U.S. President Joe Biden’s promise to help vulnerable Afghans flee their country in the face of a Taliban onslaught is running up against his reluctance to budge from an Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw all U.S. forces. Refugee groups and former officials says he can’t do both.
Biden on Friday said he was essentially putting Afghan allies of U.S. and NATO forces in the same category as Americans still seeking to leave Afghanistan, adding tens of thousands or possibly hundreds of thousands of people to a list with just days before troops pull out entirely.
"Let me be clear: Any American who wants to come home, we will get you home,” Biden said. Afghan allies who assisted the U.S. are "equally important, almost” as American citizens seeking to leave, he added.