After Taliban red card warning, Biden was timid. His "firm will" choice to complete the withdrawal of troops as planned by August 31, but this was strongly criticized by domestic Democratic and Republican lawmakers and foreign allies. At this time, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi then defended Biden's decision and said she believed in his "judgment."
81-year-old Pelosi told reporters in Congress, "President (Biden) has made the judgment of leaving, he must weigh the threat to our army and people at the airport and the benefits left behind." Many lawmakers "really want to encourage the president to stay for a while, but he must weigh the pros and cons, and I believe his judgment."
Previously, Biden said in his speech on Tuesday that he believes the United States is still evacuating all Americans and Afghanistan allies "as planned" by the end of this month. Although he warned that potential terrorist attacks could sabotage operations and asked senior officials to prepare contingency plans if the United States is forced to stay longer.
On Tuesday, senior Biden administration officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin , held a secret briefing for all House of Representatives members on the situation in Afghanistan. At present, thousands of American citizens and Afghans who helped the United States fight try to leave. But when lawmakers left the briefing, members of both parties, including some national security experts and former diplomats, criticized Biden's "arbitrary" August 31 deadline, believing that it would certainly result in thousands of allies being left behind and at the mercy of the Taliban.
One of the most outspoken critics is Colorado Democrat and Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who has witnessed the battle between Afghanistan and Iraqi and is also a close ally of Pelosi. Jason Crowe told reporters when leaving the briefing, "There are many such people in Afghanistan at the moment, and we cannot evacuate from now until the end of this month. That's why the mission must be extended, we have to do the necessary things to get people to evacuate, which has nothing to do with the date on the schedule."
Jason Crowe continued, August 31 "is not the date for the Taliban negotiations; it is the date set by the United States, and we set this date at different times and conditions. These conditions have changed. The world we are in now is completely different from when we were dating. We have to respond to different worlds and different reality."
Pelosi praised Crowe for drafting a legislation on Wednesday, which the House passed last month. The legislation would increase visa limits and speed up visa procedures for Afghan interpreters and others to assist U.S. military personnel in the war. He called the bill "passing an accelerated siv bill to avoid the loss of life and harm." However, she did not stand with her close allies this time.
Pelosi said, "I pay tribute to my members, Jason Crow leads legislation... to help those who have helped us. Hope as many people as possible are evacuated, hope all are evacuated, but it's a tragedy... Well, we obviously made a promise and we want to deliver on it. I have a great respect for Mr. Crow; he is a leader, has a vision, and he saw what could happen early and led to the passing of this legislation."
Pelosi also criticized two House members for secretly visiting Afghanistan on Wednesday because it posed personal risks to lawmakers and the limited federal resources currently used to evacuate Afghan people are also under pressure. Pelosi also said she learned that they were heading to Afghanistan shortly before the matter was made public and sent a memorandum to all House members on Tuesday warning them not to go to the area.
Pelosi scolded, "She hasn't talked to them since Seth Malton (D-Massachusetts Democratic Congressman) and Peter Major (D-Michigan Republican Congressman) returned from Afghanistan, adding, "they have to explain themselves why they are going," but warned that such visits were "extremely serious" and "in my opinion, it's not a good idea. ”
