It may be a new week at the Pentagon but the non-specific answers from Major General Hank Taylor and Press Secretary John Kirby were little changed on Monday as the Biden administration continues to struggle to get control of the situation in Afghanistan.
After previously being unable to say how many American citizens were in Afghanistan when the Taliban toppled the Afghan government, the Pentagon apparently doesn't even know how many Americans have been airlifted out so far.
Reiterating talking points from past briefings about the mission remaining security and operation of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Kirby was unable to provide specific numbers or assurances that the operation was going to continue past the August 31st deadline for U.S. forces to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Despite saying the main priority is getting American citizens, at-risk Afghans, and special immigrant visa applicants out of the country, Kirby refused to say how many Americans had so far been safely evacuated.
KIRBY: "Since the 14th, we 'believe' we have been able to evacuate several thousand Americans." pic.twitter.com/wuDPYo8UW1
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 23, 2021
"We think that overall we've been able to evacuate several thousand Americans," Kirby said, later adding he "would be reticent" to be more specific.
When pressed on whether the Pentagon didn't have a specific number because such data wasn't readily available or because he was purposefully being vague for some other reason, Kirby refused to answer. "I think I'm just going to leave it at several thousand," he said. "The number is very fluid," Kirby claimed despite offering more specific numbers for several other data points.
REPORTER: "Were you being deliberately vague when you said the number of Americans was several thousand, or was it because you're not sure of the number?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 23, 2021
KIRBY: "I think I'm just going to leave it at several thousand right now." pic.twitter.com/e4POmoSaiw
The Pentagon also reiterated that the United States is dependent on the Taliban's goodwill which seems to be wearing thin in recent days. So while Kirby said the Pentagon is "very interested in making sure that access to the airport remains as fluid as possible," such access depends on "constant coordination and deconfliction" with the Taliban fighters running the checkpoints that surround HKIA.
Kirby says "access remain[ing] secure" to the Kabul airport for flights out of Afghanistan will hinge on "constant coordination and deconfliction with the Taliban" pic.twitter.com/4wAahQ1LgS
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 23, 2021
Taliban demands that the United States military be withdrawn by the current August 31st deadline sets up an increasingly fraught situation that could see Americans and others trying to leave the country left behind and at the mercy of the Taliban.
Kirby said the Pentagon is "just not at that point right now" of discussions between President Biden and his military leaders, saying instead the Pentagon's "focus is on getting this done by the end of the month."
If the Pentagon truly doesn't know how many Americans are in Afghanistan or how many they've evacuated while remaining committed to the August 31st deadline due to Taliban resistance, the future for U.S. citizens looks increasingly bleak with just over a week left for them to attempt to reach HKIA amid warnings from Kabul embassy officials to "avoid traveling to the airport" due to an unspecified "security threat."
The Pentagon will brief again at 3:00 p.m. on Monday.