Tipsheet

Jen Psaki: Biden's Withdrawal Nothing But a 'Success'

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  August 24, 2021 5:05 PM

The White House is in chaos, its schedule is anyone's guess, and things are clearly — yet again — not going according to plan. President Biden was scheduled to speak at noon, then 2:00 p.m., then 4:30 p.m. and that still hasn't started as of 5:00 p.m. 

Press Secretary Jen Psaki was initially scheduled to brief at 1:00 p.m. but that was bumped to 3:30 p.m. The Pentagon's 3:00 p.m. briefing was scuttled entirely, as was the State Department's 2:00 p.m. briefing. Matt covered the likely reason for today's disarray here.

Not one to let reality get in the way, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki took the podium today to insist that everything is going fine and there's no reason to worry — as many outlets and politicians have — that Americans are about to be left behind to face the Taliban on their own. 

"I would not say that [the airlift and evacuation from Afghanistan] is anything but a success," Psaki insisted. 

Psaki's rosy outlook, however, was contradicted moments later by... Psaki, who apparently expects that "there could be some" Americans left behind after U.S. forces leave the country. Not exactly reassuring to hear. 

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Never fear, though, because Psaki has a plan to get remaining Americans assistance from the United States before the August 31st deadline. Her grand plan is... to text them? Or something. 

So yes, everything is fine and the withdrawal on Taliban terms is a success. But also, some Americans will be left behind and there's nothing Biden can or will do about it. 

All of this comes after Joe Biden caved to the Taliban's terms requiring all U.S. forces to be out of Afghanistan on August 31st following failed face-to-face negotiations between the group's de facto leader and Biden's CIA director.

Just before Psaki took the White House Podium, the Biden administration issued a statement saying that it is "currently on pace to finish by August 31st" but hedged on contingencies saying "completion of the mission by August 31st depends on continued coordination with the Taliban, including continued access for evacuees to the airport."

When asked what sort of contingency may exist, Psaki refused to comment on overstaying the August 31st deadline. She also declined to comment on operational details pertaining to America's withdrawal but admitted there would need to be time to wind down the airlift operation before a full withdrawal of U.S. forces. 

A lot can change in just 24 hours.