DOD Air Force bases.
Officials in the United States have warned that landing charter flights at military facilities could pose a security risk; these officials are claiming they lack the capacity on the ground to adequately examine flights.
Biden’s decision to prolong private rescue attempts has enraged rescuers and even a key Democrat senator
What? For the Afgan translators brought to America, the majority cannot speak English? We, Americans are now paying for translators being brought in to translate for these so-called Afgans that claims to be translators from that chaotic airlift? pic.twitter.com/9ldA8Q11T7
— Tawn (@up2u4fate2) September 1, 2021
After his rescue attempts were frequently hindered by the federal bureaucracy, Eric Montalvo (who arranged a succession of private aircraft transporting Americans trapped in Afghanistan) released the aforementioned letter and others to Fox News.
For such an Emergency, You Would Expect an Exemption
A Department of State employee sent Montalvo an email on September 1, highlighting the degree to which private rescue attempts have run against bureaucratic hurdles.
Per the email, “The government airbase you indicated in your correspondence with Samantha Power, [Al Udeid Air Base], does not allow international flights to land.”
The email continues: “In truth, charters are not permitted to arrive at a DoD facility, yet most, if not all, Middle East countries, apart from Saudi Arabia, will allow chartered flights to land. You must choose a new target country, and this should not be the United States.”
New urgency to airlift from Kabul after blasts kill dozens https://t.co/GDWAUZFYxB With so many fleeing, how many 'fought' for THEIR Country ? If the majority of Afgan's supported the Taliban, the USA just experienced another 'Vietnam'.
— John Evans (@1_4_sedition) August 27, 2021
Although some other nations “may require” government permission from the State Department prior to allowing private charter planes, the agency “will not grant” that permission, according to the official.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Department of State spokesperson Ned Price spoke about this all through news conferences on Sept. 2. This comes the day after the representative mentioned the State Department would not have been officially endorsing commercial flights.
News later broke that the Biden government was not attempting to prevent aircraft from departing Afghanistan. The other week, Price spoke about the security implications of bringing charter flights onto army facilities.
To paraphrase Price: “If these charters strive to travel to a U.S. military placement, for instance, we must consider not just dangers to the passenger onboard – especially when they are Americans, LPRs, and other Afghans to which have a specific commitment – but also the security of State Department staff, U.S. military staff, Department of Homeland Security employees, and other U.S. workers.”
To this day, the Biden administration and other officials continue to demonstrate zero plan to get Americans safely out of Afghanistan.
