Tipsheet

Psaki Refuses to Explain Biden's Watch-Checking, Defends Entrusting Taliban with American Lives

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  August 31, 2021 5:40 PM

Following defiant and at times angry remarks from President Biden Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki briefed reporters but refused to answer key questions while seeking to spin the administration's deadly and misordered retreat from Afghanistan.

Addressing criticism from families of some of the 13 heroes who were killed in Kabul amid Biden's disastrous withdrawal, Psaki said "his message to all of the family members who were there, those who were not even in attendance, is that he is grateful to their sons and daughters, the sacrifice they made to the country. That he knows, firsthand, what it's like to lose a child."

Psaki refused to answer questions about videos showing the President checking his watch during the dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base.

She also had little to offer after news broke that an Afghan translator who saved then-Senator Biden 13 years ago had been left behind in Afghanistan other than the now-common refrain that "we will get you out," despite that promise being broken once already.

With hundreds of Americans and thousands of Afghan allies stuck in Afghanistan, Psaki again reiterated that the fates of those left behind were in the hands of the Taliban and dependent on their dubious commitment to benevolence.

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"We have enormous leverage over the Taliban, including the global marketplace," Psaki said in explaining why the Taliban would abide by any agreement to allow safe passage for Americans or Afghan allies seeking to leave the country.

"The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that made clear what the expectation is," she added before declaring that the United States "will continue" its "engagement with the Taliban" while watching their actions from afar. Specifically, Psaki promised that the United States and more than 100 other countries would be watching how the Taliban treats women and upholds human rights, two areas in which the Taliban does not have a great track record. 

Even worse, Psaki said the White House's focus is not on preparing for any potential hostage situations should, God forbid, Americans end up captured by the Taliban, ISIS-K, or Al-Qaeda. She reiterated Biden is focused on "making clear to the Taliban and to others in Afghanistan that we're going to get these American citizens out."

It's quite a position to entrust the lives of Americans stranded by Biden's withdrawal to Taliban terrorists, but Psaki said the administration "remain[s] in touch" with those left behind despite not knowing the exact number of stranded U.S. citizens. "It was his timeline, not the Taliban's," Psaki said of Biden's decision to break his promise of remaining in Afghanistan until every American had been evacuated.

"There is not an end to our commitment" of bringing Americans home, Psaki insisted after the Biden administration pulled all U.S. military and diplomatic personnel in the early hours of August 31st. "We are going to get every American citizen out," Psaki pledged despite the administration already breaking the terms of that promise. "That has not changed."

So if not for any of the previously mentioned areas, are there any regrets Biden has?

The short answer is "no," at least none for which he'll take responsibility. Rather, Psaki said Biden was disappointed that the Afghan military didn't fight harder to save their country and that President Ghani fled the country as the Taliban entered Kabul.