Fox News National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin said on Tuesday President Joe Biden's speech at the White House was devoid of any direct words to the U.S. military units on the ground in Kabul during a chaotic situation.
Dana Perino asked Griffin if there was any frustration at the Pentagon over the last-minute withdrawal and evacuations in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Taliban taking over the country.
"It’s interesting because I didn’t actually hear President Biden speaking to our troops. There's always that catchphrase at the end 'God bless our troops' but I didn’t hear him addressing our troops, I didn’t hear him addressing veterans. I didn't hear any sort of empathy whatsoever," Griffin said.
"The military, as you know, they salute smartly when they’re given an order, they get as much done as they possibly can as quickly as they can," Griffin continued, noting the American military had tough choices by either keeping the Bagram airbase, which is about an hour away from Kabul, or hoping the Afghan security forces would hold out so evacuations could take place at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
"You know, there’s pros and cons to both...I see they are working under a very difficult, almost impossible timeline, particularly knowing that there is an ISIS threat. Now, remember, what isn’t explained all the time is that ISIS hates the Taliban as much as they hate us," she added.
Griffin said the U.S. military is working under very dangerous conditions right now and the "blithe manner which the president seems to have given the order to withdraw, it just boggles the mind that this was all known and this was all briefed to the President."
Biden stated he is sticking to the original plan of withdrawing all U.S. forces from Afghanistan on August 31, which runs the risk of stranding American citizens and Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas.