Journalist George Packer, who has reported extensively on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, instructed CBS Information on Tuesday that tens of hundreds of Afghans are left behind in Afghanistan with their lives in peril as a consequence of their ties with the U.S. authorities, main non-public residents to take cost of their evacuation.
Packer mentioned he believes President Biden feels he has "zero accountability" to the Afghans whose lives stay in danger within the nation.
"It is as if Biden's sense of obligation and loyalty extends to the USA and to our troops and to these ties that he feels so strongly. However when you get past that, he form of digs in," Packer mentioned. "He will get truly relatively combative and says we've zero accountability."
Packer spoke to CBS Information following the publication of his story for The Atlantic, "The Betrayal," which particulars the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the non-public Americans who've been making an attempt to assist evacuate allies who did not get out.
Particulars from the U.S. Military's investigation into the August 26 assault on the airport in Kabul, which killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans, have been launched Tuesday. The report detailed chaos throughout the evacuation, and mentioned service members have been pressured to "play God" to resolve who would depart.
1000's of Particular Immigration Visa candidates who weren't evacuated stay within the nation fearing for his or her security. The SIV course of was created by Congress in 2008 for Afghans and Iraqis who supported U.S. troops throughout the lengthy wars in each international locations.
Now non-public residents have taken the matter into their very own palms by paying for personal constitution flights to get these Afghans out of hazard, Packer mentioned.
"They're getting nearly no assist from the U.S. authorities. The truth is, typically Homeland Safety and the State Division are obstacles. So these advocates, together with veterans, really feel as if the federal government has moved on and forgotten about them and in regards to the Afghans who they really feel a debt of honor to bringing out," he mentioned.
The SIV candidates could be vetted on U.S. army bases overseas, reminiscent of in Qatar, Italy and different so-called lily-pad bases, previous to arrival within the U.S.
"Vetting will not be the issue. The issue is official and political will to truly unblock the exits and convey individuals out once more," mentioned Packer.
When President Biden introduced in April 2021 that the final of the U.S. troops would depart Afghanistan by September, there have been roughly 18,000 Afghan particular visa candidates within the pipeline, not together with spouses and kids. The 14-step bureaucratic course of can take years to finish. Packer alleged that the SIV course of has by no means labored properly, nearly coming to a halt below the Trump administration. However after the withdrawal announcement, the Biden administration might have began evacuation flights of SIVs that spring. The administration selected to not, Packer mentioned.
The Biden administration is establishing a system primarily based in Qatar designed to fast-track the processing of at-risk Afghans abroad and guarantee they'll arrive within the U.S. with everlasting authorized standing and a resettlement vacation spot already chosen, senior authorities officers introduced Tuesday.
"It appears as if we have fallen again into the bureaucratic slumber that we have been in earlier than the autumn of Kabul. And in the meantime, individuals in a determined and chilly and ravenous nation are hiding out and searching for any method to escape," Packer mentioned.
Ellee Watson, Jake Rosen, and Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report