The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that the president will be caving to the Taliban’s demand to uphold the original deadline for U.S. forces to exit Afghanistan. At the Taliban’s demand, the Pentagon said that “zero” U.S. troops will be present in Afghanistan after August 31, despite the administration’s attempt to extend.
Pentagon says number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will go to 'zero' at Aug. 31 deadline. Unclear who will protect last Americans leaving. 'There's no question,' Taliban will help complete evacuation, Kirby says. Months ago, plan was to keep 650 U.S. troops at U.S. Embassy Kabul.
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) August 24, 2021
Republican Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) told the president to “damn the deadline,” and said that the administration needs to “cut the Stockholm syndrome.”
"Damn the deadline. The American people are not going to surrender our fellow citizens to the Taliban. Americans want us to stay until we get our people out, and so do our allies. The Biden Administration needs to cut the Stockholm syndrome," Sasse said.
The Taliban spokesperson warned that there would be "consequences" if the August 31 deadline was not met.
“It's a red line. President Biden announced that on 31 August they would withdraw all their military forces... If the U.S. or U.K. were to seek additional time to continue evacuations — the answer is no. Or there would be consequences.”
As the August 31 deadline approaches, the Biden administration has not publicly announced how many Americans are stranded in Afghanistan. The White House also said that "stranded" is a false characterization of the situation.